Excitement is mounting as the 2013 Irish Open tees off tomorrow at Carton House, Co Kildare as it returns to the Montgomerie Course for the first time since 2006 after tournaments at Portrush, Killarney and Adare.

The Open has an interesting history...

1.  Before reverting back to the Irish Open moniker and becoming part of the European Tour in 1975, the Irish Open was actually known as the Carroll International for just over a decade. The first open was held in 1927 and was held uninterrupted except for the duration of World War II and a ten year hiatus between 1953 and '63. The Open was also not held in 1951 or '52.
2. Galwegian Christy O'Connor Snr has the most Irish Open wins with four. All his victories came in the Carroll International era with victories in 1964, 1966, 1967 and 1972. Spanish legend Seve Ballasteros has three wins to his name.
3. The biggest winning margin since 1975 came in 1987 when German Bernhard Langer triumphed by 10 strokes. 
4. Victory has been achieved via a playoff on 11 occasions since 1975, the last one coming in 2009 when Shane Lowry won as an amateur.
5. There have been three other Irish winners since 1975: Christy O'Connor Jnr (1975), John O'Leary (1982) and Padraig Harrington (2007).