Tiger Woods will not play at the 2018 Irish Open

Those Donegal whispers proved to be just that, as the rumours that Tiger Woods would be competing at next month's Irish Open proved unfounded.

The teasers that Woods could be at the tournament in Ballyliffin were fuelled in part by social media postings from the club dating back to March which contained images variously of a tiger superimposed over Glashedy Rock, Tiger Woods and then, after Rory McIlroy's win in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a tag of "Tiger v Rory Take 1 #BayHill".

Anyway, those hints – aimed at Woods? – came to nothing on this occasion, with his manager Mark Steinberg ruling out his player's participation in the tournament.

Woods has played competitively in Ireland on a number of occasions, including the JP McManus Pro-Ams, the Ryder Cup and the WGC championship in Mount Juliet.

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The Donegal venue will host the Irish Open from July 5th to 8th in what will be McIlroy’s last year as host before that responsibility is passed on to Paul McGinley.

McGinley will be the main man for next year's tournament in Lahinch, starting a five-year cycle where the hosting is shared by himself, McIlroy, Pádraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke.