Colm, your career has been one of many tales I’m sure. From growing up in Ballinasloe to here now in Dubai, it’s been quite a journey!
Indeed, it has been quite a voyage. My duty-free journey began in Ireland in 1969, at Shannon Duty Free, the birthplace of the industry. In July 1983, I moved to Dubai as part of the 10-man team from Aer Rianta (the Irish Airport Authority) at the request of the Dubai Government to set up the duty-free operation. I imagined it as a six-month project but here I am still, 40 years on. 

The face of Dubai must be a complete contrast from 40 years ago?
Dubai was a very different place back then. There was only a handful of buildings, a big roundabout, and not a great deal else. It was a tight-knit community revolving around boat trips on the Creek, piloting small planes to Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah, and playing golf on sand at Dubai Country Club. Look at it all now! Now we have some of the world’s best golf courses here in the UAE.

How has the company evolved against the backdrop of a rapidly changing Dubai?
Dubai Duty Free is a success story that mirrors the trajectory of the emirate itself. From the early days we were tasked by the ruling family and in particular H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make it the biggest and the best in the world. To this day the core objectives have remained the same; to provide world class customer service, provide a wide range of quality products and offer value for money, all within a customer-focused environment.

What in your view have been the key ingredients?
Several factors have been led by the tremendous support and encouragement that we have received from the Government of Dubai and in particular from H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman of Dubai Duty Free. But the biggest ingredients for Dubai Duty Free is the dedication and effort of all our staff who I believe are the best in the world and of course our customers who are made up of travellers from all over the globe.

With your vast contribution into golf here in Dubai, what would some of those highlights be?
Firstly, I would say the privilege I was given to be captain of the Emirates Golf Club (1995/1996) and the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club (2007) I’m the only person to have held both captaincies. We are also extremely proud to be supporting major golf events in Dubai since their inception, the Dubai Desert Classic, the Dubai Moonlight Classic, the Race to Dubai and of course now into it’s 30th year, the Dubai Duty Free Golf World Cup.

How special was it previously be to be title sponsor for the Irish Open on the then European Tour?
We are proud that our support as the title sponsor of the tournament for seven years has greatly helped restore the status of this major sporting event. And while it is currently under a new title sponsor, Horizon Irish Open, we are still here, continuing to support the event as an official partner.

There are the many other activities that Dubai Duty Free reach beyond the shops though.
The promotion of ‘Dubai Inc.’ was a core platform of our strategy from the beginning. One of the things we’ve done very well is support so many events at the highest level and all around the globe, Dubai Duty Free is effectively promoting Dubai’s sporting, leisure, and business facilities, which are second to none.

What has your time in Dubai with Dubai Duty Free taught you?
So far, I am most proud of the fact that Dubai Duty Free has developed a reputation for looking after its people. What is important in any work you do is to recognise the people who work for you. Wherever you are in life, do not lose touch with reality.

What will drive the next phase as the company moves into its fifth decade?
I’m very happy that Dubai Duty Free has grown to become the single biggest duty-free operation at an airport anywhere in the world. We are going to do in excess of US$2 billion this year in sales, which surpasses our pre-pandemic sales in 2019. So, if I were to forecast ten years ahead, I would be talking about US$3 billion in sales, with larger retail areas, more shops and boutiques, and around 7–8,000 staff members.

Main image: Supplied

The post Quick 9 with… Colm McLoughlin – celebrating 40 years of Dubai Duty Free appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Vincent Norrman surged up the leaderboard early on Sunday at the Horizon Irish Open, then waited around to see if any of the other pursuers could catch him. They could not.

A seven-under 65, with seven birdies, was just enough to claim the title at the K Club outside as Norrman improved 20 positions to claim his second professional title. He finished at 14-under total and earned $1.02 million for his victory from a $6 million overall purse. The 25-year-old from Sweden won the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championship back in June.

Hurly Long birdied the last hole to finish solo second place at 13-under. A group of four others, including home favorite Shane Lowry, tied for third place two shots off the lead. There were several other names who nipped closer at times but failed to close. Rory McIlroy was among those chasing but was ultimately undone by a double-bogey on the front nine and then a triple-bogey 8 on the 16th hole via two penalty shots. He birdied the final hole to shoot 74 and tied for 16th place. Billy Horschel went out in 33 to sneak into contention but made four bogeys and a double on a back-nine 43 to shoot 76 and fall back considerably.

