It looks like a done deal the Irish Open will return to Royal County Down next year

It looks like a done deal that the Horizon Irish Open will return to Royal County Down next year, although actual confirmation remains somewhere in the clouds.

There has been long-time speculation of a return to the North – it was last staged in Northern Ireland during Covid restrictions at Galgorm Castle in 2020 – and the apparent confirmation came in a social media post from Royal County Down professional shop... which was later deleted.

“We are delighted to announce that the Horizon Irish Open will be returning to Royal County Down in 2024,” it went, in response to heightened speculation that it would play host next year.

The tournament, one of the premier events on the DP World Tour, was last staged at the iconic links in Newcastle, Co Down, in 2015, when Rory McIlroy acted as tournament host and Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen triumphed after a playoff win over Eddie Pepperell and Bernd Wiesberger.

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This year’s tournament will be staged at The K Club in Straffan, Co Kildare, from September 7th-10th as part of a long-term commitment to the event which will see it also being played there in 2025 and 2027. Next month’s tournament with a purse of almost €6 million, has already attracted a very strong field headed by McIlroy, the world number two, with Shane Lowry, Séamus Power, Tyrrell Hatton, Luke Donald, Min Woo Lee and American Billy Horschel also committed.

A return to Royal County Down in 2024 would likely see the Irish Open revert to an earlier summer date in the European calendar, most likely in a links swing run-up to the 152nd Open at Royal Troon in a period in which the Scottish Open acts as a precursor to the Major.

Royal County Down has previously hosted the Irish Open on four occasions – in 1928, 1935, 1939 and most recently in 2015 – and, as was the case in 2015, there would be likely spectator restrictions to limit the daily crowd to around 12,000.