
Irish Open Tips: Follow these five each-way bets

After 2nd and 5th placed finishes in last week's Omega European Masters preview, our man Jamie Broadhurst returns with his comprehensive betting breakdown for the Irish Open.
Another successful week last week for the preview of the Omega European Masters, where we ended up with 2 places in total. 25/1 Alexander Bjork finished in solo second and 50/1 Alex Fitzpatrick finished in a tie for 5th place, making it another profitable week. This extends the run to four winners and five places in the last 6 previews/tournaments.
Eventual winner Ludvig Aberg tops off what has been a fast rise through the game, only turning professional around 80 days before his first win.
Last week seen Matthew Fitzpatrick and Robert MacIntyre secure their automatic qualification for this year’s Ryder Cup that starts on 29th September, meaning today (4th September) Luke Donald will pick his remaining 6 players from the pool of vert talented European golfers we have currently in the game, an exciting day for sure!
Horizon Irish Open
Another week of previewing on the DP World Tour, and this week players travel to the County Kildare region of Ireland, where they will compete to be the Irish Open Champion on the Palmer North Course at The K Club.
Most recently, The K Club is probably most famous for the onslaught that team Europe carried out over the US team in the Ryder Cup in 2006, the final score being 18 and a half points to 9 and a half. Other than this, tournaments played here have been quite light over the years. The European Open was here for 12 years between 1995 and 2007 and then in 2016 the Irish Open made its debut here when Rory McIlroy pipped Bradley Dredge and Russell Knox by 3 strokes on a score of -12. Let’s see what the players will face this week:
Palmer North Course – The K Club
- Par 72, 7350 yards
- Arnold Palmer design
- 4 x Par 3s – ranging from 170-213 yards
- 10 x Par 4s – ranging from 413-478 yards
- 4 x Par 5s – ranging from 537-584 yards
- Parkland layout
- Narrow, exposed and undulating fairways – surrounded by thick rough
- Large undulating Bentgrass greens
Wide fairways and wide greens, you would think that we are in for a guaranteed birdie fest this week. The thick rough surrounding these fairways/greens, the tricky deep bunkering and the weather are the main defences The K Club rely on.
Throughout the week, the wind is at a constant 5-10mph with gusts reaching 15mph in parts. With the course being pretty open, the players will feel every bit of wind this week so will need to manage that appropriately. Then, on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday rain is forecast with the chance of a storm on Sunday with heavy rain. It would be naïve of me to take this as gospel as its Monday now and therefore likely to change closer to the start of the tournament but taking a guy that is known to be a fan of the elements needs to be considered this week.
Previous 10 winners of the Irish Open
2022 Adrian Meronk -20 – Mount Juliet GC
2021 Lucas Herbert -19 – Mount Juliet GC
2020 John Catlin -10 - Galgorm Castle
2019 Jon Rahm -16 – Lahinch
2018 Russell Knox -14 – Ballyliffin
2017 Jon Rahm -24 – Portstewart
2016 Rory McIlroy -12 – The K Club
2015 Soren Kjeldsen -2 – Royal County Down
2014 Mikko Ilonen -13 – Fota Island
2013 Paul Casey -15 – Killarney
Obviously, we will only focus on the Rory McIlroy performance in 2016 here at The K Club as a kind of rough guide to what will go well but being in Ireland we need to keep in mind the weather and the likelihood of it changing mid round, so choosing a player with experience of playing well in British conditions/the wind will be an asset this week.
2016 Irish Open Winning Stats
Rory McIlroy winning score -12
Driving Distance Average – 293 yards
Driving Accuracy – 49th
Greens in Regulation – 1st
Putting Average – 82nd
Not a great deal to go off other than Rory’s stellar Greens in Regulation performance was clearly a factor in his 3 shot victory. I will have a look below at some more stats we can look at however when building our card based on the course set up.
Stats To Look Into This Week
- Strokes Gained: Off the Tee/Driving Accuracy
As I have already said above, finding these fairways in regulation and in the right positions to optimise approach shots will be absolutely key this week.
Greens in Regulation
GIR will always come to the fore front if players want the best chance in scoring low. Finding the greens and holding them in regulation will have to be the state of play for the guys to do well here with the greens being large but with major slopes on them. Rory McIlroy was 1st in the field for this stat in 2016 with over 78% of greens found in regulation, it is clearly one to look for.
Scrambling
It may contradict the above, but greens will be missed this week as balls will run off the undulations if hit in the wrong places. So, players will need a better than average scrambling game to get up and down from these thick run off areas around the greens.
Putting would normally be up there to make the difference, however Rory’s performance on the greens was horrific and actually ranked 120th for number of putts per round, averaging just over 31. I imagine the putting average stat of 82nd was made to look worse due to the fact he was superior in Greens in Regulation as it factors this is.
