Leaderboard:
-17 Lagergren (F), McIlroy (F)
-15 Cabrera-Bello (F), Hidalgo (F)
Selected Irish:
-7 Lowry (F)
-6 McKibbin (F)
E Maguire (F)
The 72nd hole eagle:
“Inevitable, wasn’t it?” Philip Reid writes from The K Club. “Except, for a time, doubt hung in the air around this piece of real estate in Co Kildare.
“Until, finally, it didn’t, as Rory McIlroy – who required three holes of sudden death to finally overcome the stubborn resistance of Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren – again produced that masterful X-factor to add further lustre to his golfing legacy."
Read Philip’s report in full below:
[ Showman Rory McIlroy delights home crowd with dramatic Irish Open winOpens in new window ]
Rory McIlroy: “I feel so lucky I get to do this, in front of these people. The support has been amazing all week. I thought it was a nice homecoming, this has been incredible, it has exceeded all my expectations.
“I love coming home, I love playing in this atmosphere. Moments like this, this is what you’re going to remember.
On the 18th: “I had a putt last year, it just missed on the high side. I felt it was a bit of redemption. Such a cool moment, that gave me a place in the playoff. In the playoff it was a case of who was going to blink first, Lagergren hit a poor shot on the third playoff hole and it worked out for me.”
“There are few golfers in the world get the support I do from home. I don’t take it for granted, I feel very grateful and very lucky to do this. Can’t wait to celebrate tonight.”
“2025 is going down as one of the best if not the best of my career. I feel I’m playing well, that excites me for what’s coming ahead.”
Lagergren’s chip goes past the hole.
Rory McIlroy has won the Irish Open!
Because Lagergren landed above the red line, he will have not too bad of a drop not far from the hole, which means that McIlroy probably needs to get down in two.
Eagle putt to win the Irish Open... nearly holes it! Just six inches short. That’s a birdie in the bag and Lagergren has to chip in to extend the playoff.
Lagergren pulls it into the water! Shocking error from the fairway, that was unexpected. Advantage McIlroy.
McIlroy can’t believe his luck really as he hits a fine iron shot from the rough to the middle of the green.
Another fairway found by Lagergren then, becoming automatic. The third playoff hole, each one the 18th. Another eagle might be needed as the pair shared birdies over the first few attempts.
Oh dear, one of the first big errors as McIlroy misses the fairway with his drive this time.
McIlroy has now played this hole six times for a combined seven under par.
Good effort by Rory, lags it up nicely, maybe four feet or so, threatened the hole. Lagergren has a putt to win the Irish Open now.
Lagergren misses! And knocks it about the same past Rory’s, some discussion about who was further but they rule Rory’s was. McIlroy to go first then.
Birdie for McIlroy! Still alive.
Birdie for Lagergren. We go again.
321 yards drive for McIlroy at the 18th.
Lagergren goes first this time and hits a superb iron shot to closer than the previous one. Putting the pressure on.
A mediocre approach there by Rory sadly, he caught it heavy. It makes the green but a very long putt left. Advantage Lagergren.
2nd playoff hole: Lagergren is down the fairway again, doesn’t look as far as last time though. McIlroy outdrives him, down the fairway too. Great battle here.
Lagergren first from about 40 feet, great effort but just fades away at the end, that will be a birdie.
McIlroy then for an eagle. To win the Irish Open. Oh so close, but just by, he couldn’t repeat the trick but a birdie for Rory. Birdie for Lagergren, and they will be back to the tee again for the second time.
1st playoff hole: Good drive by McIlroy again at the 18th and another brilliant approach by Rory. 30 feet or so for eagle.
Lagergren is closer off the tee and from the semi-rough has a marker and hits a fine shot too. Slightly longer, a putting contest then on the first extra hole. Tens of thousands of people around the green at 18, what a scene.
The playoff will be the final hole again, a hole McIlroy has eagled in regulation twice on 72nd holes here before now.
