Golf

McIlroy and Lowry the headline acts at sold-out Royal County Down

This week’s Amgen Irish Open may lack for some American star power but the in-depth quality of the field is shown by the presence of 15 winners on the DP World

A view of Royal County Down Golf Club in advance of this week's Amgen Irish Open. Photograph: Matt Makey/Inpho
A view of Royal County Down Golf Club in advance of this week's Amgen Irish Open. Photograph: Matt Makey/Inpho
Philip Reid
Mon Sept 09 2024 - 20:20

Perhaps it will prove to be a case of being a slow burner for the Amgen Irish Open’s shift to a September date in the DP World Tour scheduling to attract, as was hoped, those American players who have finished their PGA Tour seasons as this week’s latest edition – at a sold-out Royal County Down – will again have Irish headline acts, led by world number three Rory McIlroy.

This is the second year of the tournament’s move from a July date to a September one (in the week before the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth) and it was hoped its positioning in advance of of the tour’s flagship event would attract a large number of PGA Tour players who had made it to the FedEx Cup playoff final, the Tour Championship.

Of the 30 players who made it to East Lake, just four – McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Bob MacIntyre and Aaron Rai – have made it to Royal County Down. Billy Horschel would have made it five, but the American, who had originally committed, has been forced out with a hip/back injury that required treatment and rest.

Indeed, the Procore tournament in California, this week’s PGA Tour stop (part of the FedEx Cup Fall), has a greater coefficient that the Irish Open. The Procore has a field strength of 204 (with 35 world ranking points to the winner), while the Irish Open has a strength of 167 (with 28 points to the winner).

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Lowry was one of those players who advocated a move to the September date, observing earlier this year at Amgen’s launch of the Irish Open, “I’ve always though the date we had in July wasn’t great. And I always though that if we could get it later on, it would be better. Obviously the ideal date is the week before The Open but that’s not going to happen, (so) going back-to-back with Wentworth, two great weeks”.

He added: “It’s great that Amgen have taken it on after taking over Horizon and they’ve just continued on with their sponsorship. And I think it says a lot about what the tournament has been like the last couple of years and how much they can feel grow it as well. I think it’s got a huge potential.”

This week’s Irish Open may lack for some American star power but, to be fair, once McIlroy, Lowry et all – and with MacIntyre’s standout season in winning twice on the PGA Tour significantly raising the Scot’s profile – are present, it is a tournament that would be the envy of many others on the DP World Tour.

There are 11 Irish players in the 156-man field, including three – McIlroy, Lowry and Pádraig Harrington – who have all won their national open.

This trio of past winners are joined by Séamus Power, Tom McKibbin, Mark Power, Conor Purcell, Gary Hurley, Simon Thornton (who qualified off the Irish region PGA standings) along with amateurs Max Kennedy and Seán Keeling.

And the in-depth quality of the field is reflected in the presence of 15 winners on the DP World Tour this season: McIlroy (Dubai Desert Classic), MacIntyre (Genesis Scottish Open), Guido Migliozzi (KLM Open), Rikuya Hoshino (Qatar Masters), Darius Van Driel (Kenya Open), Thorbjorn Olesen (Ras al Khaimah), Dylan Frittelli (Bahrain), Nacho Elvira (Soudai Open), Laurie Canter (European Open), Yuto Katsuragawa (ISPS Handa), Frederic Lacroix (Danish Open), David Ravetto (Czech Masters), Ewen Ferguson (BMW International), Niklas Norgaard (British Masters) and Harry Hall (Isco championship).

Elsewhere, a sextet of Irish players will be competing in the Portugal Open in Vau Obidos on the Challenge Tour: Conor O’Rourke, Dermot McElroy, Ronan Mullarney, John Murphy, Cormac Sharvin and Jonny Caldwell.

For Leona Maguire, this week’s Solheim Cup – which has provided some of the high points of her professional career – will provide an opportunity to again showcase her matchplay qualities after starring roles on the winning European team in 2021 and on last year’s successful retention of the trophy in Spain.

Maguire, who flew out on the team flight to Washington DC on Sunday, will be making her third career appearance in the match at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia. Suzann Pettersen’s team will have a first day of practice Tuesday in advance of the match which starts on Friday.

Philip Reid

Philip Reid

Philip Reid is Golf Correspondent of The Irish Times