Damien Kayat takes a detailed look at this week's Irish Open taking place at Mount Juliet Estate.
2021 European Tour
Irish Open
Mount Juliet Estate, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, Ireland
1st-4th July
Viktor Hovland’s victory in Munich last week gave the tour an added injection of razzmatazz in the wake of Jon Rahm’s heroics at Torrey pines. It’s all building up to what will surely be one of the most frenetic Open Championships in living memory (just how long as Shane Lowry been the reigning champion?). The Irish Open has enjoyed a fairly tumultuous history on the European Tour, though it has been an ever-present since 1974. Its Rolex Series status has yet to be reinstated, which has resulted in a slightly underwhelming line-up this week. This is ostensibly the beginning of the ‘links’ build-up to the Open Championship. Many of the tour’s top players have chosen to use next week’s Scottish Open (still a Rolex Series event) as their final preparation for Royal St Georges. That probably has as much to do with the course as it does the prize money. Just to add an extra layer of intrigue this week, Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington will also be in the field.
Royal St Georges will be the venue for this year’s Open Championship. It is notorious for being one of the most exacting tests of links golf. Next week’s test at the Renaissance Club is certainly a closer approximation of the test awaiting the world’s top players in a fortnight. Mount Juliet will play host to this year’s Irish Open. This Jack Nicklaus design is a parkland course with fairly generous fairways. Opened in 1991, this course played host to the Irish Open between 1991 and 1993. It then played host to the WGC-American Express in 2002 and 2004. Low scoring will likely be the ticket this week. You can look towards players with strong scrambling abilities and a red-hot putter. When Tiger Woods won the 2002 edition of the WGC-American Express, he famously avoided any bogeys until the 72nd hole of the event, winning in a score of 25-under-par.
While it may not be the crème de la crème of line-ups this week, there are certainly a few superstars that will look to electrify the crowds (yes, increased spectators will be allowed on the tour this week for the first time since the global pandemic). They say up to five thousand fans a day will be allowed through the gates. Four-time Major Champion Rory McIlroy will be enthused by that news. He has publicly lamented events with no fans. The 2016 Irish Open Champion will be looking for a boost following his Sunday flop at Torrey Pines. But his form has been fairly chequered at this event since victory at the K Club. Reigning Open Champion Shane Lowry famously won the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009. He has been looking solid of late and will welcome this trip home. Meanwhile, what to say of Tommy Fleetwood? The Ryder Cup hero has been in disarray of late, and with Irish Open form figures that read MC-MC-MC-21-MC-10-23, it’s hard to fancy him this week.
Past Winners
2020: John Catlin (-10)
2019: Jon Rahm (-16)
2018: Russell Knox (-14) *playoff
2017: Jon Rahm (-24)
2016: Rory McIlroy (-12)
To Win Outright:
Rory McIlroy 11/2
Shane Lowry 12/1
Tommy Fleetwood 16/1
Christiaan Bezuidenhout 18/1
Martin Kaymer 20/1
Value Bets
Christiaan Bezuidenhout: To Win 18/1
A quick glance at his recent results don’t exactly scream value. But four consecutive top 40 finishes actually represent a strong mid-season run for the South African. Those results included two Major Championships and two strong US PGA Tour events. Remember, those events featured far stronger fields than what will be on display in Ireland this week. Many of the US PGA Tour commentators have cherry-picked him as a future Major Championship contender. But perhaps what makes him most appealing this week is his putting. He has been one of the hottest golfers in the world with the flat-blade of late, ranking 4th in the world over the past three months.
Rasmus Hojgaard: To Win 60/1
I’m taking a bit of a chance of this young, two-time European Tour winner. Hojgaard’s game has certainly suffered as a result of his globetrotting in recent times. He has been looking much better since returning to the European Tour. He enjoyed four solid rounds last week as he finished in 17th place at the BMW International Open. One of his two victories came in the UK Championship and he tends to play well in the British Isles. I think he could be an intriguing dark-horse this week.
The Man to Beat: Shane Lowry: To Win 12/1
I will be very tempted to play Rory this week, despite his Sunday meltdown at Torrey Pines. The 32-year-old did recently win the Wells Fargo Championship. But I’m just more inclined to go for reigning Open Champion Shane Lowry. Lowry also endured a pretty dismal end to the US Open. But his form leading into that event was highly encouraging. He finished 4th at the US PGA Championship and 6th at the Memorial Tournament. He will be looking to correct his fairly ordinary Irish Open form since that breakthrough win in 2009: his best finish since was a 5th place in 2013.
