Irish Open To Take Place At Galgorm Castle In Ryder Cup Spot

The tournament, as expected, is moving into the Ryder Cup's vacant spot and will take in a new venue

Irish Open To Take Place At Galgorm Castle In Ryder Cup Spot

The Irish Open will take place at Galgorm Castle Golf Club in Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland in the week that was supposed to host the Ryder Cup.

The tournament has been moved to Northern Ireland due to the quarantine measures still in place in the Republic and the ban on large gatherings.

It was due to be hosted at Mount Juliet at the end of May.

The tournament, at least this year, is no longer a Rolex Series event and will have a purse of €1.25m, well down on the $7m from last year.

However, with the Ryder Cup in Ireland in 2027, at Adare Manor, it most likely will return to the Rolex Series in the coming seasons.

This year's event will take place in the week after the US Open in New York and in the week before the Scottish Open, which is followed by the BMW PGA Championship.

Jon Rahm has won two of the last three Irish Opens, at Portstewart in 2017 and at Lahinch in 2019.

Related: McIlroy unsure whether he'll return to Europe this year

Keith Pelley, European Tour Chief Executive, said: “The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open is an integral part of the European Tour’s schedule and despite the obvious challenges of staging any event in the current circumstances, we felt it was important to continue with the tournament providing we could do so safely.

“We did that, first and foremost with the support of Colm McLoughlin and everyone involved with our title sponsor Dubai Duty Free who once again showed commitment and understanding of the current global situation, and proved what a wonderful partner of the European Tour they are. We also did it with the support of the Northern Ireland Executive who deserve our sincere thanks.

“With the ongoing restrictions in the Republic of Ireland, we opted to move the tournament to Northern Ireland and are extremely grateful to Gary Henry and everyone at Galgorm Castle Golf Club for stepping up to host us.

“I also want to thank Damien Gaffney and everyone at Mount Juliet, our original venue. Everyone at the Kilkenny course was ready to host the tournament this year until circumstances outside their control made that an impossibility. Hopefully, things will be different next year to allow us to return.”

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