Rory, Dubai All In On Irish Open For Three More Years

It wasn't that long ago we were a little uncomfortable when Tiger's foundation became a beneficiary of the Deutsche Bank Championship in what seemed like a back door appearance fee.

But as we've seen with the world schedule stretching players, those ties to a player--whether Tiger and his foundation or something more loosely associated with a home course endorsement deal like Ian Poulter and the British Masters--there hasn't been much downside to active players having associations with events.

The Irish Open appears to have been saved by the final months of the George O'Grady administration (nice work James Finnegan), though may be created with Rory rules re-writer Keith Pelley. The event may even thrive thanks to Rory McIlroy and Dubai Duty Free's involvement going forward for another three years, as reported by Brian Keogh at the Irish Golf Desk. The purse is going up and McIlroy is lobbying people like Tiger to play.

The only "eh" news in this is the venue talk, which hasn't been quite at the Scottish Open's level since Royal County Down hosted the Irish Open in 2015. Then again, not much can sniff a venue of that world-class character.

From a follow up post by Keogh:

Officially, the 2017 Irish Open will still take place at the Lough Erne Resort in Co Fermanagh, though there is some uncertainty in industry circles that this will now go ahead following the sale of the resort to a US buyer since it was awarded the tournament last year.

With the Portstewart Golf Club confirming last week that they are keen to host the event on their famous Strand links, and with former Irish Open venues such as Adare Manor and Mount Juliet undergoing facelifts, a future strategy for the event appears to be taking shape.