The event served as a prelude to next week’s BMW PGA Championship, the flagship event on the DP World Tour schedule as well as a momentum builder for the Ryder Cup later this month. European captain Luke Donald, who tied for 45th place in Ireland, is said to have planned a trip with his squad to Marco Simone, the Ryder Cup venue outside Rome, for an early scouting trip in the next few days.

But first things first. Here’s the prize money payouts for each golfer.
Win: Vincent Norrman, 274/-14, $1,020,000
2: Hurly Long, 275/-13, $660,000
T-3: Grant Forrest, 276/-12, $284,900
T-3: Ryan Fox, 276/-12, $284,900
T-3: Shane Lowry, 276/-12, $284,900
T-3: Thriston Lawrence, 276/-12, $284,900
T-7: Shubhankar Sharma, 277-/11, $138,960
T-7: Min Woo Lee, 277/-11, $138,960
T-7: Nick Bachem, 277/-11, $138,960
T-7: Rikuya Hoshino, 277/-11, $138,960
T-7: Connor Syme, 277/-11, $138,960
T-12: Jordan Smith, 278/-10, $94,950
T-12: Marcel Schneider, 278/-10, $94,950
T-12: Joost Luiten, 278/-10, $94,950
T-12: Daniel Hillier, 278/-10, $94,950
T-16: Rory McIlroy, 279/-9, $75,257.14
T-16: Julien Brun, 279/-9, $75,257.14
T-16: Marcel Siem, 279/-9, $75,257.14
T-16: Kristian Krogh Johannessen, 279/-9, $75,257.14
T-16: Guido Migliozzi, 279/-9, $75,257.14
T-16: Paul Waring, 279/-9, $75,257.14
T-16: Erik van Rooyen, 279/-9, $75,257.14
T-23: Ross Fisher, 280/-8, $57,900
T-23: Calum Hill, 280/-8, $57,900
T-23: Thomas Detry, 280/-8, $57,900
T-23: Romain Langasque, 280/-8, $57,900
T-23: Adrian Meronk, 280/-8, $57,900
T-23: Sami Valimaki, 280/-8, $57,900
T-23: Mikael Lindberg, 280/-8, $57,900
T-23: Nacho Elvira, 280/-8, $57,900
T-23: David Law, 280/-8, $57,900
T-23: Matthew Southgate, 280/-8, $57,900
T-33: John Parry, 281/-7, $43,800
T-33: Mark Power, 281/-7, $43,800
T-33: Kiradech Aphibarnrat, 281/-7, $43,800
T-33: Alejandro Del Rey, 281/-7, $43,800
T-33: Gunner Wiebe, 281/-7, $43,800
T-33: Jorge Campillo, 281/-7, $43,800
T-39: Julien Guerrier, 282/-6, $36,000
T-39: Aaron Rai, 282/-6, $36,000
T-39: Nicolai Von Dellingshausen, 282/-6, $36,000
T-39: Pablo Larrazabal, 282/-6, $36,000
T-39: Tom McKibbin, 282/-6, $36,000
T-39: Bryce Easton, 282/-6, $36,000
T-45: Billy Horschel, 283/-5, $27,000
T-45: Adrian Otaegui, 283/-5, $27,000
T-45: Luke Donald, 283/-5, $27,000
T-45: James Morrison, 283/-5, $27,000
T-45: Scott Jamieson, 283/-5, $27,000
T-45: Jens Dantorp, 283/-5, $27,000
T-45: Yannik Paul, 283/-5, $27,000
T-45: Niklas Norgaard, 283/-5, $27,000
T-45: Thorbjorn Olesen, 283/-5, $27,000
T-54: Richard Mansell, 284/-4, $19,200
T-54: Sebastian Soderberg, 284/-4, $19,200
T-54: Tapio Pulkkanen, 284/-4, $19,200
T-54: Ewen Ferguson, 284/-4, $19,200
T-54: Jason Schrivener, 284/-4, $19,200
T-54: Alex Fitzpatrick, 284/-4, $19,200
T-54: Hennie Du Plessis, 284/-4, $19,200
T-61: Kazuki Higa, 285/-3, $14,200
T-61: Ashun Wu, 285/-3, $14,200
T-61: Callum Shinkwin, 285/-3, $14,200
T-61: Jeunghun Wang, 285/-3, $14,200
T-61: Gavin Green, 285/-3, $14,200
T-61: Matt Wallace, 285/-3, $14,200
T-61: Richie Ramsay, 285/-3, $14,200
T-61: Louis De Jager, 285/-3, $14,200
T-61: Daan Huizing, 285/-3, $14,200
T-70: Fabrizio Zanotti, 286/-2, $8,998
T-70: Marcus Helligkilde, 286/-2, $8,998
T-72: Conor Purcell, 287/-1, $8,993
T-72: Freddy Schott, 287/-1, $8,986.14
T-72: Todd Clements, 287/-1, $8,986.14
T-72: Matthew Baldwin, 287/-1, $8,986.14
T-72: Aaron Cockerill, 287/-1, $8,986.14
T-72: Andrew Wilson, 287/-1, $8,986.14
T-72: Soren Kjeldsen, 287/-1, $8,986.14
T-79: Padraig Harrington, 288/E, $8,972.50
T-79: Matti Schmid, 288/E, $8,972.50
T-81: Matthieu Pavon, 289/+1, $8,965.50
T-81: Chase Hanna, 289/+1, $8,965.50
T-83: Simon Forsstrom, 290/+2, $8,959.50
T-83: Daniel Brown, 290/+2, $8,959.50
T-85: Mike Lorenzo-Vera, 293/+5, $8,952.50
T-85: Zander Lombard, 293/+5, $8,952.50
87: Stephen Gallacher, 294/+6, $8,948
T-88: Tom Hoge, 296/+8, $8,943.50
T-88: Pedro Figueiredo, 296/+8, $8,943.50
90: Santiago Tarrio, 307/+19, $8,938

