McIlroy wins Irish Open in dramatic play-off

Final-round leaderboard for the Irish Open

-17 R McIlroy (NI) *, J Lagergren (Swe)

McIlroy wins the sudden-death play-off’s third hole.

Selected others: -15 A Hidalgo (Spa), R Cabrera-Bello (Spa), -13 A Ayora (Spa), A Saddier (Fra), -7 S Lowry (Ire), -6 T McKibbin (NI), -2 T Hatton (Eng)

Rory McIlroy won the Irish Open in a dramatic play-off and won for the first time since earning a Grand Slam at the Masters in April.

At the conclusion of a thrilling final round, the world number two edged out Joakim Lagergren of Sweden on the third extra hole to claim his second national title at the K Club.

In a remarkable finish, McIlroy completed Lagergren’s six-under-par 66 with a 25-foot eagle putt on the 72nd hole, amid ecstatic scenes on the County Kildare course.

The Northern Irishman’s fourth victory of the year comes just three weeks before the Ryder Cup, but McIlroy won after Lagergren found water on the third hole after birdiing the first two play-off holes.

This has been absolutely incredible, McIlroy said to Sky Sports, “I thought it was going to be a nice homecoming, obviously coming home with a green jacket and everything.”

“This has been beyond my expectations,” he said. I’m so, so happy that I got to play this week’s way for everyone and win.

After the heartache of Royal County Down, where McIlroy was 12 months ago when he missed an eagle putt on the final hole, took Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard to extra holes, there was a sense of redemption for him.

McIlroy, however, knocked his eagle putt home on Sunday, winning the play-off for the third time this year after the Players Championship and the Masters.

He continued, “I hit it, and I wanted to just be aggressive with it.”

With a dropped shot on the opening hole, McIlroy’s hopes were dented by four shots at the start of the day when he was four shots behind overnight leader Adrien Saddier.

However, he made three birdies in his final four holes, including the second and fifth, to reclaim the lead.

McIlroy also birdied the ninth and thirteenth holes, and he added a memorable shot to keep his hopes alive on the 18th.

With Lagergren, Saddier, Angel Hidalgo, and Rafael Cabrera-Bello making a hole-in-one on the third day, McIlroy was in a five-way tie for the lead.

After a stunning eagle on the 16th after knocking his 266-yard approach five feet, 36-hole leader Lagergren made three birdies before bogging down to make the 74-hole par.

Lagergren, who won the 2018 DP World Tour’s only other title, was the last to clear the chase pack.

Importantly, McIlroy’s win on Sunday marks his best-ever appearance since his low-key PGA Tour season ended in a draw.

McIlroy and his European team-mates will attempt to defend their Ryder Cup title against the United States at Bethpage Black in New York after winning the BMW PGA Championship next week at Wentworth.

No matter what happens for the rest of the year, McIlroy said, “To do what I did earlier in the year and then to win my national open,” it was a pretty cool year.

“2025 will go down as one of my best, if not the best of my career.”

We’re not yet finished, as I said. Everyone is looking forward to the Ryder Cup, and I have a busy week ahead of me at Wentworth next week.