Rory McIlroy in Ireland, United States seeking to regain Solheim Cup lead busy week of golf worldwide

This week not only marks the return of the PGA Tour after exactly one week of an offseason, but a bevy of other events worldwide that will draw the interest of golf fans. In fact, the PGA Tour’s Procore Championship is among the least interesting tournaments of the entire week.

That’s because, in addition to a handful of the best players in the world teeing it up in Napa, California, one of the five best will take on perhaps the best golf course on Earth in Ireland. There is also the Solheim Cup being played for the second year with the Americans seeking to bring the trophy back to the United States for the first time since 2017. And then there is LIV Golf, which is dishing out $18 million to its individual champion at LIV Chicago.

In other words, there’s a lot going on and plenty to follow over the next few days.

Let’s take a look at a few of the interesting and overarching storylines this week in the world of golf.

Rory McIlroy battles Royal County Down

Royal County Down has not hosted the Irish Open since 2015. That year, Rory McIlroy missed the cut and Soren Kjeldsen went on to win. This year, McIlroy will try to find something coming out of the FedEx Cup Playoffs where he finished a disappointing-for-him 9th place. He said after the Tour Championship that he “hit a bit of a wall sort of post-U.S. Open, and still feels a little bit of that hangover.”

We’ll see whether that hangover continues at a golf course located in Northern Ireland, which consistently ranks among (or atop) the best in the world. 

“It’s a pretty special place,” said Tom McKibbin, a fellow Ulsterman, this week. “I think it’s a golf course that you learn to respect a bit more and appreciate the more you play. I think the first couple of times I had ever played it, I found it too difficult. I didn’t really enjoy it that much. But as I got better and played it more, I’ve came to appreciate it a lot more. It’s a very hard test of golf; a lot of blind tee shots with majority of crosswinds.”

Geoff Shackelford of The Quadrilateral said something interesting the other day about McIlroy needing a challenge from the event or an interesting course to get his interest piqued at this point in his career. He certainly has it in Royal County Down, which hopefully will play as intriguing as it looks when players from the DP World Tour tee it up on Thursday.

Presidents Cup prep in Napa

The first event of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Fall is also its only event between now and the Presidents Cup. That means players like Max Homa, Sahith Theegala and Wyndham Clark (United States) as well as Corey Conners and Min Woo Lee (International) will be playing the tournament but also preparing for the festivities in Montreal two weeks from now.

In fact, Homa, Theegala, Clark and Conners all finished in the top 50 in the FedEx Cup Playoffs and have nothing to gain from playing this tournament (other than potentially winning it). So even more of their weeks will be to make sure their games are good for Montreal.

While Theegala and Clark ended the season on a high note, Homa — a controversial Presidents Cup pick — did not. It’s a good place for him to find some game, though, as he has finished T7-1-1 in his last three appearances at this golf course.

Solheim Cup revenge

The United States has not won a Solheim Cup since 2017. It lost in 2019 and 2021 then tied last year in Spain when the European team retained the Cup. I don’t know if “revenge” is the correct word, but this week’s event at Robert Trent Jones Golf Course in Virginia should be about as competitive as team events get.

In fact, if you’re looking for competitive American-European golf events, don’t even bother with the Ryder Cup. It’s this Solheim Cup, instead, which has produced results in which the final outcome was within 2 points (or fewer) in four of the last five events.

LIV Golf Chicago

I don’t much care about the bonus money involved, but Jon Rahm against Joaquin Niemann for the best individual player on LIV Golf this year is legitimately interesting. Niemann owned the first part of the year, while Rahm has thundered around the turn in the second half. Both have played better golf than it seems in 2024.

Strokes gained in 2024 (worldwide)

• Jon Rahm: 2.12 (3rd)
• Joaquin Niemann: 1.80 (7th)

Both have been better than players like Hideki Matsuyama, Wyndham Clark, Ludvig Åberg, Tony Finau, Sam Burns and Sahith Theegala in 2024, and now, the regular season title comes down to who plays better in Chicago. As for the end result, well, it’s a bit complex. Here’s the explainer from LIV Golf:

Rahm will win the title if he finishes ahead or equal to Niemann among the top 15 spots on the Chicago leaderboard. If Niemann finishes 16th or 17th, Rahm must finish inside the top 24 players who receive points. If Niemann finishes 18th or worse, Rahm is guaranteed the title. 

For Niemann to claim the title, he must finish with 3 more points than Rahm. Any top-3 result in Chicago will secure him the title, as long as they do not tie and he finishes ahead of Rahm. If Niemann finishes 4th or worse, his fate will be determined by Rahm’s place on the leaderboard. 

Regardless, both have been underrated impressive so far in 2024, and a crowning individual achievement should turn some heads at LIV Chicago this weekend.