Damien Kayat previews the 2023 Irish Open.
2022/2023 DP World Tour
The Irish Open
The Palmer Ryder Cup Course, the K Club, County Kildare, Ireland
7th-10th September
So, there’s no way I can start this week without talking about Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup selections. The current European outfit does look like a wonderful blend of youth and experience, with three of the top four golfers in the world giving it a really elite core. But how did Shane Lowry get selected over Pole Adrian Meronk? Meronk finished narrowly behind Macintyre in automatic qualifying and he has been an absolute paragon of consistency this season. Furthermore, Meronk won the Italian Open this year at Ryder Cup host course Marco Simone Golf and Country Club! He also finished runner-up at the same venue in 2021. It feels like a bittersweet irony that we return to the Irish Open following Meronk’s snub: the Pole also won this event last year. Still, there were some positives in Donald’s selections. Ludvig Aberg’s sensational start to life as a pro was rewarded with a bold selection that really points towards the future of European golf.
The Irish Open enjoyed a pretty erratic existence for many years (it was even known as the Carroll’s International for a brief period in the 70’s). But it has been an ever-present on the DP World Tour since 1974. In 2017 it became one of the much-ballyhooed Rolex Series events. In 2020 it was downgraded to regular status due to the financial fallout of Covid. I really do think it would be nice to see the event bumped back up to full Rolex Series status. It is a nomadic event and this year will see the tournament take place at a prestigious former Ryder Cup venue: the K Club. The K Club will also host the event in 2025 and 2027. 2016 K Club champ Rory McIlroy is the figurehead of the entire European side and he will no doubt enjoy rapturous support in front of the Irish crowds this week.
The K Club was the venue of the 2006 Ryder Cup, where Europe thrashed America by a winning margin of nine points to underline their new-found dominance in the event. Designed in 1991, the Palmer Ryder Cup Course is a parkland style layout with water everywhere! Seriously, water is in play on an incredible 15 holes. That’s one of the reasons that it was such a compelling Ryder Cup course. The trees will have grown more since 2016 and driving accuracy could be more important than distance this week. But Greens in Regulation has undoubtedly been the most crucial stat at the K Club. The last three winners have led the field in GIR and I think that will most certainly prove crucial this week.
World No.2 Rory McIlroy will be reflecting on a season of agonizing Major near-misses. Still, he is probably the most consistent golfer in the world, enjoying a run of ten consecutive top ten finishes. He has course credentials and he will be keen to maintain his form ahead of this year’s Ryder Cup. A player who will be hoping to pick up some form ahead of Rome will be Tyrell Hatton. Like McIlroy, Hatton’s Irish Open form is a combination of the sublime and the ridiculous. Shane Lowry will be defending his BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth next week and he will be keen to silence those who have criticized Luke Donald’s decision. Adrian Meronk is one player with a major point to prove this week. The defending Irish Open champion is one of the unluckiest Ryder Cup ‘nearly men’ in recent memory and he has every reason to feel miffed this week.
Past Winners
2022: Adrian Meronk (-20)
2021: Lucas Herbert (-19)
2020: John Catlin (-10)
2019: Jon Rahm (-16)
2018: Russell Knox (-14) *playoff
Betting Favourites (To Win)
Rory McIlroy (7/2), Tyrell Hatton (10/1), Shane Lowry (18/1), Min Woo Lee (20/1), Adam Scott (20/1)
Value Bets
Jordan Smith- To Win (40/1)
Englishman Jordan Smith is your man if you are looking for a brilliant tee-to-green player. There is less of an emphasis on putting this week and Smith will embrace that. Also, he is unrivalled in GIR this year, leading the tour in what could prove to be the most important stat this year. He is also 3rd in SG: tee-to-green and 10th Driving Accuracy. And his T12 at the Scottish Open does give me some hope of a solid performance.
Eddie Pepperrell- To Win (66/1)
Eddie Pepperrell is in resurgent form and he has that golden combination of course and tournament form. The Englishman finished 8th on this course in 2016 and he also has other finishes of 2nd and 4th in the Irish Open. He overcame poor course form last week to pick up a commendable 8th at the Omega European Masters. It was the 3rd event in a row where he has ranked inside the top 8 in SG: Approach and I just think he has what it takes to compete this week.
The Man to Beat- Adrian Meronk- To Win (25/1)
This is obviously a very popular selection as I think Meronk will be keen to show Luke Donald what he is missing out on. He won the Italian Open at Marco Simeone in May and he finished runner-up at the same venue in 2021. He created history at this event last year, remarkably becoming the first Pole to ever win on the DP World Tour with success at Mount Juliet. He was first in GIR in victory last year and he currently ranks 2nd on the tour in GIR for this season. He had a decent 13th place finish in Switzerland last week and he won’t need any added motivation this week.
