The proprietor of the Doonbeg venue, US President Donald Trump, is anticipated to be in attendance at the tournament this week. His visit to Ireland forms part of a broader two-day diplomatic trip to the country.
During his stay, Trump is scheduled to hold discussions with Irish President Catherine Connolly and engage in a bilateral meeting with Taoiseach Micheal Martin.
The president is expected to touch down in Ireland on Saturday. He may cap the weekend by handing the winner’s trophy to the champion on Sunday evening.
Protests have been planned ahead of Trump’s return to the small County Clare village, where locals reportedly hold mixed feelings about the president’s connection to their community. Nevertheless, the convergence of high-level politics and elite professional golf promises to make this one of the most talked-about Irish Opens in recent memory.
Donald Trump will be attending the Irish Open as part of his visit of the country
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REUTERSThe 2026 Irish Open gets under way this week at Trump International Golf Links & Hotel in County Clare, marking the first occasion the Doonbeg course has staged the prestigious event.
Golf’s focus on Ireland’s Atlantic coastline follows hot on the heels of Great Britain and Ireland’s thrilling Walker Cup triumph at Lahinch, situated just 16 miles up the road.
A field brimming with quality has assembled for what promises to be a captivating week on the links. Six-time major champion Rory McIlroy leads the billing as he seeks to defend the title he won so memorably twelve months ago.
The tournament serves as a warm-up for next week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, the tour’s flagship occasion. With no shortage of compelling narratives surrounding the event, Doonbeg is poised to command the sporting world’s attention over the coming days.
McIlroy’s defence of the crown carries considerable momentum. At The K Club last year, the Northern Irishman produced one of the most thrilling finishes in the tournament’s history.
Rory McIlroy leads the star-studded line-up set to take part in the competition
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REUTERSTrailing Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren by two strokes on the final hole, McIlroy holed a remarkable 25-foot eagle putt to force a playoff. He then prevailed on the third extra hole to seal an emotional victory before a rapturous home crowd.
The final round had been a riveting affair, with overnight leader Adrien Saddier, Angel Hidalgo and Rafael Cabrera-Bello — who aced the third — all in the mix alongside the eventual champion.
That triumph arrived nine years after his maiden Irish Open success and just three weeks before he helped Europe retain the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
Should McIlroy lift the trophy again this Sunday, he would join Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie as three-time winners of the event.
The Spaniard Jon Rahm stands out among a formidable cast of challengers. The two-time major winner is himself chasing a third Irish Open title, having previously triumphed at Portstewart in 2017 and Lahinch in 2019.
Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open champion who famously claimed his national title as an amateur back in 2009, is hunting a first individual victory in four years after finishing tied 15th at The K Club.
Young Holywood compatriot Tom McKibbin, 23, arrives with encouraging recent form, having contended at last month’s British Masters before a triple bogey derailed his final-round challenge.
Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington and two-time PGA Tour winner Seamus Power bolster the Irish contingent further.
European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, Robert MacIntyre, Sepp Straka and the Hojgaard twins add considerable lustre, while five-time major winner Brooks Koepka returns after missing the cut on debut last year.
Rahm’s presence at Doonbeg comes against a backdrop of considerable turbulence in professional golf. The breakaway LIV Golf circuit, which burst onto the scene in 2022, curtailed its most recent season prematurely after the Public Investment Fund withdrew its financial support.
The uncertainty surrounding LIV’s future has not prevented several of its players from teeing it up in County Clare. Alongside Rahm, who claimed the LIV Golf individual title for a third consecutive year, England’s Tyrrell Hatton and Chilean Joaquin Niemann feature in the field.
McKibbin, too, competes as a LIV player, adding an intriguing dimension to the young Northern Irishman’s week on home soil.
The presence of these players lends the tournament an additional layer of intrigue, with the professional game’s fractured landscape forming an unmistakable subplot to the on-course action at Trump International.
