Former champions Pádraig Harrington and Shane Lowry can’t wait to tee it up in front of the home crowds as they return to The K Club for the Horizon Irish Open on the DP World Tour.
Irish Open at the K Club
Harrington ended a more than 30 year wait for an Irish winner when he claimed the coveted title at Adare Manor in 2007, while Lowry made history two years later when he became the first amateur to win the event at County Louth.
Lowry arrives at The K Club buoyed by his recent selection as part of Luke Donald’s European Ryder Cup team set to compete at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in three weeks’ time, with Harrington also in a rich vein of form after capturing his fifth title on PGA TOUR Champions three months ago.
The pair are part of a world class field teeing it up as the Horizon Irish Open returns to The K Club for the first time since 2016. The tournament will also be played at the County Kildare venue in 2025 and 2027, with 2027 marking the 100th anniversary of the first staging of the event.
Both players are committed to raising money for the tournament’s Official Charity Make-A-Wish Ireland, with each pledging to donate €500 for every birdie and €1,000 for every eagle they card during the week as part of the fundraising efforts.
DP World Tour Player Quotes
Pádraig Harrington: “This is very close to my home. I spent most of my summer practice down here, so very familiar. This is very close to my home. This is where I do my practice when I’m at home. Love the fact that we’ll have the Irish fans out as I expect – not because of the weather, but because we haven’t had a got in this area for a while. The crowds are going to be big, enormous. The support is going to be brilliant. The weather is going to be great. All we really have to do as the Irish golfers is play a bit of good golf.
“For a tournament, there’s so many exciting shots on the course. You can remember Rory’s second into what we call the 16th of the championship course and the 18th, but the 16th is that one that was an incredible golf shot. There’s so many risk-reward, do-or-die shots out here. It’s a fabulous golf course to come and play, and I’ve got to say, the Smurfits were very good to me, and Michael Fetherston has carried that on. It’s unbelievable how welcome he makes the pros and the young players when they come down here and lets us have the run of the place.”
Shane Lowry: “I think it’s going to be an amazing week. Forecast is very good. Golf course is great. We’ve got a great field here. It’s very exciting to be here. It’s always one of my favourite events to play, obviously, and with it being so close to home this year, as well, it’s extra special, so it’s nice.
“Obviously there are certain years where you get bad weather where people maybe don’t show up as much as you’d like, even though you get great crowds all the time, but I fully expect the crowds to be huge this week, and I think it’s going to be a great event.
“As I said to somebody earlier, it’s an amazing month to have ahead of you, to be honest. Obviously this week is our fifth major, and it really is – I do treat it like that, and then we have obviously I’m defending at Wentworth, which is one of my favourite events, next week, and then buildup for the Ryder Cup the week after that. Yeah, it’s kind of dream stuff and something that I’m looking forward to the challenge the next few weeks, and very excited for what it could bring.”
(Text by DP World Tour)