Golf Tips: Best bets for the Procore Championship and Irish Open

• Tips and analysis for both events from our golf experts

• Mackenzie Hughes the sole selection from The Punter

• Scot Bob MacIntyre fancied to go well in Ireland

• A trio of First Round Leaders tips for the Irish links

Procore Championship Tips and Predictions

The Punter: 59/1 Hughes is only pick at Silverado

Steve Rawlings: "The last two winners have been well backed. Despite looking for his first win on the PGA Tour, Sahith Theegala was gambled into 18.0 12 months ago and Max Homa went off favourite when defending the title two years ago. Jimmy Walker was fairly well-fancied ten years ago (generally a 36.0 shot) and Brendon Steele went off at 36.0 when successfully defending the title seven years ago, but outsiders have a very fair record.

"Homa was an 80.0 chance three years ago and the three winners before him went off at triple-figure prices. And so too did Sang-Moon Bae ten years ago and the 2011 winner, Bryce Molder, so despite the result of the last two editions, this is definitely somewhere you can take a chance on an outsider or two...

"Brendon Steele and Max Homa have both made successful defences at Silverado so it's hardly surprising to see the market favour last year's winner, Sahith Theegala, ahead of last year's US Open winner, Wyndham Clark.

"With course form figures reading 14-47-6-1, Theegala clearly loves it here and following his third-place finish at the Tour Championship, where only Collin Morikawa shot a lower 72-hole total, he's highly likely to contend again but I'm happy to let him go unbacked at less than 12/1...

"For now my only pre-event pick is Canada's Mackenzie Hughes. The two-time PGA Tour winner has gone off the boil fractionally after his 16^th place finish at the Open Championship, finishing 19^th at the 3M Open, 28^th in the Wyndham Championship and only 58^th at the FedEx St Jude Championship, which saw him fail to progress to the BMW Championship, but he's a decent scrambler and he's shown an aptitude for the venue.

"Hughes shot four rounds in the 60s when finishing 13^th on debut back in 2016 and although that's his best effort at Silverado to date, I thought he was worth chancing modestly at 60.059/1."

Each-Way Tips: Picks from 40/1 to 100/1

Dave Tindall: "If you want to keep it simple and drink in a saloon called 'obvious', Justin Suh is worth a look at a three-figure price. The basics: he's a born and bred Californian, who putts well.

"The 27-year-old from San Jose went to the the University of Southern California although he now resides in Las Vegas. The former World No.1 Amateur has solid form in his home state, finishing 11th last time at the Barracuda Championship and compiling six top 40s in his eight latest California starts.

"At this venue his form doesn't leap off the page (58-MC-30) but he broke par in all four rounds last year to secure his top-30 finish. Back to his putting prowess and Suh ranked first for SG: Putting on the PGA Tour last season which is quite a claim. A latest thermometer check shows him ranking eighth and sixth for SGP in his last two starts.

"Talking of current form, although he played just once in August due to missing the playoffs, his two starts before that 52nd at the Wyndham were 19th in the 3M Open and 11th at the Barracuda.

"Suh turned pro alongside Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff in June 2019 and obviously hasn't made the same impact as his peers. But a win in the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Championship put him back in focus again and hopefully he can pull something out big here on turf he knows well."

Find Me a 100 Winner: Cash in on big price Chad

Steve Rawlings: "I was sorely tempted by the in-form Californian veteran, Charley Hoffman, at this week's PGA Tour event - the Procore Championship.

"The home state contingent has prospered at Silverado, with the tournament going the way of a Californian in six of the last eight years. However, I'm going to pass Charley over on account of his poor course form and instead plump for the 2022 Corales Puntacana Championship - Chad Ramey.

"The 32-year-old missed his first two cuts here but he finished 19^th 12 months ago and he arrives in better form this time around, with current form figures reading 13-24-52, and those numbers should be better.

"Ramey sat second at the halfway stage of the Wyndham Championship a month ago but shot 73-74 over the weekend to tumble down the leaderboard.

"Scrambling has been the key stat at Silverado and he's ranked inside the top-15 for that metric in each of his last three starts."

Place order to lay 8 Us @ 10.09/1 & 12 Us @ 2.01/1

Course and current form stats

Andy Swales: "It's a largely flat, parkland layout, with tree-lined fairways. The rough is usually testing, while its small Bentgrass/Poa Annua putting surfaces are quick and undulating. Therefore, accurate iron play becomes more important than ever. Water is only an issue for pros on a couple of holes.

"Among this week's leading candidates, who have strong Silverado histories, are Sahith Theegala 12/1 and Max Homa 20/1. Between them, they have won the last three instalments of this event. But while Homa's current form is a long way below what is expected of him, Theegala has enjoyed a wonderful last 12 months.

"He's currently the world No 12 and in his most recent start at the Tour Championship, he posted the second best 72-hole total, while finishing third on handicap."

