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European Tour - McDowell, Harrington and McIlroy Battle It Out in the Irish Open

Bookmark and Share by D.S. Williamson

Three of the best golfers in the world, who all happen to be Irish, battle it out this week at Kilarney Golf & Fishing Club for the Irish Open title. Nobody appears to have an edge this week as the KG & FC course hasn’t hosted an Irish Open in 18 years.

The Irish Open pits young Rory McIlroy against somewhat old Padraig Harrington, and against super-hot Graeme McDowell. All three have a shot to win. That’s why all three are going off at somewhat low betting odds in the sportsbook.

The favorite is young lad, Rory McIlroy. Will Rory find a way to take down his fellow Irishmen on the hometown course?

European Tour: Irish Open

Where: Killarney Golf & Fishing Club, Killarney, Co Kerry, Republic of Ireland

When: July 29 th thru August 1 st, 2010

Par/Yardage: Par 71, Yards 7161

TV: The Golf Channel

To Win

Best Golf Bet A: Graeme McDowell +1200

McDowell has been absolutely on fire since finishing 4 th at the Madrid Masters in May. He won both The Celtic Manor Wales Open and the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Sure, he finished 21 st at the Barclays Scottish Open and 23 rd at the Open Championship (the British Open) in his last 2 tournaments, but those are still pretty good finishes. So, the Race to Dubai leader gets his swing back again this week and dominates in Killarney. Hey, it’s not out of the question and his golf odds are double that of Rory’s.

Best Golf Bet B: Rory McIlroy +600

That doesn’t mean that Rory is a bad bet. It appears that the golfing prodigy has finally found his swing in 2010. Since finishing 108 th at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, Rory stormed into contention at both the Alstom Open de France and the 139 th Open Championship. He finished 4 th in Paris and then followed that up with a 3 rd at St. Andrews. The 3 rd at St. Andrews was particularly impressive because he had every chance to throw in the towel after a horrendous 80 in Round 2. That 80 came on the heels of a 63 first round. McIlroy responded with a 3 rd Round 69 and 4 th Round 68 after that 80 to get within shouting distance of Louis Oosthuizen for the Claret Jug. That’s what’s impressive. Rory didn’t give up when he could have. He’s going to be very difficult to beat this week at the Irish Open.

Best Underdog Golf Bet: Alejandro Canizares +3500

Alejandro Canizares has been in very good form lately. Although he blew it at Pebble Beach with a 157 th place finish and sort of bombed at the Barclays Scottish Open with a 61 st place finish, he’s done very well in his other tournament starts recently. Canizares finished 27 th at the Open Championship. That should set him up well for this. Before that, he finished 2 nd at the Alstom de France and 9 th at the BMW International Open. He’s not the worst stab in the world at +3500 golf odds.

Others To Consider

Justin Rose +1200 - - The flatter Killarney course should benefit Rose who found the hills at St. Andrews (the British Open) tough to deal with.

Padraig Harrington +1200 - - Paddy’s been close to shameful in 2010. A return to the Motherland might set him up for his first victory this year.

Francesco Molinari +1500 - - Before he bombed at St. Andrews, Francesco had been playing well. Like Rose, the flatter Killarney course could help his game.