Rory McIlroy, fellow DP World Tour pros set for Irish Open on arguably world’s best course

Rory McIlroy might be headlining the field for this week’s Amgen Irish Open, but he’s not the only headline.

For the first time since 2015, Royal County Down, considered one of the best golf courses in the world, will host a DP World Tour event. This will mark just the fourth time that the Newcastle, Northern Ireland layout will host the Irish Open, doing so in 1928, 1935 and 2015. It also has hosted several notable amateur championships, including the 2007 Walker Cup, which featured several future major winners and PGA Tour standouts, including McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Webb Simpson.

Royal County Down checks in at No. 1 on Golf Digest’s most recent World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses list. It’s also first on Golfweek’s Best International Courses for 2024 and sixth on Golf.com’s Top 100 Courses in the World for 2023-24.

• GOLFPASS: Is Royal County Down or Royal Portrush better?

Joining McIlroy in this week’s field are Shane Lowry, Bob MacIntyre, Nicolai Hojgaard and Tom McKibbin, the 21-year-old who grew up on the same course as McIlroy, Holywood Golf Club outside of Belfast.