Rory McIlroy tees up Garcia and Els for Irish Open

Rory (25), the world's number one player, took to Twitter to announce that Sergio Garcia (right) and Ernie Els will be challenging him this year.

The young sports superstar said he is delighted to welcome the high-profile golfers to his home turf and go head to head with them at Royal County Down.

He wrote: "Delighted to announce two new additions to the 2015 Irish Open at RCD @TheSergioGarcia & @TheBig_Easy #makinghistory."

Along with Irish competitors Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke, other high-profile stars set to take part in this year's competition, which runs from May 28 to May 31, include former world number one Lee Westwood and young gun Rickie Fowler.

Turbulent

The latest announcement comes after a turbulent few weeks for 25-year-old Rory, after a multi-million euro settlement following his court battle with his former management company earlier this month.

He settled the case with Horizon for a reported €22m including legal costs, to be paid to the company in a one-off payment.

The agreement came after a long-running feud over a contract signed by Rory in 2011.

Hoping to turn his luck around, Down native Rory will battle it out for the Irish Open title in his home county, exactly a year after his split from tennis ace Caroline Wozniacki.

The golfer called off his engagement to the Danish sports star (24) just months after he popped the question to her on New Year's Day.

His former fiancee has claimed that Rory had called time on their relationship during a 10-minute phone call.

Since the split, he has been linked with a host of women, including model and I'm A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here star Nadia Forde.

hnews@herald.ie