PREVIEW: 2024 DP World Tour – Amgen Irish Open

Englishman Matt Wallace had to draw on all his experience to hold off Alfredo Garcia-Heredia at last week’s Omega European Masters, draining an eight-footer on the first playoff hole to win his first DP World Tour title in six years.

It was the 5th title of his DP World Tour career and the first since his 2018 Made in Denmark triumph.

Amgen Irish Open

This week, the DP World Tour moves to Northern Ireland for the latest instalment of the Irish Open. The tour receives a much-needed dose of razzmatazz this week, with some of the biggest stars descending on the 3rd event in the DP World Tour’s ‘Back-9’ swing.

Rory McIlroy is the obvious headliner and will be looking for some home comfort after yet another heartbreaking year of major championship golf.

The Irish Open dates all the way back to 1927 but it disappeared following the 1953 renewal. However, it has been ever-present on the DP World Tour since 1975 (in one guise or another).

In 2017, the tournament was elevated to Rolex Series status (Jon Rahm won the event twice during this golden three-year period). In 2020, the event was relegated to regular status due to the financial fallout of Covid. I personally think it would behove the tour to possibly elevate this event back to Rolex Series status.

This is a nomadic event and this year’s edition will be hosted at Royal County Down, which- alongside Royal Portrush- is one of the true jewels of Northern Irish golf.

Royal County Down

This par-71, 7,186-yard masterpiece is widely considered to be one of the toughest tests in links golf. Soran Kjeldsen won this event when it was last staged here back in 2015, besting Eddie Pepperrell and Bernd Wiesberger in a playoff after the three of them finished at two-under-par.

That tells you everything you need to know about Royal County Down. Set against the epic backdrop of the mountains of Mourne, Royal County Down is a sadistic links test that will punish anything remotely loose.

The fairways are very narrow and surrounded by near-impenetrable gorse. The lightning-quick greens will require deft touch and pinpoint approach play. Look for links specialists with deft scrambling skills.

Players will find themselves in plenty of little runoff areas and will need to have surgical touch if they are to keep their scorecard clean.

The Contenders

Royal County Down has attracted a captivating 2024 field. Rory McIlroy will obviously garner most of the attention this week. The Northern Irish superstar hasn’t really recovered following that dramatic collapse at Pinehurst No.2 and he will probably view this as a therapeutic exercise.

He will be joined by a strong Irish contingent that features the likes of Shane Lowry and Padraig Harrington.

Tom McKibben has been in top form on the DP World Tour this season and he could be one to watch this week.

Robert MacIntyre will also be in the field this week, as he bids to become the first man ever to win both the Scottish and Irish Opens in the same year.

Vincent Norrman also returns, as he looks to become the first back-to-back winner of this event since 1997: Monty won consecutive titles at Druids Glen.

Past Winners

2023: Vincent Norrman (-14)
2022: Adrian Meronk (-20)
2021: Lucas Herbert (-19)
2020: John Catlin (-10)
2019: Jon Rahm (-16)
2018: Russell Knox (-14) *playoff

To Win Outright:

Rory McIlroy 11/2 | Shane Lowry 10/1 | Aaron Rai 14/1 | Robert MacIntyre 20/1 | Seamus Power 22/1

Value Bet

Ryan Fox – To Win | To Place 33/1 | To Place 7/1

Ryan Fox has always fared well in Ireland. He won the Northern Ireland Open at Galgorm Castle back in 2016. He has also been trending magnificently in this very event, finishing 2nd at Mount Juliet and third at the K Club in the last two events.

He has also performed brilliantly at the more linksy Irish Opens, finishing 4th at Portstewart in 2017 and 2nd at Ballyliffin in 2018.

That’s four top-five finishes in this event in the last seven years. He has also been the winner and runner-up in the last two editions of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

The Man to Beat – Aaron Rai – To Win 14/1 | To Place 3/1

Aaron Rai has enjoyed a magnificent season on the US PGA Tour. The Englishman won his maiden US PGA Tour title at last month’s Wyndham Championship (take that Tommy Fleetwood).

He finished T23 in the Tour Championship and looks primed for an excellent end to the DP World Tour season. He won the Scottish Open title back in 2020 and he almost repeated the trick this year, shooting a closing 63 to finish 4th at the Renaissance.

Rai is more of a plodder (like Kjeldsen, who won here in 2015). He will focus on accuracy and should be excellent at bogey avoidance.