Fresh from his T27 Masters finish in Augusta last week, Séamus Power has been announced for the Horizon Irish Open at Mount Juliet this June/July.
The west-Waterford native, currently ranked 40th in the world, will make a rare Irish appearance this summer, beginning with the Irish Open before looking towards the Scottish Open and The Open at St. Andrew’s later in July.
Speaking to Scoreline this afternoon from his hotel in New Orleans where he’s paired with Graeme McDowell for the Zurich Classic this week, Power says he can’t wait for another crack at the Kilkenny course.
“It’s about a close an Irish Open I’m going to get to where I grew up”, says Power.
“I’ve great memories playing there growing up. We played the South Eastern Alliance in the winter growing up. Even going back to the days where they had the WGC there, I remember being up there because it was so close, watching Tiger play that year and Ernie [it was Bernhard Langer] win it the next year.
I really can’t wait. I obviously don’t get to play a lot of golf in Ireland. I’ve incredible memories of Lahinch in 2019, all my family were there watching, friends coming up, I’d have the home support and obviously, for Mount Juliet, I hopefully will have the same.
“I’m looking forward to a really great week there.”
There may be a few months to go yet until the Horizon Irish Open gets underway and while Power is the first of the Irish contenders to be named for the field, he certainly won’t be the last.
The 2021 edition saw Padraig Harrington, Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy take to the field, with Australian Lucas Herbert taking the top honours with a three-shot victory on the final day. McIlroy has yet to reveal whether he’ll recommit to his home open for 2022.
Prior to the 2021 edition, Mount Juliet had hosted the Irish Open for three consecutive years in 1993, 1994 and 1995, won by Englishman Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer of Germany and Scotland’s Sam Torrance respectively.
It was announced in February that all general admission tickets for Sunday at the 2022 Horizon Irish Open have sold out, the earliest sell-out day in the history of the DP World Tour.
Limited tickets still remain for the Wednesday Celebrity Pro-Am, as well as the first three tournament days – Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Play gets underway on 30 June.
