Rory McIlroy returns to action this week at the Amgen Irish Open.It will be the 70th staging of the event, which Masters champion McIlroy won back in 2016.McIlroy will be looking to put last year’s Irish Open disappointment behind him this weekendGettyReigning champion Rasmus Hojgaard has opted against defending his titleGettyMcIlroy has not played since last month’s Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club.He finished the FedEx Cup finale in a tie for 23rd and 12 shots adrift of winner Tommy Fleetwood.Although Fleetwood will not feature in the Republic of Ireland, McIlroy is one of several high-profile stars in the field at The K Club.He joins fellow home favourites Shane Lowry and Padraig Harrington in carrying the Irish hopes at the latest event on the DP World Tour.They help make up a line-up which includes 18 major championship wins.However, defending champion Rasmus Hojgaard has opted to skip the event ahead of this month’s Ryder Cup.Irish Open: Date and how to followThe 2025 Amgen Irish Open will take place from Thursday, September 4 to Sunday, September 7 at The K Club.It will be the third time the course in County Kildare has hosted the event after doing so in 2016 and 2023.The first of those saw McIlroy claim a three-shot victory for his only Irish Open title.Meanwhile, The K Club was also the venue for Team Europe’s victory at the 2006 Ryder Cup.McIlroy won his only previous Irish Open title at The K Club back in 2016PAThe action will get up and running at 7:30am UK time each day.Sky Sports Golf will broadcast live coverage from throughout the tournament.Fans can also keep across the action with live updates on talkSPORT during all four days.To tune in through the website, click HERE for the live stream or keep up to date with talkSPORT.com.Alternatively, you can listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 and 1053 AM.Irish Open: Field and leaderboardAs mentioned, McIlroy and Lowry will be at star names at The K Club but the field is packed with quality.Five-time major winner Brooks Koepka will be in action.Other LIV Golf stars Tyrrell Hatton, Patrick Reed, Tom McKibbin and Adrian Meronk are teeing it up alongside European Masters winner Thriston Lawrence and PGA Tour ace Jhonattan Vegas.Luke Donald, Marco Penge and Danny Willett are also in the field.The latest leaderboard from The K Club can be found here.This year’s event has a total purse of £4.5million on offer to the field.In 2024, Hojgaard scooped £800,000 by taking home the title after finishing one stroke clear of McIlroy.2025 Irish Open prize moneyWinner: £800,0002nd: £517,0003rd: £297,0004th: £235,0005th: £182,000Irish Open: What has been said?McIlroy looked ahead to a busy September and reflected on his current game following the Tour Championship.Speaking after his final round, he told reporters: “The season’s not over for me, I’ve still got a lot of golf coming up, so I refuse to call this the end of the season.“This week I hit it better. The things that I wanted to improve on this week I did.“Off the tee was much better, I’m probably leading the strokes gained off the tee, but I just couldn’t get the speeds of the greens all week and I struggled to see lines and to feel the speed.“That was really the story of the week. My putting was so good last week at Caves and then my off the tee play wasn’t good and it sort of just inverted.“But I definitely improved from tee to green this week, I just couldn’t get a putt to drop really. My game feels close, it certainly isn’t far away.”Last 10 Irish Open winners2024 – Rasmus Hojgaard2023 – Vincent Norman2022 – Adrian Meronk2021 – Lucas Herbert2020 – John Catlin2019 – Jon Rahm2018 – Russell Knox2017 – Jon Rahm2016 – Rory McIlroy2015 – Soren Kjeldsen