All you need to know about the Irish Open 2025
Rory McIlroy was second in the 2024 Irish Open
- Published
The 2025 edition of the Irish Open has the makings of something very special, with a quality field headlined by world number two Rory McIlroy assembling at the K Club at County Kildare.
The tournament has regained its status as one of the primary events on the DP World Tour in recent years and with the Ryder Cup just a few weeks away, there will be much focus on the form of those players who will participate at Bethpage Black from 26-28 September - McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Tyrrell Hatton.
It is the third event of the tour's 'Back 9' series which leads up to the conclusion of the season in November, when the play-offs determine who will be crowned Race to Dubai champion.
The Irish Open precedes the tour's flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, which will be played the week following.
BBC Sport brings you all you need to know ahead of the first ball being struck on Thursday morning.
McIlroy's Irish Open record
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, who completed his career grand slam of majors by winning The Masters in April, has made 14 appearances at the Irish Open, winning at the K Club in 2016, achieving two other top-10 finishes and missing the cut five times. He missed the event in 2019, 2020 and 2022.
The five-time major champion narrowly missed out on winning the tournament for a second time at Royal County Down 12 months ago when he finished one shot behind the winner, Denmark's Rasmus Hojgaard.
The Dane fired a final-round six-under-par 65 to take victory.
McIlroy will look to add to his wins this year at The Pebble Beach Pro-Am, The Players Championship and that milestone triumph at Augusta,
Other top competitors
Five-time major winner Brooks Koepka makes his Irish Open debut at The K Club
Ryder Cup-bound Rasmus Hojgaard was a late withdrawal from this week's field, but the entry boasts seven major champions, with 17 major wins between them.
Alongside McIlroy, 2019 Open winner Lowry, who won the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009, will be a star attraction for the home fans.
Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington will hope for more success, having recently lifted the Senior Open and US Senior Open titles back-to-back.
The Irishman was the 2007 Irish Open winner and has finished runner-up on three other occasions.
American Brooks Koepka, with five major wins to his name, missed out on Ryder Cup selection after a year which saw him draw a blank in terms of wins in the LIV Golf tour and miss three cuts out of four at the majors.
Koepka makes his first Irish Open appearance.
2018 Open winner Francesco Molinari competes, along with former Masters champions, England's Danny Willett and US LIV Golf player Patrick Reed.
Hatton is among the entry as he prepares to play for Europe, along with his Ryder Cup team captain Luke Donald.
Northern Ireland's Tom McKibbin will aim to make up for the disappointment of missing the cut at his 'home' Open at Royal Portrush in July, while Matteo Manassero will hope to improve on his third-place finish last year.
Recent DP World Tour winners Martin Couvra, Marco Penge, Eugenio Chacarra, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Thriston Lawrence, Ryan Gerard and Nicolai Van Dellingshausen are part of the strong field, along with four-time PGA Tour winner Jhonattan Vegas and South Africa's Erik van Rooyen.
Sergio Garcia, victor at Druid's Glen in 1999, was another late withdrawal.
A brief history
The Irish Open was first staged in 1927 and this week will see the 70th version of the event.
The tournament has been played at 21 courses across the island of Ireland, including renowned links venues Royal Portrush, Royal County Down and Portmarnock, which has hosted the tournament a record 19 times.
The cream of European talent competed during the 1980s and 1990s particularly.
Former winners include McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Harrington, Garcia, Jose Maria Olazabal, Colin Montgomerie, Sir Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Seve Ballesteros, Sam Torrance and American Ben Crenshaw.
One of a number of illustrious former winners, Jon Rahm won the Irish Open in 2017 and 2019
Selected first round tee times
07:30 - Padraig Harrington, Jhonattan Vegas and Adrien Saddier
07:50 - Shane Lowry, Brooks Koepka and Martin Couvra
08:00 - Rory McIlroy, Thriston Lawrence and Kristoffer Reitan
12:50 - Laurie Canter, Tom McKibbin and Haotong Li
13:00 - Seamus Power, Tyrrell Hatton and Marco Penge
13:10 - Luke Donald, Erik van Rooyen and Francesco Molinari
13:30 - Danny Willet, Max Kennedy and Patrick Reed
All times BST
Prize money progression
This year's Irish Open will have a $6m (5.2m euro) prize fund, with 5,000 Race to Dubai points going to the winner.
Winning golfers Jamie Donaldson [2012], Paul Casey [2013] and Mikko Ilonen [2014] each picked up 330,000 euro for their successes but Rory McIlroy's decision to throw his weight behind the event at Royal County Down in 2015 brought further sponsorship on board and an increase in the prizemoney on offer.
The event prospered further as it attained status as part of the prestigious Rolex Series from 2017 to 2019.
When Jon Rahm was crowned champion at Portstewart in 2017, the Irish Open's renaissance was reflected in the fact that he became the first winner to bank over 1m euro for his victory.
Hojgaard picked up 920,329 euro for his success last year.
What about the venue?
The K Club hosts the Irish Open for the third time, with McIlroy in 2016 and Vincent Norman in 2023 the previous winners at the venue.
The tournament will be played at the course, designed by golfing great Arnold Palmer, again in 2027.
The Kildare venue also hosted the Ryder Cup in 2006 and the European Open from 1995 to 2003.
The par for the course is 72, measuring 7,413 yards.