The post Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer at the 2023 Horizon Irish Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

There’s a plaque in the fairway on the par-5 16th hole at Ireland’s famed K Club, in County Kildare, that commemorates a 3-wood Rory McIlroy hit to about 40 feet for his second shot during the final round of his 2016 Irish Open victory. Seven years later, and only about 10 yards from that same plaque, the result was wildly different.

The Northern Irishman found the water — twice — and racked up a triple-bogey eight that ended his hopes of chasing down eventual winner, Vincent Norrman. Somehow, though, the finish to this Irish Open was just as entertaining.

In a weather-interrupted final round, Norrman came from the clouds with a seven-under 65 that launched him from six behind the lead beginning the final round to a second victory this season. He finished at 14-under (274), one shot ahead of Germany’s Hurly Long.

Rory finds the water for the third time today. This time at 16. #HorizonIrishOpen pic.twitter.com/yzeCTyaCjd

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 10, 2023

Playing in the final group, McIlroy was tied for the lead at 13-under when he arrived at the par-4 seventh. There, he put the first of four balls in the water on Sunday — this one an approach from 158 yards from the middle of the fairway to make double-bogey. The World No. 2 found water again, this time a 136-yard approach that he pulled just left of the green at No. 11.

Still, when he sat in the fairway at No. 16, McIlroy was three shots behind clubhouse leader Norrman with three to play and par 5s among that trio. It was not out of the question for a four-time major winner to make up the deficit. With 267 yards to the narrow green, McIlroy flared a fairway metal into the creek. Then, after dropping in the fairway closer to the green, McIlroy fanned his fourth shot into the water. He airmailed the green for his sixth shot and, from the bunker, made eight. A birdie at the par-5 18th gave McIlroy a nine-under score and a tie for 16th.

Norrman, who won the PGA Tour and DP World Tour co-sanctioned Barbasol Championship back in June, couldn’t believe the chaos of the final round at the K Club. The former Florida State Seminole had held off a chasing pack that included McIlroy, 2019 Open champion and beloved Irishman Shane Lowry, as well as DP World Tour stars Ryan Fox, Grant Forrest and Thriston Lawrence.

“I’m just as starstruck as some of those fans out here seeing those guys, and to be competing against them is so cool. To beat them is even cooler,” the 25-year-old Norrman said. “It’s a world-class event, and it’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done in golf I think.”

