EUROPEAN TOUR
HORIZON IRISH OPEN
Site: Straffan, Ireland.
Course: The K Club. Yardage: 7,350. Par: 72.
Prize money: $6 million. Winner’s share: $1 million.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: Adrian Meronk.
Race to Dubai leader: Rory McIlroy.
Last week: Ludvig Aberg won the Omega European Masters.
Notes: Rory McIlroy leads the field with the Ryder Cup only three weeks away. The other Ryder Cup players in the field are Shane Lowry and Tyrrell Hatton. … McIlroy won the Irish Open in 2016. This is his 13th time playing his national open. … The K Club previously hosted the Irish Open in 2016. It is best known for holding the 2006 Ryder Cup that Europe won. … Lowry won the 2009 Irish Open when he was still an amateur. … Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald is playing, along with three of his assistant captains — Nicolas Colsaerts, Edoardo Molinari and Thomas Bjorn. … Adam Scott is playing for the first time since narrowly missing the FedEx Cup playoffs on the PGA Tour. … Billy Horschel and Tom Hoge are among the Americans playing this year. … Adrian Meronk of Poland earned his first European tour title last year at Mount Juliet. … The tournament was played last year the first weekend in July. Padraig Harrington is in the field for his national open instead of defending his title this week on the PGA Tour Champions.
Next week: BMW PGA Championship.
