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Steve Rawlings previews DP World Tour event and recommends best bet
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Get Dave Tindall's first-round leader bets
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Plus course info and outsiders to back at over 100/1101.00
Amgen Irish Open tips and predictions
The Punter's Preview: Keeping faith with Keita at 59/1
Steve Rawlings: "Rory McIlroy is going to be very well-fancied this week as he attempts to win the event for a second time and we've seen some very high-quality multiple winners of the Irish Open, with the 2021 US Open champ, Jon Rahm, who won the title in 2017 and 2019, the latest to win the event more than once.
"In total, 11 players have won the Irish Open on more than one occasion and Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Seve Ballesteros, and Colin Montgomerie have all won the title three times...
"I was sorely tempted to back last week's winner, Thriston Lawrence. Winning back-to-back is notoriously difficult but he tends to hold his form nicely when he finds it. He's trading at the same odds he went off at last week, so he appears reasonably priced, and he finished third here on debut two years ago. But after much deliberation, I'm going to give last week's fancy, Keita Nakajima another go.
"Greens In Regulation has been the key stat here over the years so the fact that Nakajima has ranked 17th for the stats in each of his last three starts bodes well and he putted a bit better in Switzerland last week, ranking eighth for Putting Average.
"After his fourth-place finish at the Belfry a fortnight ago, a slow second round cost him last week, but he shot 66-65 over the last two rounds to climb up into a tie for 17th in Crans and I was happy to play him again at a slightly bigger price than last week."
Back Keita Nakajima
First Round Leader Tips: Three to back up to 70/1
Dave Tindall: "Many roads lead to Jordan Smith this week. One of the best drivers in the game, he looks a good fit for the K Club and showed that here two years ago when opening 66-65 to lead at halfway before finishing 12th.
"Last week the Englishman opened with a 63 at the European Masters in Crans and that was the third time in his last six starts that he'd been in both the top six after 18 holes and in the top three at the midpoint.
"Smith, who has four top 25s in his last five Irish Open starts, can boast five top seven finishes on the DP World Tour since April and can continue that strong form this week.
"Back the 08.10 starter (10th tee) at 45/146.00."
Back Jordan Smith each-way for FRL
Big Price Winner Tips: Two longshots chanced
Steve Rawlings: "Bradley Dredge only ever won twice on the DP World Tour, but he finished runner at the K Club in 2002, 14 years before he finished second behind Rory in 2016 and eight years before finishing third at Golfclub München Eichenried, where he'd led by three with a round to go.
"Martin Kaymer, who has two seconds and a first to his name around Golfclub München Eichenried, finished fifth behind Rory and Dredge nine years ago and Munich form came to the fore again two years ago.
"The winner, Vincent Norrman, finished fifth on his only appearance at the BMW international Open, in 2021, and last week's winner of the European Masters, Thriston Lawrence, who finished third behind Normann, had won the BMW International Open three months earlier.
"With all that in mind, my first bet is this year's BMW International Open winner, Daniel Brown, who finished eighth in the British Masters two weeks ago.
"The Englishman finished down the field here two years ago but he's a more consistent player now and he looks worth chancing at a triple-figure price."
Back Daniel Brown (2Us)
Place order to lay 8 Us @ 10.09/1 and 12 Us @ 2.01/1
Course and current form stats
Andy Swales: "The K Club's famous North Course was designed by one of golf's greatest-ever players, Arnold Palmer. This will be the 13th time that the DP World Tour has visited the club's North Course, having also staged three tournaments on the Palmer-designed South Course.
"The North Course is a parkland layout, where the majority of putting surfaces slope from front-to-back. It is also a well-bunkered venue with tree-lined fairways and a number of subtle dog-legs. Located a few miles west of Dublin city centre, in County Kildare, the North Course is relatively long (over 7,400 yards) by European Tour standards, with water in play on 13 holes.
"Ireland's two highest-ranked stars - Rory McIlroy 7/2 and Shane Lowry 14/1 - will be teeing-up on Thursday having both enjoyed good performances at The K Club in the past. When the Irish Open was staged here nine years ago, McIlroy sealed victory by three strokes.
"And when the event returned there in 2023, it was Lowry's turn to stand on the podium having tied-for-third, two strokes behind the winner. Lowry arrives home having had a solid season in the States, where he posted a brace of runner-up finishes, and made it all the way to the Tour Championship in Georgia."
Shane Lowry