Rory McIlroy 's powers of persuasion have resulted in US Open champion Martin Kaymer , former world number one Luke Donald and American Ryder Cup star Patrick Reed confirming their participation in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open . McIlroy 's foundation is hosting the event at Royal County Down from May 28-31 and the world number one has been a major influence in attracting a top-class field , who will compete for a prize fund of £1.8million , an increase of 25 per cent from last year . Reed let the cat out of the bag on the final day of the Masters at Augusta National , also revealing he would compete in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth the week before . Rory McIlroy managed to persuade some of golf 's biggest stars to take part in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open . But the addition of Kaymer and Donald means the tournament will feature five players who have been world number one - McIlroy , Donald , Kaymer , Ernie Els and Lee Westwood - and eight major champions in McIlroy , Els , Kaymer , Darren Clarke , Padraig Harrington , Graeme McDowell , Paul Lawrie and Jose Maria Olazabal . Ryder Cup captain Clarke said : 'Rory has pulled in a lot of favours and it 's a testament to the high esteem Rory is held that it 's going to be the strongest field for a long time . 'It 's a huge positive for the European Tour to have such a tournament on one of the best golf courses in the world . ' I have always wanted to win the Irish Open but have not managed to play well in it that often . Hopefully being back at Royal County Down I will have a decent week this year . ' Luke Donald is one star who McIlroy managed to persuade to take part in his foundations tournament . Donald , who last played in the Irish Open in 2004 , said : 'My performances and results have been getting better and better recently and I am feeling very positive about a huge summer of golf ahead . 'The Irish Open will be a big part of that and I am looking forward to playing Royal County Down and some really 'old school ' links golf - I think the links golf factor will add a lot to the event and it 's looking like it 's going to be a great week . ' Kaymer added : 'There is definitely a good feeling about this year 's Irish Open and I think Rory has done a great job to get such a great field for the event and to create a really nice atmosphere about the tournament . ' The nature of the course means that spectator numbers will be limited to 20,000 a day , although 5,000 grandstand seats will be erected . US Open champion Martin Kaymer will hope to improve on his Masters performance at the Dubai Duty Open .
Rory McIlroy has managed to persuade some high-profile golfers to take part in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open in May . Martin Kaymer , Luke Donald and Patrick Reed are all involved in the Open . Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke praised McIlroy for attracting the stars .