The victory came as Norman’s girlfriend, LPGA Tour pro Frida Kinhult, was also batting for a top-10 finish at the Kroger Queen City Championship in Cincinnati.

Lowry wowed the crowds with a near albatross at the par-5 fourth. He fired a 224-yard approach that almost holed out and settled to an inch. “I hit almost a perfect 4-iron … and that got me going,” he said.

It got the crowds going, too, who were hoping Lowry could repeat his 2009 victory at the event he won as an amateur. Lowry went two-under from the eagle at No. 4 to shoot a final-round 68 and a share of third at 12-under.

“It’s hard, but there’s so many positives to take away,” he said. “Irish Opens are tournaments that are generally a struggle in the past and I felt like I was great out there all week this week. It’s probably one of the best tournaments I’ve played this year. The Irish Open is one of the greatest events in the world, but I’m obviously biased.”

Lowry, McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton are now off to Italy to rendezvous with the entire European Ryder Cup team for a practice round Monday at Ryder Cup host course, Rome’s Marco Simone. The team will then head to England on Tuesday for the DP World Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA at Wentworth, where Lowry will defend the title he claimed last year.

“I’m going back to defend at Wentworth next week and we’ve got the Ryder Cup in a few weeks,” he said. “It’s a very exciting few weeks, and [Sunday’s T-3] is a great way to start my few weeks over here. Hopefully I can keep it going.”

The post FOUR! Rory McIlroy finds water a lot of times at Irish Open while Vincent Norrman storms to victory appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The only thing seven-year-old Michael Horgan wanted from his Make-A-Wish Ireland dream was a video message from his hero Rory McIlroy. He may not have got the video, but he did get quite a bit more.

Horgan, who has been battling a brain tumour for some time, got to be a caddie and playing partner for McIlroy on the ninth hole at the Horizon Irish Open Pro-Am. The two drove around The K Club, looked over yardages together and tested their mettle on the green.

The World No. 2 even gave Horgan a special putter of his own, a replica of McIlroy’s but just a little smaller. The putt was too strong with Horgan even admitting, “My dad always tells me to hit it softer,” to which McIlroy replied, “We can work on that.”

“I’ve done a few different things over the years with Make-A-Wish and with different children’s charities, and it’s always been very fulfilling to be able to do it,” McIlroy told the Belfast Telegraph.

“I feel very fortunate that we have a healthy little girl who’s very happy,” he continued. “There’s a lot of people in the world who would give up everything to have what we have in terms of a healthy child. It puts a lot of things in perspective, and just makes you very grateful for what you have.”

Horgan went on to meet former Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington and Horgan’s father stated that playing with McIlroy is a “thrill he’ll never forget”.

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Before we share the details of Spaniard Santiago Tarrio’s gruesome round of 17-over-par 89 in the Irish Open on Saturday — a nightmare that included a septuple-bogey 12 — let’s acknowledge his pain first.

The man is a professional golfer, 32 years old and winless on the DP World Tour, who in the previous two days at The K Club scored 70-72 to make the cut. We know that in no universe did he think he was going to go out on a sunny, benign day in Ireland, and over the course of four hours hit six balls into the water, including four in a row, and, on one hole, three-putt from 18 inches.

That would be an awful experience for any of us hacks, but in one of the circuit’s most beloved events, with Ryder Cuppers Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry in the field, to suffer such a complete mental and physical meltdown … it barely computes.

Roy McAvoy, not Rory McIlroy, could relate to Tarrio’s plight. The comparisons to “Tin Cup” were being made on Saturday, and, oddly, that’s not a big reach. Kevin Costner’s character ultimately put five balls in the water trying to reach the par-5 18th hole in a fictitious version of the US Open and made 12. Of course, McAvoy gets the number the Hollywood way when, with the last ball in his bag, he finally holes out his approach.

Looks like Spain's Santiago Tarrio suffered a bit of a "Tin Cup" moment on the par-five 16th, hitting his 2nd shot into the water and then 3 more from the drop zone on his way to a 12 and third round of 89 #HorizonIrishOpen pic.twitter.com/qU0ZVLXXUM

— Phil Casey (@pcaseysafc) September 9, 2023

Tarrio had no such luck. His 12 truly came the hard way.