The crowd chants “Rory! Rory!” as Paul McGinley says “just box office”. Hard to disagree.
Hidalgo has a long-distance putt to make the playoff with McIlroy and Lagergren. 76 feet though, even on a day of great shots, surely not.
No eagle for Hidalgo then, but a great effort this week.
The stage is set for McIlroy then, needs to hole it to force a playoff.
EAGLE FOR MCILROY! Wow what a moment, have you heard a roar like that?
Straight in the middle, a magic moment.
Hidalgo (-15) is still fighting, but a long birdie putt left on 17.
340 yards by McIlroy, huge drive in soft conditions on the 18th. He’ll have just over 200 yards in.
Right then, McIlroy has 201 yards, an iron in, has to go for it, what’s he got? Great effort! He wants it to go further but it’s 20-25 feet maybe for eagle.
Lagergren (-16) then for eagle at 18... not the best one, still five or six feet left for his birdie.
Great drive by McIlroy at the 18, gives him a chance of going for eagle.
Birdie for Lagergren! He holes it, a round of 66 that could be too much for McIlroy to beat. 17-under-par total. Goes three under for his last three holes with a stunning eagle at the 16th, hard to beat. Eagle or nothing for Rory.
213 from the pin, hits a long iron to the heart of the green by leader Lagergren (-16) 65 feet left, get down in two and he’s hard to beat.
29 feet for McIlroy (-15) at 17 for birdie. Important moment, but it just drifts to the left, it’s a par and he may need an eagle at 18.
Great drive by Lagergren (-16) on 18, the hardest part to hit the fairway and puts himself in a good position to go for a final birdie.
McIlroy (-15) has got 173 yards in from the semi-rough at the 17th. Decent shot on the green but an outside birdie chance.
Birdie for Hidalgo (-15) holes it, back in the frame at one behind.
Hidalgo (-14) from 246 yards is on the green about 35 feet away for eagle. Great shot, if not in comparison to the heroics of Lagergren. Par for Lagergren on 17, a birdie at 18 and it’s hard to see him beaten.
McIlroy is okay at the 17th, just off the fairway but a decent angle for going in.
Just a par for Cabrera-Bello (-15) at the last. He’ll set the clubhouse target but unlikely to be enough.
34 feet for McIlroy on the 16th, he looks all around the hole. He’s pulled off some big putts today, but this would a lot even for him.
A slow putt that kinda dribbles to the hole, looked well short at first, but should be a par.
Lagergren misses his birdie putt on 17, a few feet left to clean up.
130 yards for McIlroy and he plays it quite safe with water to the right, middle of the green but he’ll need to pull off another massive putt to get the birdie there.
Not a good lie for McIlroy and under a tree. Tricky to even get it to good range. Working out his yardages here, wouldn’t be a spot he’d usually be in. McIlroy lays up then.
Hidalgo misses a big birdie chance on 15 meanwhile.
The sun has come out for the final three holes. McIlroy famously hit the green in two on 16 and 18 in 2016 en route to winning. On 18 to stone dead. Can he do it again?
Unlikely after another wayward drive sadly. In the rough, he’ll likely have to lay up.
Eagle for Lagergren! He moves into the lead on -16, the shot deserved that.
An absolute cracker by Lagergren (-14) at the 16th, wow. At the tough par 5 he nails a wood to close. A short eagle putt to take the lead.
Cabrera-Bello (-15) avoids the water on 17 but way too much, way right into the trees, that will be tough from there.
Par for McIlroy, good effort but he’ll definitely take a par after the drive.
McIlroy (-15) somehow gets away with it again, no more than a few feet from the water, inside the right line. Has to take down a red stick to make way. 150 yards with a tree on his right. He asks for it to go and it does. Pitches perfectly 20 feet from the pin. Spot on.
Bogey for Hidalgo! He misses the putt to fall out of the lead of Cabrera-Bello and McIlroy.
Hidalgo lines up the bunker shot like he’s trying to hole it, but pitches it too far and has a tester back for par.
