2021 European Tour Irish Open Odds and Picks

• The European Tour’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open tees off Thursday, July 1st
• 2016 champ Rory McIlroy is the heavy +450 favorite over 2009 winner Shane Lowry
• We’ve narrowed down the golfers with the best chance of emerging victorious and provided the best value bets below

One week after Viktor Hovland became the first Norwegian to win on the European Tour at the BMW International Open, the game’s best head to Ireland for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open. This is the tenth straight year the venue has changed, and this one is at Mount Juliet Golf & Spa Hotel located in Thomastown, County Kilkenny, Ireland.

This course will host the European Tour’s best at this tournament for the first time since 1995.

Rory McIlroy, who hosted this event from 2015-18, enters this tournament as a massive +450 favorite to win for the second time. He’s the only top-30 golfer in the world competing, but the other top players on the board are no slouches, including 2019 Open Champion Shane Lowry. He’s playing in front of his home fans for the first time since winning the Claret Jug.

American John Catlin returns as defending champion, after he took the title from Engishmen Aaron Rai by two strokes at Galgorm Castle last year.

2021 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Odds

Odds as of June 28th

Sam Horsfield Eyes Third European Tour Victory

Sam Horsfield has had a very strong 2021 on the European Tour, doing everything but collect a title. That comes on the heels of him winning his first two events last August. In seven starts on the circuit, he’s racked up four top-10’s, including a T-5 last week. The other three events resulted in top-25 finishes.

There isn’t a whole lot that the 24-year-old Englishmen doesn’t do well, as evidenced by these stats for the season.

Horsfield’s Ranks This Season

He also ranks in the top-25 in par-3, par-4 and par-5 scoring. His odds of +2200 are much more palpable than that of favorite Rory McIlroy, who is priced far too short at +450. Though Horsfield hasn’t won in 2021, he has the two victories from 2020 to draw from and plenty of strong play this year to strongly consider.

Last Five Irish Open Winners

*All were won at different golf courses

2021 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Best Value Picks

1. Joost Luiten (+4500): In his last six completed starts, Joost Luiten has found himself with five results being inside the top-15 (two top-10’s). He’s third in greens in regulation on the campaign and second in bogey avoidance. The six-time European Tour champion had a respectable T-11 showing at last year’s event.
2. Alexander Bjork (+6500): Before missing the cut at the BMW International Open, Swede Alexander Bjork had put together a strong run of play, with six straight top-30’s, including a T-6 and a T-7. The 2018 Volvo China Open winner is sixth in strokes gained putting and 15th in SG: approaching-the-green on the campaign.
3. John Catlin (+8000): Though he won at a different track, these are very enticing odds for defending champion John Catlin. All he’s done in the last ten months is win three times on the circuit. He’s coming off three straight missed cuts, pushing his odds this high, but in two of his three starts before that, he had a win at the Austrian Golf Open and fifth place at the Tenerife Open.