It seems strange to say this given that two years ago the future of the Irish Open was in doubt - but the revival of the tournament has meant that it could become one of the features of the European Tour.
Rory McIlroy has sparked the revival by hosting the last two tournaments - ensuring that the likes of Rickie Fowler appeared last year, with the Masters champion in the field at the K Club this week.
Now, Dubai Duty Free are looking to increase their investment in the tournament - leading to an huge increase in prize-money for the Irish Open. The current pot for the K Club tournament stands at €4 million, but if the sponsorship is agreed it would nearly double to € 7 million.
The consequences of that would be huge. Should it go to €7 million there would only be only one European Tour event, other than the majors or World Golf Championships, that would have a bigger payday - the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
The executive vice chairman of Dubai Duty Free, Colin McLoughlin is encouraging that the change happens sooner rather than later:
We would be encouraging the prizemoney to go higher and higher. I know the Tour is saying €7 million. The quicker they do that, the better.
It was very encouraging last year and we think it’s going to grow from our point of view. We know the Tour have an ambition that it would be one of four or five tournaments in Europe with a prize fund of €7 million.
That would mean that the world's best players would be attracted to these shores - which would be a boon for Irish golf and the local economy.
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Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