Irish Open Tips

The Punter: Rory an uneasy favourite

Steve Rawlings: "The first hole at Royal County Down is a par five that ranked as the easiest hole on the course in 2015 and the second hole, a par four, was the ninth hardest hole nine years ago but the players go through a tough spell after that with holes three to nine ranking as six of the hardest seven holes in 2015.

"The par four 15^th was the hardest hole on the course nine years ago but the back nine is easier than the front nine and the last three holes - two short par fours and a par five - offer up a chance to score.

"In benign conditions, making up ground is tough on links layouts and three of the four course winners this century was in front at halfway.

"The odd man out was Ian Stanley, who won the British Senior Open in 2001, but he only sat fourth and two off the lead at halfway and all four course winners were within two strokes of the lead after the first round. It's a very different scenario when the wind blows though, and the early forecasts suspect it will do.

"As already highlighted, Eddie Pepperell made up a lot of ground in the tough conditions in round four nine years ago and blustery conditions always create volatile leaderboards.

"It's still very early days to be giving the weather forecasts too much credence but there does look like there might be a bias in favour of those drawn PM-AM with the wind predicted to be at its lightest on Friday morning.

"Rory McIlroy heads the market, but he's been on the slide since it first opened. He signed off the Tour Championship with a bogey-free five-under-par 66 to climb into a tie for ninth when last sighted but he hasn't been in the best of form since he lost his way in round four at Paris National when he looked in line for an Olympic medal.

"Although he missed the cut here in 2015, after opening the event with a nine-over-par 80 in round one, Rory knows the venue well so that's a big plus, but his event form is extremely strange, with figures reading MC-7-50-35-34-10-MC-MC-MC-1-MC-28-59-16. I'm happy to swerve him."

Each-Way Tips: 18/1 Robert MacIntyre can make it three

Matt Cooper: "As we'll discover, this week's plan includes a very high price selection with a reduced stake which helps us add a larger stake on a rare column venture shorter than 20/1.

"McIlroy's favouritism makes sense for the bookies and they're also understandably wary of Shane Lowry but might Robert MacIntyre and Aaron Rai be the wrong way around? The books disagree but, at the very least, there's a discussion to be had.

"Rai is a two-time winner on the DP World Tour and one-time winner on the PGA Tour. MacIntyre has won three times in Europe and twice on the PGA Tour although one of the wins count on both circuits. Both have won at the Renaissance Club (and, although Rai was fourth behind MacIntyre, the Scot also has a second and two other top 20s). MacIntyre's two PGA wins have come this year against Rai's one. There's not a lot in it in terms of wider form.

"MacIntyre's links form beyond Renaissance is also stronger. Rai has finished ninth at Gullane and third at Fairmont St Andrews. MacIntyre's log book includes second at Hillside and, in the Open, sixth at Royal Portrush, eighth at Royal St George's. In head-to-heads on the linksland the Scot leads 9-2.

"None of this is to say Rai is wrongly among the most likely winners, just that MacIntyre might be more likely. In addition to winning in Canada and on the links already this summer, he's had a top 10 in the PGA Championship, another in a FedEx Cup Play Off event and carded a final round 64 last time out at East Lake."

First Round Leader Tips: Three bets from 50/1 to 90/1

Dave Tindall: "If we didn't particularly associate Thriston Lawrence with links golf, he put that right earlier this summer when challenging for glory in the Open at Royal Troon.

"The South African shot a 65 to move into second place with a round to go and eventually finished fourth.

"Since then he's scored a wire-to-wire win in a home South African Tour event, an opening 62 giving him the first-round lead, and finished runner-up in the British Masters where he was third after day one thanks to a 68.

"Another 62 secured him the first-round lead at the Joburg Open last November so he's capable of going very low off the bat.

"The final piece of the jigsaw is that he's got a real love for this event having finished third in the last two editions. In in the first, at Mount Juliet, he posted a Thursday 66.

"Lawrence looks a good bet at 50s to make an impression from his 12.50 tee-time."

Form stats

Andy Swales: "As with most links courses, this unforgiving terrain will test most parts of a golfer's game, and it will especially demand a good touch around the greens.

£When Royal County Down last staged a DP World Tour event in 2015, the winning score was just two-under-par. Only seven players posted 72-hole totals of par or better, while five-over-par was good enough to avoid the 36-hole chop...

"Rasmus Hojgaard 22/1 seems to be moving closer to another 'Euro' title. The Dane is flying in the shadow of his twin brother Nicolai but, in recent weeks, has posted a series of promising results.

"So far this season he has finished 2nd-3rd-4th, with his most recent podium position arriving at The Belfry just two weeks ago. Rasmus is certainly a decent each-way option but also has the talent to follow in the footsteps of his fellow countryman Soren Kjeldsen who won the Irish Open when it was last staged at Royal County Down."

Get the latest from both tournaments from the Punter's in-play golf betting blog