The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open is no more.
With today’s news of a new title sponsor, we’re getting ourselves set for the Horizon Irish Open, bound for Mount Juliet at the end of June.
Horizon Therapeutics plc, a global biotech firm headquartered in Dublin, have committed to the Irish Open for at least the next six years which sees the competition renamed as the Horizon Irish Open until 2027.
As a result, the prize money on offer in Kilkenny this year will double from 2021 and may serve as a serious carrot for big names this summer.
“The agreement, which was engineered through the Strategic Alliance between the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR, will herald in a new era for the island of Ireland’s national Open and underlines its status as a key event on the DP World Tour. The tournament will see a significant increase in prize money to $6 million, nearly double the amount on offer in the 2021 edition.”
The 2022 edition will once again form part of the Open Qualifying Series, with the top three players not already exempt earning a coveted place in the 150th edition of the Open Championship, taking place two weeks later on the Old Course at St Andrews.
Play gets underway at Mount Juliet from 30 July to 3 July.
Would a $6m prize pot be enough to get Rory McIlroy to commit to playing this summer? Time will tell.