Birdie for Cabrera-Bello! Big moment for the Spaniard as he moves into a tie for the lead.
No dice for McIlroy at the 13th from 25 feet, he knocks in a two footer for par to stay at -15.
Hidalgo hates his shot at the 14th as he drops his club in disgust. Rory hates his more at the 15th as his drive looks like it might have gone in the water. Oh dear. It’s close, will be lucky to get away with that one.
McIlroy follows up then with a great approach at the 13th. But the chasing pack haven’t given up, Hidalgo with a cracking approach at 13 to close.
Birdie for Hidalgo! He joins the lead on -15.
Birdie for McIlroy! Six feet, it wriggles in somehow, a remarkable putt that did a nearly full 360 around the hole and falls in. McIlroy can’t believe it, but he’s in the lead. If it’s your day, it’s your day...
313 off the tee for McIlroy on the 13th, again just off 100 yards wedge. Beautiful shot to seven or eight feet for birdie!
Bogey for Saddier at the 12th. The overnight leader drops out of the lead (-13).
Good drive at 13 for McIlroy, safely on the fairway. Still no movement from that group of five, -14 is the number at the minute but with a few par 5s to come, you imagine -16 would be the number at least.
Not Rory’s best bunker shot ever on the 12th on a week where his bunker shots have stood out. Longer than he’d like for a sand save.
McIlroy then from seven feet... straight in! Par for McIlroy (-14).
“In your head, in your head”, Zombie from the Cranberries, with a Rory twist, comes out from the speaker, followed by Mr Brightside as McIlroy hits an approach at the 12th over the green into the bunker.
Good tee shot by McIlroy on 11 and a good approach from 125 yards out. He has another birdie chance to take the lead on his own.
Alright then, 12 feet for the lead then Rory. Nope, never going in sadly, off to the right. Just a par as the party hole 12th comes up next.
Just a par for McIlroy (-14) in the end but still in the lead.
Meanwhile Shane Lowry finishes off with a birdie, a round of 71 which has him inside the top 20 on -7.
McIlroy goes a little right at the 10th hole off the tee as Hidalgo joins the lead with a big fist pump, great birdie at the 9th. Five-way lead then. Anyone’s game.
McIlroy pokes it with a wood into the rough about 50 yards short of the green, would have preferred the bunker but not too bad.
Birdie for McIlroy! He drains it to join the lead! Four-way tie at the top - Cabrera-Bello, McIlroy, Lagergren and Saddier.
What a shot by McIlroy! From the rough on nine, he hits it over everything to leave himself a 15 footer for birdie. May be sensing blood as he chases his 45th worldwide win.
McIlroy launches one at the ninth but comes out of it in the swing and goes well right into the rough.
Cabrera-Bello (-14) misses a great chance to join the lead of Saddier at the 10th, as Saddier continues to miss greens but grind away to stay at -15, another good chip at the eighth gives him a chance to save, which he finally misses to fall to -14... Rory only one behind.
Remarkable shot by the entertainer Hidalgo (-13) at the eighth as he hits a flop shot that hits the very top of the flagstick and falls down, all with the dramatic pose. The gallery liked that one.
The rain is back at the K Club with vengeance, lashing again as Cabrera-Bello (-14) lays up at the par 5 10th. Lagergren (-14) meanwhile hits it close at 9 with a chance to join the lead, he misses it though, big opportunity wasted.
The Swede is an Irish specialist, it seems, having won the second-tier Northern Ireland Open Challenge in 2014 and the Irish Challenge in 2024. Irish Open would complete the set.
McIlroy’s birdie putt at the eighth (-13) just a few inches away, great effort but lurking and ready to kick off you’d think with three par 5s left in his final 10 holes.
McIlroy (-13) leaves his birdie putt short at the seventh, he’s annoyed by that one.
Lagergren (-14) is on the charge now and holes a birdie putt at the eighth and straight down the middle at the ninth.
