Ryder Cup trio add to stellar line-up for Irish Open
The European Tour event, hosted by the Rory Foundation as it returns to the north for the first time since Donaldson triumphed at Royal Portrush in 2012, had already been set to boast a superb line-up with world number one Rory McIlroy leading a cast including seven fellow major champions Ernie Els, Martin Kaymer, Padraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell, Paul Lawrie, José Maria Olazábal and current Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke as well as newly-minted Players Championship winner Rickie Fowler and his American compatriot Patrick Reed.
Yet the finalised field now comprises 16 of the world’s top 50 players for the €2.5 million tournament featuring some of the game’s most in-form stars with Players runner-up Sergio Garcia, who lost a play-off with Fowler, joined by last week’s Mauritius Open winner George Coetzee and play-off protagonist Thorbjorn Olesen as well as Cadillac Match Play semi-finalist Danny Willett.
