Irish Open: Six of the best to follow at Royal County Down

World ranking: 3
Few know the links as well as McIlroy. This is where he’d escape with his father Gerry, carrying his own bag, for rounds in glorious isolation away from the madding crowd in his amateur and fledgling professional career. Of course, it is also where McIlroy finished off his amateur career as part of the (losing) Great Britain and Ireland team in the 2007 Walker Cup match. The last time the Irish Open was played at RCD was in 2015 when McIlroy acted as the tournament host in a significant move that aided the tournament’s revival, although he unfortunately missed the cut that year. McIlroy’s season has been a roller-coaster of highs (three wins globally) and lows (in the Majors, including a missed cut at in The 152nd Open) but he remains the headline act in a quest for a second career Irish Open title.
World ranking: 16
Quite the revelation on the PGA Tour in his debut season, where the left-handed Scot went from suffering homesickness and wondering if it was worth continuing on his American odyssey to a player who had one of the most emotional wins of any player this season in the RBC Canadian Open and an even more emotional triumph in the Genesis Scottish Open on home turf. MacIntyre continued that form all the way to the Tour Championship in East Lake, where he was able to play after treatment for a back injury that forced his withdrawal from the BMW Championship, the penultimate event of the FedEx Cup playoffs.
World ranking: 32
Take 2019 out of it, and his Claret Jug win, and Lowry has enjoyed his best, most consistent season on the PGA Tour which led him all the way to a debut appearance in the Tour Championship finale and contributed to his most financially profitable campaign stateside. Of course, he has also added to his PGA Tour wins in partnering Rory McIlroy to success in the Zurich Classic and he returns to Europe for a part of the season where he has traditionally played well. He’ll be looking to kick-start his Ryder Cup qualification for Bethpage next year in what is the first of a string of events on this side of the Atlantic. His last visit to Royal County Down for the Irish Open in 2015 saw him break his putter in a fit of angst early in the second round which forced him to use his sand wedge for putting thereafter but he still made the cut. He’s a different player now. Expect a strong challenge for a second Irish Open title and first as a professional.
World ranking: 50
Finished last year with a stunning win in the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai and then made the move to the PGA Tour card for a debut season that started promisingly with a runner-up finish in the Farmers Insurance Open which proved to the high point and his only other top-10 finish came in the Olympics in Paris. Still, as he showed in the Ryder Cup in Italy, Hojgaard is a real talent and his return to Europe for the late-season swing will likely see him in contention as the 23-year-old seeks a fourth career win on the DP World Tour.
World ranking: 55th
Surely a case of when, not if! The Belgian has enjoyed a hugely profitable career without actually managing to unlock to code into the winner’s circle (his only individual success came with one win on the Challenge Tour in 2016 and teaming-up with Thomas Pieters to win the World Cup in 2018). Yet, he has performed strongly on the PGA Tour for the past two seasons, with a consistent 2024 that included a tied-fourth finish behind Xander Schauffele in the US PGA Championship and he ultimately finished 42nd on the FedEx Cup standings. He is another player looking to kick-start his Ryder Cup qualification bid for Bethpage. If only he can find the code to winning.
World ranking: N/A (*32nd on world amateur rankings)
Maybe, perhaps, the final act of what has been a fine amateur career? The 22-year-old Dubliner graduated from the University of Louisville earlier this year but remained on as an amateur to play in the Arnold Palmer Cup at Lahinch and also secured a runner-up finish in the European Amateur Championship (only losing out in a playoff). The Royal Dublin player is, hopefully, one for the future and will start his bid for a place on the DP World Tour when he attends the first stage of qualifying at Horsens Golf Club in Denmark last this month. Of course, we’ve had an amateur win the Irish Open before … Shane Lowry!