Cabrera-Bello is up to 14 under and flying it today, the course is there for the taking now in soft conditions with the rain stopping. Saddier (-15) has a tough par save ahead at the sixth hole after a poor approach, but he makes it.
McIlroy is middle of the fairway at the seventh par 4, from 119 yards another green light special and he doesn’t love it but it’s another big birdie chance from about 10-15 feet.
Birdie putt for McIlroy (-13) from 16 feet at the par 4 sixth after an approach from 160 yards. It just slides by for par but right in the thick of the tournament.
Sorry for the delay but it was Birdie for McIlroy at the fifth, another stunning putt from 42 feet to get to 13 under. He has got it going with the flatstick.
Birdie at the last for McKibbin, it’s a round of 69 and he’s inside the top 25 for now.
McIlroy’s eagle putt then comes up short, the moisture probably making an impact. Short enough putt left for birdie though.
Birdie for McIlroy! Only three behind.
220 yards into the par 5, an iron in hand for McIlroy (-11). Hits a low cut up the side of the green. Fine shot and an eagle putt coming up of a decent distance coming up!
Hidalgo makes bogey on 3 to drop to -13.
Unfortunately McKibbin’s (-5) nicely played final round has been spoiled by a double bogey at the 17th after he hit the water off the tee.
Big drive at the par 5 fourth hole for McIlroy (-11), where a birdie is surely a must.
Hidalgo (-14) bogeyed the second and has a decent sized par putt to come at the third.
Cabrera-Bello has a rare chance to go eagle-eagle to burst into contention, but just leaves the putt short, but he’s up to -13.
Par for Rory. Big moment for McIlroy (-11) as he holes well from nine feet.
Poor shot by McIlroy (-11) at the third, misses the green to the left and it’s not clear if it’s in the bunker or in the water. McIlroy just about safe from the water, in thick, wet rough which held it up, but leaves himself a tricky par putt left with his chip.
Saddier (-15) hits a nice shot at the second and has a chance for birdie which he misses, Hidalgo (-14) had to lay up and has a similar length putt for par, which he misses. Saddier back in front.
Birdie for McIlroy! 38 feet for McIlroy up the hill and it’s right in the middle. That’s more like it, back to -11. The crowd loved that one.
Good par by Saddier (-15), solid stroke, but he’s lost his lead on Hidalgo (-15), who taps in from a foot.
McIlroy only 105 yards in at the 2nd, a wedge, he eyes it down but it’s a mediocre shot that spins back and leaves himself a long birdie putt.
Hidalgo hits a cracking shot at the first, spins it back to a couple of feet. He should join Saddier in the lead, or maybe take the lead, with Saddier missing the green.
McIlroy is safely on the fairway at the second.
Hole-in-one alert! Cabrera-Bello pitching it in at the 3rd. One bounce and straight in the hole. Magic moment for the fans! He’s up to -12.
Bogey for McIlroy! Misses an eight-footer for par sadly.
Lagergren starts with a birdie on the opening hole to move up to 12 under.
McIlroy misses the green with his second shot, into the greenside rough on the right. But shouldn’t be the most difficult up and down.
McIlroy is on the tee now after a bit of practice, his bunker shots have been top-class this week so far.
First hole is 417 yards, tight par 4. He hits a draw with a 3 wood right down the middle.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Irish Open final round from The K Club. Rory McIlroy is in contention in tied fourth position, four off the lead of Adrien Saddier. That is certainly surmountable if McIlroy hits his top form at a course where he won his only previous Irish Open in 2016. McIlroy has been in fine form this week, and enjoyed a homecoming type event after his round on Thursday, where he brought out the Masters green jacket in front of the fans. The home crowd will only be for one man today, even if it means getting soaked from the heavy rain so far this morning. He tees off at 12.56pm.
The leaderboard:
-15 Saddier
-14 Hidalgo
-12 Garcia-Heredia
-11 McIlroy, Lagergren
Selected Irish:
-7 McKibbin (14)
-6 Lowry (6)
+1 Maguire (F)