Already eight over par, including two double bogeys, when he arrived at The K Club’s water-lined par-5 16th, Tarrio managed to drive into the fairway and was left with 237 yards. The next shot required a strong approach over water fronting the green to get home in two.

Thanks to the tour’s shot tracing, we have the gory details from there.

Tarrio’s first attempt found the water. He moved forward and dropped from 125 yards. Shouldn’t be a problem from there. That shot got wet.

Oh no. He dropped again. Wet.

Mind is blank. Hands are numb. Dropped again. Wet.

Finally — and barely — Tarrio hit land with his 10th shot. From there, he got down in two more strokes for a 12. The round didn’t get any better, as Tarrio made his third double of the day at 17 when he needed four shots from 14 yards to score a 6.

It’s all so relatable for any golfer trying to break 90 every round. For a pro? We’re just hoping Tarrio had a nice meal, and just went to bed.

And if the day doesn’t let him drift off, Tarrio could always look to a renowned countryman for solace. In the year after winning the 2017 Masters, Sergio Garcia rinsed five straight balls in water at Augusta National’s par-5 15th. HIs score: 13.

The post Tour pro suffers this horrible round: 89 with four straight balls in the water appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

With the final group stumbling at The K Club on Saturday, Hurly Long took full advantage, posting a third-round 70 to reach 13-under and open up a one-shot lead over nearest challenger Jordan Smith. The German will tee it up on Sunday alongside crowd favourite Rory McIlroy.

“It’s exciting,” Long said. “Last year at The Belfry I was leading after two rounds, and there were ginormous crowds out there as well. So I can take something from that. I’ve got a good attitude. I know it’s going to be way more difficult tomorrow than it was even today but you can feed off that just as well. So I’m just looking forward to it either way.”

With huge crowds watching on, World No. 2 McIlroy shot a stunning 66 to climb to 11-under and sit just two shots off the lead with 18 holes to play.

“Last night I thought I was maybe a little bit too far behind and out of it but I played a really good round of golf today to get myself back in it and I’m excited to have another opportunity (to win the Irish Open) tomorrow,” he said.

The post Get moving! Hurly Long takes advantage at Irish Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Rory McIlroy says the back injury that ruined his chances of winning the Tour Championship won’t be an issue with a busy month ahead that includes two DP World Tour events, a bachelor party and, of course, the Ryder Cup in Rome.

Speaking at this week’s Irish Open at the K Club, site of the Northern Irishman’s 2016 victory in the event, McIlroy conceded balky back has not fully healed since the FedEx Cup finale in Atlanta last month.

“I would say it’s at 90 per cent, 95 per cent; it’s not 100 per cent better,” the four-time major winner said. “I just have take care of it a little bit, but it’s not preventing me from doing anything I want to do. Just being a little mindful, I guess.”

At East Lake Golf Club two weeks ago, McIlroy hit just 20 balls pre-tournament due to a spasm on the right side of his lower back. Clearly in pain during the PGA Tour’s 2022-23 season finale, the World No. 2 struggled at times but managed to scratch out a solo fourth.

Following more than a week’s worth of rest, McIlroy arrived at the K Club feeling more than up for his first Irish Open appearance since 2021. “I’ve had much worse [injuries]. I had much worse back issues when I was 21, so this is fine,” McIlroy said. “This is a bit of tightness, a bit of a muscle spasm.”

McIlroy said that he had previous been sidelined with a herniated disc that was “a lot more worrying than this is.” He continued: “I’ve got really good people around me that know what to do. It’s fine. It’s totally fine. I maybe don’t heal quite as fast as I used to, but it’s all good.”

Between this week’s event and next week’s BMW PGA Championship, McIlroy will join his European teammates for a reconnaissance mission at Marco Simone, site of the Ryder Cup, next Monday before returning to Wentworth to compete in the DP World Tour’s flagship event. After that, one week off before a seventh appearance for Europe at the Ryder Cup.

“It will be nice over these next couple of weeks and obviously the week leading into Rome to sort of feel like I’ve spent some time refining a few things in my game and working on some stuff,” he said, although not offering much insight into exactly what it is he’s working on. “I’m excited to spend the next few weeks over here and do that.”

