The Irish Open is well-known for welcoming players from all over the world with a warm embrace – and this year well over 50 different nationalities have turned up for a hug! From Australia to Argentina, from South Korea to Uruguay, the Main Event has once again proved a truly multinational event.
This year’s giant, record-breaking field of 3,233 players hail from some 55 different countries. The vast majority are from either Ireland (37% of the field, 654 players), or the UK (25%, 439 players) but there are also sizeable contingents from nearly every European country including Germany (78), France (44), The Netherlands (39), Greece (36), Romania (31), Sweden (24), Italy (21), Lithuania (20). Some newbies in the top ten this year include Finland which has tripled up compared to last year (now 38) and Switzerland which had 14 representatives in 2023 and now has 35.
North Americans – who have shown a soaring interest in the event – account for a huge presence here this year. This is partly due to the fact that Irish Open organisers Paul O’Reilly and JP McCann swanned off on a jolly went on a fact-finding mission to Canada in January and got everyone over-excited with talk of Guinness, the craic and such like. It’s also due to our new “Friends of the Irish Open” Canadian ambassadors while the hugely popular Playground club in Quebec also ran satellites for this year’s Main Event offering C$6,180 buy-in + expenses packages.
We are yet to bump into anyone from Latvia, Bolivia or South Korea, but trust us – they’re here. To all our players – many thanks for helping us make history once again.
“Fáilte chuig an Irish Open!”
