Paul McGinley will host the Dubai Duty-Free Irish Open in 2019, and the competition is heading to the South-West next year, the European Tour has announced today.
Lahinch Golf Course, in County Clare, is the venue for next year’s tournament, which will take place from the 3rd-7th of July, weeks before the Open Championship in Portrush.
The tournament, which has been spearheaded by Rory McIlroy and the Rory foundation in recent years, will now be hosted by prominent Irish golfers; and first up is 2014 Ryder Cup, Captain Paul McGinley.
Speaking to Nathan Murphy today, McGinley said that he is delighted to be hosting the tournament for the year and at his choice of venue.
“I’m very pleased that the European Tour concurred with the decision, with the Open in Portrush this year we wanted to take it away from the part of the country where most people will be going.
"It’s a historic golf course, and most importantly, a links golf course,” McGinley said.
The Irish Open will take place two weeks before the Open Championship on Portrush next year, and McGinley said that this will help attract some big names to the tournament as they build up to the major.
“We’re going to work to try to taper the golf course so that is set up in a similar way [to Portrush] so that the players will have really good preparation for the Open”
“But let’s not lose sight of that we’re talking about well over €1 million first prize, the Irish Open is now a huge money event and an important part of the Rolex series”
“I don’t want to call in favours, I want players to come of their own instinct. If you look at the guys who have done well at the last few Opens, they’ve played in either the Irish or Scottish Open beforehand. So I want to say to the guys that if you really want good preparation, the Irish Open is going to provide that.”
This year's tournament is taking place in Ballyliffin, County Donegal, and will play host Masters winner Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood, John Rahm, as well as some of Ireland's top golfers.
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