As if his September wasn’t busy enough, there will also be a trip to the Greek island of Mykonos for a friend’s bachelor party early in the week prior to the Ryder Cup. With only four days between arriving back in London from Greece and heading to Rome, the 34-year-old joked he would be shrewd on the trip.

“I’m sensible when I need to be,” McIlroy said. “[It’s only] 48 hours [in Greece]; a nice little trip, and probably needed as well.”

Added Europe captain Luke Donald, who is also in the field for the Irish Open: “It’s not like Rory is 22 or 21; he understands,” Donald said with a smile. “There’s nothing wrong in going out and have some fun with your friends. But I think he’s got wise enough shoulders to know that he won’t go crazy, so no concerns there.”

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One of the coolest aspects of attending a professional golf tournament as a fan is how close you can get to the players. Even though there are ropes separating you from them, it’s still the only sport where you can essentially be a foot away from one of your heroes while they pound a driver or stripe an iron.

One fan at this week’s Horizon Irish Open on the DP World Tour got extra close to one of the world’s best, Rory McIlroy, and it wasn’t because he broke any rules by sneaking under the ropes. McIlroy actually invited him inside. Wait, what?

At the par-5 10th at the K Club in Ireland, McIlroy’s first hole of the day, the Northern Irishman’s round got off to an ominous start when his drive missed the fairway and plugged in the long rough. When he and partner Billy Horschel arrived on the scene, they were having trouble locating exactly where it had plugged. Per rule 18.2b, if McIlroy was unable to locate the ball within three minutes, it’d be deemed lost and he’d have to return to the tee box, immediately staring double bogey or worse in the face.

A few friendly Irish fans promptly piped up, one of them claiming he knew where it was. “Let this lad in,” one fan says in a video captured by another fan. That’s just what McIlroy and Horschel did, with Horschel asking him to come show them where McIlroy’s ball was. “Pressure’s on now,” says another fan. You’re damn right it was.

Check out the awesome clip below, which ends with the fan in question coming up insanely clutch and locating the ball:

Major relief for all Rory backers on hole 1
?????‍?‍?‍@IrishOpen_ @icyestretro pic.twitter.com/vbLduj9Ayg

— Fran Berry (@Franmberry) September 7, 2023

Nerve-wracking, to say the least. But the fan came through in a big way and got a well-deserved ovation out of it. Well done, good sir. Unfortunately, McIlroy made bogey anyway, though it could have been worse. 

Now, cue the Golf Twitter crybabies complaining that this would only happen for McIlroy, ignoring the fact that the man is literally playing a tournament less than three hours from where he grew up.

The post Rory McIlroy enlists fan to find his plugged golf ball at Irish Open, fan comes up insanely clutch appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

So as the professional game transitions into an era of detente, it’s time to make good on the once-promised strategic alliance between the Euro and American entities in an effort that will support the former and strengthen the latter. It’s time for the PGA Tour to sanction a monthlong European swing.

There’s no need to squint to see how this could come to fruition, for the framework is already in place on the front end. Historically the Irish Open and Scottish Open have preceded the Open Championship, although this year the Irish will be played in the fall. In our proposal, the Irish would return to its historical date before the Scottish, which is in its second year as a co-sanctioned event by the PGA and DP World Tour. When played at the proper venues the Irish and Scottish serve as a two-week Open Championship primer to both players and fans. “Proper” is the operative word, however, and a word that does not always apply to either tournament.

Issues with sponsorship, fields, the DP World Tour schedule, infrastructure and attendance have kept the Irish and Scottish Opens from consistently visiting the best links courses each country has to offer, instead defaulting to hosts that are seeking exposure or relevance. It’s not that courses like Galgorm Castle, Mount Juliet, Loch Lomond, Gleneagles and the K Club are bad; conversely, in lands in which golfers routinely make pilgrimages to these places are far from holy sites. Many of the above courses are also of the parkland variety, a miss considering what is indigenous to this region—and what makes Scotland and Ireland so venerated—is links golf. In an exceedingly paint-by-numbers game, links golf requests (maybe the best phrase is “requires”) a player to draw outside the lines. Precision and power take a backseat to vision, artistry and feel. Links golf asks innumerable questions of a player’s talent, mind and heart, which is why it is often considered the ultimate test in the sport. Parkland golf, even when it’s good, is never that.

