There is a strong home challenge for the Irish Open at the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club in County Kerry this week, with a host of major winners leading the odds. Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke are all well fancied in the odds with Betfred, although it is US Open champion McIlroy who is a short priced favourite at 9/2.
McIlroy made his only outing at the British Open earlier this month since winning his first major at Congressional, finishing tied 25th after struggling with difficult conditions. There have been strong calls for Ireland to host the Open Championship in the future and McIlroy will be keen to provide a big performance in front of his home fans, although a tied 35th place here last year makes him difficult to back at such a short price.
The man who McIlroy took the US Open crown off, Graeme McDowell, is available at industry best odds of 18/1, although he has had little in the way of form to call on during 2011. He has missed five cuts in his last eleven events and finished tied 31st at Killarney last year, with Padraig Harrington looking far better value at the same price.
Three time major champion Harrington may have struggled of late but the short Killarney course looks ideally suited to his game and we fancy he could excel this week. Harrington has said that he considers the Irish Open to be the fifth biggest tournament for him on the European Tour calendar, behind the four majors. It is certainly an event he has thrived in during recent years as he became the first Irish winner for 25 years in 2007 and he was a narrow runner-up last year.
Harrington lost out by just two shots to Ross Fisher and Fisher is back this year as he bids to become the first champion to successfully defend the title since Colin Montgomerie in 2001. Fisher is priced 20/1 by Betfred after he produced a fine performance in 2010, which included a second round 61. However, 2011 hasn't been quite so productive as he has missed two of his last four cuts and has picked up just three top-ten finishes all season.
Of better value could be the recent British Open hero, Darren Clarke, at odds of 28/1. Clarke claimed the British Open title for the first time at the twentieth attempt and he is still looking for his first Irish Open title at the 21st time of asking. He makes his first return to action since his win at Sandwich and he was a decent tied twelfth at eight under par last year.
Also at 28/1 is the Australian Richard Green, who has proven to be very consistent and looks worthy of an each-way look with Betfred.com. He finished tied fifth here last year on a course that is ideally suited to his short game and with three top-sixteen finishes from his last four outings he could be worth backing.
Irish Open Tips
Tip #1: Padraig Harrington to win outright @ 18/1 with BetFred.com
Tip #2: Richard Green (each-way) @ 28/1 with BetFred.com
9/2 Rory McIlroy
18/1 Graeme McDowell
18/1 Padraig Harrington
20/1 Ross Fisher
25/1 Jamie Donaldson
28/1 Simon Dyson
28/1 Darren Clarke
28/1 Richard Green
33/1 Chris Wood
33/1 Joost Luiten
40/1 Robert Rock
40/1 Raphael Jacquelin
40/1 Shane Lowry
45/1 BAR
Odds supplied by Betfred.com bookmakers, who provide a variety of odds and markets for the 2011 Irish Open - including live betting in-running.
Posted: Tuesday, 26th July 2011
Author: Chris James
Tags: european tour, irish open, rory mcilroy, darren clarke, betfred,
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