Rory McIlroy stormed to his second Irish Open in the most dramatic fashion on Sunday evening, defeating Joakim Lagergren in a three-hole playoff in front of a raucous K-Club crowd.
By the time the Holywood native teed off just before lunch time, every inch of real estate around the County Kildare venue’s fairways were thronged, and thousands of fans raced from hole to hole following the only Irish contender.
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While a nervous start saw McIlroy handed a not entirely deserved bogey on the first, he wouldn’t falter again. The Masters champion effortlessly rectified his score with a birdie on the second, before carding another four birdies by the time he closed out the 13th.
The pièce de résistance, however, came right at the death when on the eighteenth green, two shots behind the clubhouse leader, Joakim Lagergren, McIlroy holed the most sensational of eagle putts to force a playoff against the Swedish golfer.
EAGLE FOR RORY MCILROY AT THE LAST! 💥 pic.twitter.com/aF3ekGblfN
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) September 7, 2025
From there, it was simply a battle of wills, a test of who would blink first. After two nail-biting yet inconclusive runs up the eighteenth, Lagergren’s approach cruelly found the water, opening the door for McIlroy who launched one into the centre of green and two-putted for a birdie and first Irish Open win with Harry Diamond.
7 September 2025; Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland celebrates after winning the play off to win the Amgen Irish Open Golf Championship 2025 at The K Club in Straffan, Kildare. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
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Rory McIlroy pockets eye-watering sum after Irish Open win
Aside from the pedigree of winning his national open in front of one of golf’s most electric crowds, the Holywood golfer also pocketed a tidy $1.02m (€870,000) of the $6m purse for winning the event.
While the eye-watering sum is certainly nothing to be scoffed at, it is €50,000 less than the €920,000 Rasmus Højgaard received for his victory at Royal County Down in 2024.
The reason for that lies in the strength of the Euro and the Dollar. Surprisingly, even though the Irish Open is played in Ireland and is a DP World Tour (previously the European Tour) event, the prize money is paid out in dollars.
Both Højgaard and McIlroy received a winner’s prize of $1.02m; however, the change in exchange rates over the last twelve months has seen the value of McIlroy’s winnings drop dramatically.
Shane Lowry and Tom McKibbin, who finished tied for 15th and 20th, respectively, also enjoyed a healthy payday after their efforts in Kildare, adding $81,820 (€69,785) and $67,000 (€57,145) to their wallets.
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