The summer of European golf is in full swing, beginning with last week's BMW International Open in Munich, Germany. The 25th staging of the event was won by South African Ernie Els, who beat Thomas Bjorn by one shot to finish -18 overall. It was Els' 28th European Tour victory (seventh on the all-time list), and he also became the first "Springbok" to win the prestigious event.
This week the Tour returns to Ireland for The Irish Open, being staged at Carton House Golf Club in County Kildare. This tournament has been a mainstay on the Tour's schedule and is a favorite amongst the players. Fans come out in their thousands to watch not only the home players, but many of the other European and international stalwarts. Tournament organizers are expecting crowds to exceed 100,000 for the week. Carton House hosted the 2005 and 2006 Irish Opens, won by Stephen Dodd and Bjorn, respectively. The course hosting the tournament was designed by Colin Montgomerie, who will not be competing in Ireland this week as he will be making his Champions Tour debut at the Senior Players Championship. The 7,301-yard, par-72 layout has been described as a tough track, but the rough has been cut down so scoring should be somewhere around 10-under-par.
As with every national open, the home players will command the majority of the attention, and rightly so. That is even more evident this week, with world #2 Rory McIlroy and #6 Graeme McDowell highlighting the field, along with three-time Major winner and 2007 Irish Open champion Padraig Harrington. 2011 Open champion Darren Clarke, 2014 Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley, and Carton House member Shane Lowry finish out the strong Irish contingent. There will be 27 Irish players competing this week. On the international side, defending champion Jamie Donaldson, two-time Major champion and 2012 Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal, 1999 Open champion and eight-time Tour winner Paul Lawrie, ball-striking extraordinaire Francesco Molinari, and top-five machine Bjorn round out the notable foreigners who will be trying to claim this prestigious title.
As for contenders, it's hard to look past the top two players in the field: McIlroy and McDowell. The two Ulstermen have had two entirely different seasons, with G-Mac winning twice and Rors failing to display any sort of consistency with his game. McIlroy does not come in with good form, with a tied-41st at the U.S. Open two weeks ago being his best finish in a month's worth of golf. McDowell's form has been streaky, as he has two wins and four missed cuts in his last six tournaments. However, playing in front of the Irish fans might just help them produce some of their best golf. However, history is not on their side. No Northern Irishman has ever won The Irish Open since it became European Tour event in 1975. To make matters worse, McIlroy has not won a professional tournament on European soil. But with the talent that both of these world-class players exhibit, I would be very surprised if both weren't in contention come the back-nine on Sunday. And, with girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki losing in the second round at Wimbledon, there will be an added motivation for McIlroy.
In prestigious tournaments such as this, the cream usually rises to the top, with the best players in the field generally competing for the title. Sure, I would love to see McGinley (ranked 399th) or Clarke (366th) make a run, or struggling players such as 2011 champ Simon Dyson, Tom Lewis, Robert Rock (who lost in a playoff to amateur Shane Lowry in 2009), Paul Casey, or Harrington get into contention. Out of these players, Harrington has the best chance due to his Irish Open record and he will feed off the galleries this week. He has acknowledged that if you put him on a tough golf course, he will be one of the contenders. I'm expecting big things from Paddy this week, even though his form has been poor this season based on his standards. He has shown a return to form recently, however. He finished tied-10th in the FedEx St. Jude Classic on the PGA Tour, tied-21st at the U.S. Open the week after, and was in contention going into the weekend at the Travelers Championship (PGA Tour) last week before finishing well down in the field after a disappointing final two rounds. As someone who works on his game as hard as he does, it's fair to say that a win is in the near future. The Irishman has not won on either the European or PGA Tours since his PGA Championship victory in 2008. I can tell you that there will be no better place than Carton House for him to win his second Irish Open title and end his almost five-year winless drought on either Tour. As he mentioned in his pre-tournament interview, there would be a great cause for celebration if he wins on Sunday.
The conditions for the event are fair, as the weather in the past few weeks has been dry and warm. The forecast for Thursday through Sunday calls for generally dry conditions, with sporadic showers expected due to the winds picking up as the week progresses. All in all, it should be a fabulous week in the Emerald Isle and let's hope that the golf lives up to it as the buildup to the event has been massive. Certainly, a worthy champion will be crowned on Sunday.
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