Rasmus Højgaard -9
Rory McIlroy -8
Matteo Manassero -7
Daniel Brown -6
Grant Forrest -4
Robert MacIntyre -4
Jordan Smith -3
Jimmy Walker -3
Aaron Cockerill -2
Alex Fitzpatrick -2
Sami Välimäki -2
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The European Tour heads to Northern Ireland this week and tees up on probably one of the best golf courses in the world, Royal County Down. The course measures 7,000-yards from the tips and runs between the rugged sand dunes that are covered with purple heather and yellow gorse, which give the course its beauty. With naturally undulating fairways and small greens that have some harsh complexes in them, when the wind blows across the links, this beauty it bears its teeth and shows its brutal side.
George L. Baillie a Scottish schoolteacher originally laid out the first nine holes at Newcastle, which opened for play in 1889. Later that year, Old Tom Morris was paid four guineas to extend the course to 18 holes with play commencing on the extend course in 1890. The course was modified again in 1908 by six times Open Champion Harry Vardon, during that same year King Edward VII bestowed royal patronage on the club.
In 1926 Harry Colt was commissioned to make further alterations to the course which included addressing the gathering nature of the original greens and reducing the number of blind drives. Two of the greatest holes in golf are the 4th and 9th. One commentator described the 4th as ‘Innumerable gorse bushes, ten bunkers, three mountain peaks, and one spire equal the most magnificent view in British golf”.
For another trusted Royal County Down GC review click here
My tips to Win:
Playing in front of his home fans I am sure Rory McIlroy 11/2 – with Bet365 – will want to do well this week and I expect him to be in the thick of the battle come Sunday afternoon
Hopefully Shane Lowry 10/1 – with BetVictor – has caught up with family and friends over the last two weeks since the Tour Championship and got all the drinking out of the way and it will be back to business this week!
Only being outside the Top 25 five times in his seventeen starts this year on the European Tour Bernd Wiesberger 33/1 – with PaddyPower – will be coming back to Royal County Down where he had a runner-up finish the last time the Irish Open was held here back in 2015
Each-way tips:
With two runner-up finishes in this event Ryan Fox 35/1 – with PaddyPower – will be hoping that he can finally hold the Irish Open trophy aloft come Sunday. It hasn’t been a great first year on the PGA Tour for Ryan with only three Top 10 finishes, but I feel being back here in front of the Irish golf fans he will be challenging again come Sunday
I am going to stick with Alex Fitzpatrick 55/1 – with 888Sport – again this week and while he may have been disappointed not to have challenged at the weekend in Switzerland, he will take a lot of positive from his third Top 15 finish in this last three starts, with two of those being sixth-place finishes
Outside tip:
I wasn’t surprised to see Frederic Lacroix 80/1 – with SpreadEx – miss the cut at the British Masters a week after winning his first tournament on the European Tour the week before in Denmark. But that win had been coming and I think we may just see another one before the year is out and I expect to see Frederic back challenging this week
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