At the start of the year, Rory McIlroy stated that he was going to focus on the things that really mattered to him in golf. He had three main aims for the weeks, months and years ahead. Those were to finally win the US Masters and thus complete the career Grand Slam; to win another Ryder Cup on US soil; and to claim an Olympic medal (we assume he meant in golf, but we reckon he’d be quite handy in sprint cycling too!).
He ticked off the Masters at the first attempt (… or the 17th, depending on how you look at it), the Ryder Cup at Bethpage is just around the corner, and his next shot at Olympic glory will come in the summer of 2026. Winning a second Irish Open title wasn’t on his wish-list, but we fancy that now he has achieved it, and not least because of how he did so, he might just retrospectively add it to that golfing bucket list. His victory at The K Club will certainly be one he never, ever forgets.
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Eagle at the Last to Make Play-off
As kids, golfers dream of having a five-foot putt on the 18th to win the Open, or perhaps the US Masters. Not even the brilliance of childish imagination would dare to envisage teeing off on the 72nd hole of a home Open needing an eagle to make a play-off… and then achieving it. And then winning the tournament.
But that is what McIlroy managed in County Kildare on the 7th of September. The local hero opened with rounds of 71, 66 and 68, which meant he was well placed heading into the final day on 11 under. However, Spaniard Angel Hidalgo’s brilliant 63 on Saturday, which he described as like playing a computer game, meant that Rory was three behind him going into the final round.
The leader after 54 holes was French golfer Adrien Saddier, though. He shot rounds of 67, 66 and 68 to hold a four-shot advantage over Rory, with another Spaniard, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, one better than the home favourite on 12 under.
Saddier, Hidalgo and Garcia-Heredia faded on the Sunday though, with all three shooting rounds in the 70s. Swede Joakim Lagergren appeared to be set to take advantage on a day when the lead was fiercely contested and changed frequently. He was in the group ahead of McIlroy, and when he held his nerve on the 18th to hole a short birdie putt, he had a two-shot advantage over the US Masters champion, having emerged from the pack, which at one stage had created a five-way share of the lead.
Rory teed up on the 72nd hole of the tournament knowing he had to make an eagle three to force a play-off. Lagergren himself had made an eagle three at 16 after a stunning approach to five feet from over 260 yards. When Rory could only manage a par on that hole, it seemed the Swede would have too much. But we should know by now never to write McIlroy off.
Only one other player had made an eagle at 18 on Sunday, but after two excellent shots into the heart of the green, the world number two at least had a chance. It was a slim chance, really, with 25 feet standing between McIlroy and extra holes. However, driven on by a feverish home crowd, his well-struck putt rocketed into the centre of the hole.
The crowd went wild in scenes never really witnessed in golf – at least outside of the Ryder Cup. Irish golf fans of all ages were packed around the green and roared, leapt and danced when the ball obeyed their will, perhaps with a little help from McIlroy, and sank below ground.
Three out of Three for Rory in Play-offs
The incredible eagle meant that Lagregren would have to face Rory, the partisan crowd and the 18th hole over and over again in sudden death if he wanted to claim his first European Tour win since 2018. That success had come via a play-off, while he had lost a three-way shootout in 2017.
In contrast, Rory was bidding for his 20th win on the European Tour, to go with 29 on the PGA Tour. He had two play-off wins under his belt in 2025 alone, landing both the Players and the Masters that way, seeing off JJ Spaun and Justin Rose respectively.
On home soil and given his vastly superior experience, not to mention ability, plus the momentum he had from the eagle at the last, surely there would be only one winner? Lagergren was brilliant for much of the play-off and the pair headed down the 18th not once, not twice, but thrice, before Rory prevailed, both players making birdie fours the first two times. At the third time of asking, it seemed to be advantage Lagergren after he hit another perfect drive while his opponent found the rough.
However, the Swede, unaccustomed to these huge moments, hit his shot into the greenside water. His opponent made a four, and when Lagergren was unable to chip in to match that, the cheers all over the 18th rang out, as Rory claimed his second Irish Open.
Irish Open Multiple Winners
McIlroy has not always been able to fit this tournament into his schedule but he has played it enough that one might have expected he would have already won it several times. However, after victory in 2016, this was just his second success. That said, in becoming a multiple champion of this tournament, which dates back to 1927, McIlroy has joined a rather elite list.
In the modern era, by which we mean since the tournament returned in 1975 after a 20-year hiatus, only the following greats have won it more than once.
- Mark James – 1979, 1980
- Seve Ballesteros – 1983, 1985, 1986
- Bernhard Langer – 1984, 1987, 1994
- Ian Woosnam – 1988, 1989
- Nick Faldo – 1991, 1992, 1993
- Sam Torrance – 1981, 1995
- Colin Montgomerie – 1996, 1997, 2001
- Jon Rahm – 2017, 2019
Faldo and Seve are perhaps the best European players of all time, aside from Rory. Can he join them, Langer and Monty and win the Irish Open for a third time? We certainly wouldn’t bet against it, but for now, it is all about the Ryder Cup!