Overview
- Rory McIlroy forced a playoff with a 27–30 foot eagle putt on the 72nd hole at The K Club and beat Joakim Lagergren on the third extra hole for his second Irish Open title.
- The win, McIlroy’s fourth of the season and 20th on the DP World Tour, follows his Masters triumph and bolsters Europe ahead of Bethpage Black.
- After trailing early, the United States led 6.5–5.5 after day one at Cypress Point and then won eight of 10 Sunday singles to clinch a fifth straight Walker Cup, 17–9.
- GB&I’s drought continues, with no Walker Cup victory since 2015 and none on U.S. soil since 2001, despite splitting the final morning foursomes.
- Bryson DeChambeau made an unannounced visit and delivered a Saturday pep talk that U.S. captain Nathan Smith said energized his team, as McIlroy’s earlier video to GB&I declared, “please beat them because I know we’re going to beat them at Bethpage.”