Rory McIlroy once donated all of his winnings from the Irish Open to charity as he prepares for the 2025 edition.
The Northern Irishman is back on familiar territory at the K Club in Kildare, where he last claimed victory in 2016.
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McIlroy made a huge gesture after winning at the K ClubCredit: PA
This also happens to be the last time this venue hosted the event, and the 2025 Masters champion made a steady start on Thursday, shooting one-under par on the opening day, five shots off the lead.
In 2016, this proved to be McIlroy’s first win of the season as he finished on 12 under par to claim the title.
It required an incredible end from McIlroy to win, as with three holes to play, he trailed Scotsman Russell Knox by one.
But a birdie on the 16th and eagle on the 18th ensured that he claimed the win by three shots, beating Knox and Welshman Bradley Dredge.
It was an outstanding end to the final round, and after, McIlroy was blown away by his own performance.
He said: “To finish like I did is something I’ll never forget.
“To win in front of my home fans and to look up and see my friends and family there is something very special for me.
“I’m excited about the weeks ahead. Hopefully, I can take this form into the summer.”
The prize for winning the Irish Open was £515,000 for the then-27-year-old, which he immediately donated to his charity, the Rory Foundation.
The Rory Foundation had hosted the event, and the Northern Irishman decided to pay them back for that.
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2016 was a pretty tough year for McIlroyCredit: Getty
This result marked the end of a winless drought during that season for McIlroy, but it didn’t prove to be quite the catalyst that it could have been.
From there, McIlroy won two PGA Tour events, including the Deutsche Bank Championship, while at the Majors, it was disappointing.
At both the US Open and PGA Championship, he missed the cut for the last two days of action.
McIlroy came into the 2025 Irish Open off the back of another winless run.
Where does McIlroy stand this time?
McIlroy has barely competed on the DP World Tour this season, playing in just one event, while since winning The Masters in April, he hasn’t been successful at any tournament.
Of course, winning The Masters at Augusta was a lifelong dream for the Northern Irishman.
It also marked a moment in history as he became only the sixth player to complete the Grand Slam of golf, meaning he’s won ever major at least once.
It was weighing down on McIlroy for a long time, but he finally did it, and since then, he’s elected to miss a few tournaments to savour the moment.
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The feeling of owning that green jacket is like nothing in golfCredit: Getty
Speaking after the Tour Championship, he said: “The season’s not over for me, I’ve still got a lot of golf coming up, so I refuse to call this the end of the season.
“This week, I hit it better. The things that I wanted to improve on this week I did.
“Off the tee was much better, I’m probably leading the strokes gained off the tee, but I just couldn’t get the speeds of the greens all week, and I struggled to see lines and to feel the speed.
“That was really the story of the week. My putting was so good last week at Caves and then my off the tee play wasn’t good and it sort of just inverted.
“But I definitely improved from tee to green this week, I just couldn’t get a putt to drop really. My game feels close, it certainly isn’t far away.”
McIlroy is also gearing up for the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black later in September.