Jan Kruger

Similar sentiments apply to the Renaissance Club. It’s a fine setup and has been an adequate host to the Scottish for the last five years. It’s also new, opening in 2008. Compare that with some of its neighbours, which have been around for 200 years and are dripping in history. The Renaissance is a man-made marvel, whereas most Scottish links were erected by the meeting of land and sky and sea and sculpted by the hands of time. That the Renaissance is one of the more expensive tee times in Scotland, a country where golf is affordable and a game of the common man, goes against the very spirit of the national championship.

In short, where the Irish and Scottish have been played—and how they’ve been played—well, it’s sort of like visiting Rome and grabbing lunch at Panda Express.

It’s not that those who run the Scottish and Irish Opens are ambivalent to their plights. There are constraints, prerequisites and realities that come with hosting a modern professional tournament. An urban centre has to be in the vicinity to lodge visitors and facilitate travel; both Scotland and Ireland boast few metropolitan areas. The course itself needs to be able to challenge the world’s best players, and the host club’s physical footprint must provide for tens of thousands of guests, stands, concessions and corporate tents. Most Scottish and Irish links tend to be smaller in scale and their coastal topography, while scenic, is not always conducive to accommodating crowds. The links are also shorter in length, problematic in a professional game that continues to be dominated by distance.

Above all else, there is the necessity of monetary backing. It’s no secret that the European Tour has been in dire financial straits for some time, a predicament only worsened by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s how the Dubai-based DP World company was able to purchase naming rights for the European Tour Group in 2021, and why the Euro Tour listened to overtures from Premier Golf League and Saudi investors before the PGA Tour offered support. The struggles extend to tournament purses, forcing most of Europe’s top talent to migrate to the United States to compete for bigger paydays. As a corollary sponsors are less likely to subsidize a tournament that lacks marquee attractions. It’s a vicious self-fulfilling cycle and one of the many reasons why PGA Tour officials dubbed the European Tour Group as “an underinvested and borderline distressed asset,” according to PGA Tour documents that were accidentally made public earlier this month.

That’s why the PGA Tour’s involvement in a potential European swing is so crucial. With the tour sanctioning the Scottish Open the event’s strength-of-field average doubled, most notably with more front-line firepower in 14 of the world’s top 15 players teeing it up. The tour’s collaboration brought in Genesis as a sponsor, and Genesis increased the purse 28.5 per cent over the previous year and a whopping 177 per cent since 2016. A similar knighting of the Irish Open—which had a $6 million purse last year, lower than every PGA Tour full-field event—could produce dividends in the same ballpark, especially since the Irish has historically laboured with tournament sponsorship. With the PGA Tour serving as a benefactor in both players and dollars, the Irish can return to its normal spot on the schedule (it was moved to the fall in hopes of garnering a better field) and be freed from resorts like the K Club and Mount Juliet to explore more suitable playing venues. Lahinch, Ballyliffin and Portmarnock are past Irish Open hosts that fans would like to see back in the rotation, as is Royal County Down—arguably the best links in the world that has hosted four Irish Opens.

Regarding the Scottish, the tournament should be more ambitious now that it has the tour’s patronage. This is not to say every potential fantasy could come true; Royal Dornoch, consistently ranked as the best links in Scotland, is too remote to host an event, as is Machrihanish. And charming spots like Nairn, Crail and Elie likely won’t be formidable enough against 150-something professionals. However, the tour’s backing should remove some barriers. DP World Tour officials had originally scouted Cruden Bay as a potential Scottish host, although ultimately tournament officials wanted a site closer to Edinburgh. Yet Cruden Bay is just 30 minutes from Aberdeen, a town that is equipped to handle the trappings of a tour event, and Cruden Bay itself is a quirky masterpiece that the world deserves to see. Many pros visit North Berwick’s West Links during Scottish Open week on their own accord, and though the links may be somewhat on the easier side for the world’s best it’s so full of character and romanticism that fans won’t worry about the low scores. Gullane has been a past Scottish Open favourite and certainly has the property to host again, and there’s the case that the PGA Tour should shoot their shot and attempt to get the Old Course into the mix.

Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images

However, our ambitions aren’t just on the Open Championship lead-up. The PGA Tour should also take advantage of the backend of the Open, adding a fourth tournament to its European swing. Ideally this fourth would rotate between London, Paris, Madrid and Berlin, and the focus isn’t so much potential courses as it is the markets they are in. Similar to how the National Football League, National Basketball Association and now Major League Baseball are tapping into these regions by bringing regular-season contests to Europe, the PGA Tour should look to do the same. Perhaps it’s no surprise that LIV Golf’s best-attended events in its two-year run have been on the international front, showcasing there is a global thirst to see golfers that mostly play in the United States.

As for what’s in it for the PGA Tour, the uncomfortable truth is its schedule between the U.S. Open and FedEx Cup doesn’t resonate with most fans. There are no showstoppers in the mix and the fields are routinely weak. By bringing the Irish Open and a moving European tour stop into the mix it can buttress its own product without damaging what already exists. (Note: The John Deere Classic had just one player in the world’s top 25 in its field last week; the 2022 3M Open, which was held after the Open Championship, had the second-worst strength of field average on tour and is expected to have a similar number this year.) There’s also the belief the tour has an obligation to the DP World Tour. It’s no secret that European players and officials are wondering what exactly the DP World Tour is receiving from the PGA Tour in the strategic alliance, especially now that the PGA Tour is taking a Saudi offer that the PGA Tour convinced the DP World Tour not to take. Bringing two more European events into the PGA Tour mix won’t totally assuage hurt and bruised egos, but it’s a start.

It’s worth noting one of the reasons LIV Golf and rogue leagues were fun thought exercises is because the professional game had fallen into stasis. It’s improved since the schism began, but golf’s schedule is still not living up to what it could be. A step in that direction is seeing the DP World Tour is not a bargaining chip but an asset, and a PGA Tour-infused European swing will goes ways in showing there’s nothing second-class about it.

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As announced in April, Ireland’s national open will be played at The K Club in County Kildare, with the 2006 Ryder Cup venue also hosting the Irish Open in 2025 and 2027, with the Challenge Tour’s Irish Challenge being played there in the intervening years, 2022, 2024 and 2026.

Next year’s tournament will be the second staging of the Irish Open at The K Club, the first time coming in 2016 when Rory McIlroy famously claimed the title as he eagled the final hole to win by three strokes, earning his first professional victory on Irish soil.

For Horizon Therapeutics, the global biotechnology company headquartered in Dublin, next September’s tournament will be the second of a six-year agreement signed in February 2022.

Paul Heery, General Manager of The K Club, said: “The K Club has always had a strong reputation as a venue for hosting successful, international golf events. Now, with the guidance and fresh energy from new ownership, we are delighted to be back hosting tournaments of this calibre.

“Supporting the golfing community in Ireland is an extremely important focus for us at The K Club. Our team is incredibly proud to be making this long-term commitment to Irish golf which will see us host six years of high-profile tournaments in Ireland.

“The new date for the Horizon Irish Open will attract a stronger field of golfers, resulting in a more exciting and engaging event for both competitors and followers. We very much look forward to welcoming players from all over the world to our Arnold Palmer designed courses and watching the dramatic action unfold on the fairways.”

Timothy P Walbert, CEO of Horizon Therapeutics, said: “This year’s Horizon Irish Open was a success with record crowds, a significant amount of money raised for Make-A-Wish Ireland and a first-time DP World Tour winner. This tournament holds a significant place in Irish golf tradition and we are very pleased with the collaboration between the tour and the K Club to build on that tradition in September of 2023.”

Simon Alliss, Championship Director of the Irish Open, said: “We are incredibly excited to announce a new date for the Horizon Irish Open and we are looking forward to returning to The K Club next September.

“The Irish Open is one of the highlights of Ireland’s sporting calendar and we look forward to staging the event at a time when European golf will be at the forefront of everyone’s mind ahead of the Ryder Cup.”

In terms of the 2023 Ryder Cup, as announced in August, the qualification for the European Team will conclude on Sunday September 3, the week ahead of the Horizon Irish Open.

The full 2023 DP World Tour schedule will be announced in due course.

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