As ever two weeks from The Open, the European Tour heads to Ireland for the Irish Open which this year has a new host in Paul McGinley and a new venue in the delightful looking Lahinch Golf Club on the County Clare coast.
Russell Knox won this tournament last year and with the event being a Rolex Series competition he took home a massive first prize. He’ll be out to defend the title this year against a pretty decent field despite Rory McIlroy controversially swerving it.
Recent Winners
2018 – Russell Knox
2017 – Jon Rahm
2016 – Rory McIlroy
2015 – Soren Kjeldsen
2014 – Mikko Ilonen
2013 – Paul Casey
2012 – Jamie Donaldson
2011 – Simon Dyson
2010 – Ross Fisher
2009 – Shane Lowry
The Course
Paul McGinley has taken the tournament to Lahinch, spoken of as the St Andrew’s of Ireland. It is a links course with plenty of elevations within the natural dunes of the area, and a lot of undulations both on the fairways and the greens. This is a par 70 so there are only two par 5s on the course and they both come on the back nine so this could be a course for hanging tough originally and getting stuck in coming in.
The greens here look absolutely huge and there look to be massive run offs so iron play, scrambling and a good touch with the putter are going to be key attributes this week. There is no rain forecast so the course is likely to play fast so those who control their golf ball should have a real advantage here. The wind isn’t expected to be up but those comfortable in it in case it arrives should be thought of too.
The Field
Usually Rory McIlroy headlines the field in this tournament but now that he isn’t hosting it he is nowhere to be seen. That leaves Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm as the leading lights this week. Defending champion Russell Knox is here while Irish stars Shane Lowry, Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell also tee it up in support of the tournament.
Matt Wallace is another big name in Europe who tees it up here while Tyrrell Hatton, Thorbjorn Olesen and Louis Oosthuizen all have wonderful links records. Danny Willett and Martin Kaymer add a bit of major winning flavour to the field while the likes of Lee Westwood, Paul Dunne and Ross Fisher will be looking for good weeks.
Market Leaders
Jon Rahm is the favourite for the tournament this week. He won this on a links course two years ago and had a decent tune up if indeed you can have a tune up around Valderrama last week. You would think Rahm could overpower this golf course and he has the touch to feature around here as well so at 8/1 he’ll be popular. As ever I’m no fan of taking single figure shots but I nearly talked myself into this one as his credentials are pretty obvious.
Tommy Fleetwood comes next in the betting at 14/1. I always think he should dominate on links courses but it has never really happened and that is an immediate concern I have. To be fair this course should stand up nicely to his qualities but I’m not convinced he is in amazing form at the minute and while this is a level down on what he has been competing in I’m not convinced he is quite hitting the ball as well as I would want at this price.
Matt Wallace probably should have won the British Masters on a links course in May but he found one too good for him but he went well enough in the US Open as well so there is a liking for links courses here. Temperament is always an issue it has to be said but generally when Wallace operates at this level he is never far away. He’s 16/1 which is perfectly attractive enough if maybe a trifle on the tight side.
Shane Lowry starts the week as an 18/1 fourth favourite and you would think he’ll go well this week in front of his own fans but he is carrying the burden of being the leading home fancy which will be a new experience for him as usually it is all about Rory McIlroy in this tournament. He has won this before though but the 18/1 quotes are skinny at best and very tight at worse. He isn’t for me. It is 20/1 bar.
Main Bets
I’ll go with a couple of main bets this week with the first of them being Haotong Li. Although he hasn’t won around a links course yet, there is a lot to like about his record. He was fifth in the Dunhill Links last year with two rounds on a course very much like this at St Andrews and in the past he has finished third in The Open and he opened the Scottish Open with a 66 and 65 last year and sat pretty before stalling over the weekend. He was decent enough in the US Open and sits number one on the European Tour in putts per GIR. He is ranked 16 in scrambling and is a genuine class act. He’s caught my eye at 35/1.
My second pick is someone we know loves the links in Eddie Pepperell. He was second in Scotland last year and has been second in this tournament too. In the last four years in the straight up links events on the European Tour he has seven top 10 finishes including one in The Open at Carnoustie last year. Pepperell is ideally suited to links tracks. His iron play is majestic and he has a lovely touch on the greens. He’s a man to follow over the next month and he can get us started in style this week.
Outsiders
I’m going to throw four at big prices at this tournament too with Justin Harding being the first of those. He has shown excellent form on exposed tracks this season with a fourth in Mauritius, seventh in Dubai, fourth in the Vic Open and then he won in Qatar before a second the following week. He’s gone a bit quiet recently but he was tenth on a links track Stateside in the Byron Nelson Championship. Harding leads the scrambling stats and ranks high on every putting stat in the book and on a course like this that should suit him well at 66/1.
Ryan Fox lost in a play-off to Russell Knox in this tournament last year and was fourth the year before and in the Scottish Open his last two results have been 4-6 so he loves links tracks and his driver could do plenty of damage on this one this week. The Kiwi has won in Perth earlier in the season and although he is not as high in the short game stakes as I would like his putter does seem to come hot when he arrives at a links course. At 90/1 I’ll pay to see if that happens again here.
Matthew Southgate is known to love the links tracks and he has top four finishes in this in 2016 and 2017 and he was sixth in The Open in 2017. His form of the last two weeks hasn’t been up to much but he did post top 10s in the Made in Denmark and the Belgian Knockout which wasn’t so long ago so I’m expecting him to be looking forward to the next three weeks. He’s a three figure price but it is a fairly obvious selection and worthy of a small stake.
I’ll also throw a couple of quid at the skipper Thomas Bjorn. He has always been one of the best putters on the European Tour. He’s had 3-4 years out of the winning enclosure both due to captaining the Ryder Cup side and his battle with depression which has been well-documented recently. However he has just posted a top 10 at Valderrama last week and you don’t blag top 10s around that track. He was just outside the top 10 in Kenya and given the fields top 30 finishes in Abu Dhabi and Dubai were not shabby either. It’s been a while since he won but he’s won this before in 2006, he’s won around Gleneagles and he should have won The Open. He doesn’t need to pound it round here. He could be a massive runner at a silly price.
Tips
Back H.Li to win Irish Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 36.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-8)
Back J.Harding to win Irish Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-8)
Back T.Bjorn to win Irish Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 301.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-8)
Back them here:
PLACED – Back E.Pepperell to win Irish Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with 888sport (1/5 1-6)
Back R.Fox to win Irish Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 91.00 with 888sport (1/5 1-6)
Back them here:
Back M.Southgate to win Irish Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 126.00 with Betway (1/5 1-7)
Back him here:
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