Golf Betting - Irish Open
History - Facts - Winners
The Irish Open is a European Tour golf tournament which is currently played in May each year. It has been sponsored by Nissan Ireland since 2003 and had other title sponsors before that. At the present time it is one of two European Tour events played in the Ireland each season, the other being the Smurfit European Open.
The Irish Open is played the week before the European Tour's "home tournament" the BMW PGA Championship, which helps it to attract fairly strong fields. In 2006 it was played at Carton House Golf Club at Maynooth in County Kildare. The prize fund was €2,200,000 which is in the middle of the pack for a European Tour event, being more than most of the tour's co-sanctioned events outside the continent of Europe, and a few of the smaller events staged in Europe, but less than the leading events held in Europe, and much less than the major championships or the World Golf Championships events which the European Tour co-sanctions with the PGA Tour.
The tournament's 2005 rating in the Official World Golf Rankings system was high enough for the winner to qualify for the WGC-NEC Invitational. From 2007 to 2009 the Irish Open will be held at Adare Golf Club, Co. Limerick. There will be no title sponsor as the owner of Adare Golf Club wishes to emphasise the tournament's status as his country's national open, but a group of non-title sponsors has been lined up and the prize fund will be increased to €2,500,000 for 2007.
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