Horan: Tour days off picked 'where there's good golf'
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- Niall Horan played in the AIG Women's Open pro-am at Royal Lytham & St Annes alongside Solheim Cup star Maja Stark, R&A chief executive Mark Darbon and social media star Georgia Ball, calling the course a "bucket list" venue he had "never had the privilege" of playing before.
- Horan's handicap has risen from "around eight" to 10 after he played only six rounds in 2026, with the singer joking that picking up clubs after time away feels like "a set of sledgehammers."
- Horan released his fourth studio album "Dinner Party" on June 5, with finalising and promoting the record eating into his golf time this year.
- The "Dinner Party Live On Tour" launches September 22 in Birmingham, running through the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe in autumn before Australia in February and North America from March to May.
- Horan said tour rest days are planned around elite golf, naming Royal Melbourne (already played) and a target of Kingston Heath on Australia's Sandbelt as stops he wants to tick off.
- The AIG Women's Open has more than tripled its prize money since Royal Lytham last hosted in 2018, with a record purse this year and Sky Sports offering six more hours of live coverage plus a first-ever Featured Groups stream.
Why it matters: Horan's profile as founder of Modest! Golf and an R&A ambassador since 2021 gives the AIG Women's Open mainstream visibility at a moment when the event's prize money has more than tripled since 2018. His explicit framing of tour scheduling around elite courses underlines how golf now anchors downtime decisions for globe-trotting musicians.
