Rory McIlroy
TaylorMade
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Gavin Green
Sam Horsfield
Volvo China Open Richard Castka Sportpixgolf.com
Lucas Herbert
PGA of Australia
Justin Harding
Asian Tour
Victor Dubuisson
Volvo China Open Richard Castka Sportpixgolf.com
Stephen Brown
Callaway
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| The European Tour stays in the EU and moves from Germany to Ireland and the lush rolling parkland of Mount Juliet Estate and 1,500 acres of Irish countryside that has an 18th century mansion as a clubhouse.
Designed by Jack Nicklaus and Ron Kirby back in 1991 in the middle of the Celtic Tiger boom, this magnificent course has beech and oak trees lining perfectly manicured fairways and has played host to three Irish Opens; Faldo (1991), Langer (1992) and Torrance (1993) and two WGC events; Woods (2002) and Els (2004) that’s four Major Championship winners, which sums up the pedigree of this course.
Mount Juliet weighs in at 7,250 yards and has the River Nore cutting through the course and with Jack’s love of water hazards there are a few of those thrown in for good measure and culminates in a fitting finale with water featuring on both the final two holes. For the players this week who miss the fairway left will find out, with water running down the left of both the 534-yard, 17th and the 479-yard 18th fairways which are played either side of the same lake.
Other standout holes include the 174-yard, par 3, 3rd, which is protected by both a stream and a lake, the 569-yard, par 5, 10th, where a copse of trees will give the players two different options to get to the green, and the 452-yard, par 4,16th, where the walled green is almost entirely encircled by sand.
My tips to Win:
I am sure Rory McIlroy 11/2 — with 10Bet — will be looking forward to playing in front of a home crowd this week and who can forget that incredible 3-wood shot on his way to victory at the 2016 Irish Open at the K Club. Rory seems positive about his swing changes and a victory at the Wells Fargo and a Top 10 at the US Open show that he is trending in the right direction and playing in front of a partisan crowd will only add to the spring in his step this week.
It’s difficult splitting your time between both the European and PGA Tour and I think Christiaan Bezuidenhout 18/1 — with 888Sport — is finding that out and while it hasn’t been a disaster for him in the US, his best finish is a Top 10 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and his best finish on the European Tour was his twelfth place finish in Abu Dhabi. Christiaan certainly has the game to do well on both tours having won back-to-back events last year and also a runner-up on the European Tour, but playing both tours is about getting the scheduling right, but I expect him to be in the thick of it this week.
Another player that is finding the same problem with scheduling both the PGA and European Tours is Sam Horsfield 33/1 — with UniBet — although Sam does seem to challenge more when he tees it up in Europe, notching up his third Top 5 finish this year on the European Tour at the BMW International Open at the weekend. Horsfield won twice last year and will be looking to add to that win tally this week.
Each-way tips:
Two Top 20 finishes at the Memorial Tournament and the Travelers Championship should see Lucas Herbert 33/1 — with MansionBet — in buoyant mood when he tees it up this week at Mount Juliet. Lucas had a Top 10 finish at last years Irish Open and he also shot a final round 65 in 2019 at Lahinch GC that moved him up the leaderboard and I am sure he will be looking to be in the thick of it come Sunday.
After a couple of not so great finishes Justin Harding 60/1 — with UniBet — found himself back in contention at last weekends BMW International Open after winning earlier in the year at the Kenya Open he then followed that up with four other Top 20 finishes. Justin had an eleventh place finish last year at the Irish Open when it was held at Galgorm Castle, but I am sure he will enjoy this week with the Irish fans in attendance and I expect him to be back challenging again come Sunday.
Outside tip:
I love the way Victor Dubuisson 80/1 — with SportNation — just casually turns up at an event after a couple of weeks out and is bang in the thick of it again come Sunday afternoon. Victor had his fifth Top 25 finish this year from his ten starts and Sundays Top 5 at the BMW International shows his game is in a good place coming into this week. Victor has never made the cut at the Irish Open which explains why he is this far down the betting odds, but I think his game will suit the Mount Juliet course.
Longer odds:
Try Steven Brown 300/1 — with PaddyPower
As always good luck
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