Irish Open 2012

As an Irishman I delighted that this years Open is being held at Portrush GC in Northern Ireland as a tribute to outstanding achievement of its 3 Major winners in recent years, Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke. Its very ironic that after these successes of the 3 Northern Irishman that the Irish Open is without a "major" sponsor following the withdrawal of 3 (Telecom Operator) who preferred to sponsor the Republic of Ireland soccer team instead. I.m sure the marketing team are well pleased! Despite the lack of sponsorship, the field assembled for the week is very strong and its now being touted as SOLD OUT !. It will be a real Irish Open this year too, inclement weather on a links course....none of this tree lined parkland, "whack it and birdie 'em" shootout we are dished up on Sky Sports nearly every week. Real golf ! So, with that analysis, who should be best suited to the links conditions and weather to prevail come Sunday? There are  a few that jump out, ut over the years the Irish Open has produced a number of surprise winners but down through the years the winners list includes some of the games greats.....Seve, Faldo, Langer, Monty,Woosie,Olazabal, Crenshaw. There has been mixed home success. Padraig Harrington broke a 25 year wait since John O'Leary won in 1982 at Portmarnock GC. Shane Lowry last won for Ireland at Baltray in 2009(another links). Obviously the betting market is headed by the home boys, McIlroy, GMac & Padraig. Of the three it will come to no surprise of regular readers of this blog that I would pick the Dubliner to fare the best. Tied 8th at Augusta and tied 4th at Olympic this year and another solid showing last week at the Travelers, means he is gaining momentum and is bound to end his winless streak soon. He treats this one as the 5th Major and will be keen to win it again and bring solid form into the British Open in a few weeks time. He is only 12/1 this week but is a must on my staking plan.

Chris Wood in his short career has shown a liking for links. Strong showings in the British Open back this up. He finished just 1 shot outside a playoff in Cologne last Sunday and recent results clearly indicate solid form and he will quietly fancy his chances this week. Seeing Danny Willett win last week could inspire him to believe his turn his coming and he has the skills and temperament to contend up North this week. At 33/1 he is real each way value with 6 places on offer.

My third pick this week is Joost Luiten. The Dutchman has also shown a penchant for links golf. Not in great form this season although finished runner up at Celtic manor a few weeks back and but for a poor weekend last week could have finished much higher than 38th. He will like the setup here and could come under the radar which many have done in the past at this event but is well worth taking e/w at 50/1.

TIP 1 2pts WIN .P. Harrington @ 12/1 Paddypower.
TIP 2 1 pt e/w C.Wood @ 33/1 Paddypower.

TIP 3 1 pt e/w J.Luiten @ 50/1 Paddypower.

Trophée Hassan 2012

Was in two minds this week whether to opt for the Bay Hill Invitational in the US or stick with the European Tour as its a low key affair in Agadir, Morocco this week. Having had a look at Bay Hill, I found the odds of low value especially for Sergio Garcia @ 25s, Mahan 25s and possibly Haas @ 40s. (My 3 picks for it). I went back to Europe and decided on taking a chance on better value for the Trophee Hassan.

I put up Shane Lowry last week and he almost delivered a nice placing but for 2 late bogeys over his final 3 holes. With golf betting it pays to stick with your tips over a spell and with the course being a links with some wind thrown in for good measure I am gonna stick with Shane Lowry again this week at a rather generous 60/1 with Bet365. The Irishman has had a slow start to the season but his tied 6th last week will give him confidence for this week and if he can just get a decent opening round under his belt he should be up there.

My second selection this week is Alex Noren @ 40/1 with Bet365 also. Regular readers will know I am a fan. He stepped up last year but this year has been slow to get going. Following a nice relaxing break in New York & Monaco the Swede comes here well rested and practiced. He is one of the better players teeing it up here and I do expect him to be on the leaderboard. He has a midday start on Thursday and tees it up alongside Pablo Larrazabal and Jbe Kruger before an early start Friday. Good grouping and good tee times - no excuse then Alex ! I have opted for Alex over Jaco Van Zyl who can be backed at 22/1 with Paddypower, the South African is playing very well lately and is the main threat this week obviously as he is in form plus he was beaten here in a play-off last year by David Horsey but the value is with Noren as far as I am concerned- just!.

My third selection is Raphael Jacquelin who had a superb weekend last week in Malaga. He heads to Morocco in form a week before heading to Sicily to defend a title he won last year. The Frenchman can be streaky and with the trip to Italy surely on his mind, and that being a positive thought, he can use those good thoughts to go well here this week. 50/1 for the 3 time European Tour winner is excellent value with Bet365. He tees up alongside Van Zyl and Marcel Siem (also in decent form lately) so this threeball should bring each other along very nicely.


TIP 1: 1 pt e/w S.Lowry @ 60/1 Bet365

TIP 2: 1 pt e/w A.Noren @ 40/1 Bet365

TIP 3: 1pt e/w R.Jacquelin @ 50/1 Bet365