Field/Odds
Looking at a really strong field for a DP World Tour event, with some players that have moved from the Tour to the PGA Tour coming back for this one.
Winner last time out at the Irish Open at The K Club in 2016 and World Number 2 Rory McIlroy is market favourite this week at 7/2. Coming off the back of an unreal to his season, mainly on the PGA Tour where he finished with 6 straight top 15 finishes and with the Ryder Cup on the horizon, I would not be surprised to see Rory blast the field away here this week.
Another automatic qualifier for the Ryder Cup is Englishman Tyrrell Hatton, and he is second favourite at 10/1. Tyrrell ended his PGA Tour season well with getting all the way to the final play off event where he finished in a tie for 9th position. Prior to that his form was not the best dating back to the Genesis Scottish Open where he finished tied for 6th place. He always plays well however on European soil and loves the conditions we are presented with this week, chances.
Joint third in the market is Ryder Cup hopeful Shane Lowry and Min Woo Lee at 18/1. At the time of writing this, Shane is relying on a captains pick to be in Italy in a couple of weeks time for the Ryder cup. His form this year has been average at best for me considering how consistent Shane is normally, his biggest weakness has been his driver when I have watched him, all signs point to him getting a pick however which has split opinions in the golfing community for sure, I don’t think he should go in all honesty as we have some fine talent who will unfortunately miss out. He did however win the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009 when he beat Rob Rock in a play-off, and he does thrive in these conditions as his ball flight suits it down to the ground, he has a lot to prove for me this week.
The other 18/1 in the market is Min Woo Lee. He would be my pick over Lowry out the two for sure. Not too many starts this year, but his highlights came at the US Open where he finished 5th and THE PLAYERS Championship where he finished in a tie for 6th place. He is a mighty talented young golfer who has won in Scotland before, he will be high in my thoughts this week for sure.
Looking further down the board this week and due to the strength at the top of the market, we have got some nice numbers for sure. Adrian Oteagui at 70/1 jumps out at me definitely and old steady Richie Ramsay at 110/1 is certainly an eye-catching number and one to mull over. Let’s see who makes the 4 for this week!
Irish Open Tips
This Week’s Selections
Five selections this week for the Irish Open, 1.25pts each way and all with 8 places with Bet365. Let’s keep the good run going!
Min Woo Lee 18/1
Recent Form – 41-35-15-9-3
Course Form – DEBUT
I mentioned the guy in my preview being the pick of the top of the market for me, so I decided to take him here in Ireland. Lee is always so consistent from Tee2Green and is surprisingly effective around the greens too. His recent form is not much to shout about but he is making cuts and playing some decent stuff. 15th at the British Masters on a similar layout at the Belfry catches the eye for me.
Alexander Bjork 28/1
Recent Form – 2- 14-35-4-8-9
Course Form – DEBUT
One of the form guys this year on the DP World Tour and that is why he is keeping his place on my card following last week’s quality 2nd place finish. He now has ten top-20s this year on Tour and has not missed a cut. He his deadly accurate with his irons, with Greens in Regulation being one of his fortes as he lies 8th for it on Tour this year and ranked 6th for it last week in Switzerland. 5th for Driving Accuracy and 1st for Stroke Average on Tour also this year intrigues me again and at a bigger price than last week I couldn’t resist him again.
Jordan Smith 40/1
Recent Form – 20-41-12-35-39
Course Form – DEBUT
Jordan has not missed a cut for a while now on Tour, dating back 8 starts ago at the KLM Open in the Netherlands. Last week he came top-10 in all Tee2Green statistics and his form has been consistent, so I am hoping he has found something. His putting is his Achilles heel for sure and it's something he's always struggled with. He would have won a lot more if it was even half as good as the average Tour professional for sure. But I am chancing him here this week and hopefully he can find something.
Alex Fitzpatrick 50/1
Recent Form – 5-14-2-MC-1-39 (Challenge Tour form included)
Course Form – DEBUT
Alex Fitzpatrick also keeps his place on my card from last week due to his incredibly solid 5th placed finish. He won 5 starts ago on the Challenge Tour at The British Challenge that was played in Cornwall in England and was 2nd a three weeks ago in Northern Ireland at the ISPS Handa World Invitational. Very good form in British conditions that will all help him this week. His accurate play and his unbelievable scrambling resembles his brother Matt’s for sure. It is a bit of a gamble taking him again here this week against such a good field but I am hoping he can carry on his consistent form of late.
Connor Syme 90/1
Recent Form – 3-4-MC-74-68
Course Form – DEBUT
An inconsistent sort on Tour normally, however the Scotsman has had back-to-back impressive top 5 finishes in which he has finished in the top 3 for Strokes Gained: Tee2Green and Approach. His 4th place finish two starts ago came in Northern Ireland under some suspect weather conditions. If he replicates his current form/performances, Syme outruns his odds this week for sure.

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