The Irish Open is a nomadic event and this year takes place at a new venue - the Trump International Golf Links, for the 71st edition - we have no course form to go on, only current form.
For information on how other links courses might correlate with this week's venue, and provide indicators about who might thrive at the Irish Open, read Steve Rawlings' in-depth preview.
Irish Open current form picks
Rory McIlroy @ 6/17.00
The defending champion arrives in impressive form after finishing tied fourth in the Tour Championship at East Lake last month and, prior to that, third at the BMW Championship. This week's event is the perfect opportunity for the Grand Slam winner to record his first tournament triumph since claiming his second Masters title in April.
Jon Rahm @ 9/110.00
The Spaniard won this tournament in 2019 and '17 so has a penchant for the Irish Open. He arrives after finishing second in the LIV Golf Indianapolis event and, while he only managed a T46 when the Open was played on links at Royal Birkdale in July, he should be fired up to target a third win in this event.
Rasmus Hojgaard @ 30/131.00
The opportunity to back the 2024 winner at 30/131.00 must be seized not only because repeat winners have not been uncommon in the past decade (as well as Rahm's pair of wins, McIlroy also triumphed in 2016 before last year's victory) but because the Dane is also in good nick: T11 at the European Masters, T2 at the Danish Golf Championship and, not long before that, fourth at the Rocket Classic.
World Ranking Points
Most Points Since May 1st (Top 25 Listed)
Pts..........(Events)
88.70: Joaquin Niemann (11)
84.05: Jon Rahm (10)
74.41: Rory McIlroy (9)
66.97: Eugenio Chacarra (13)
64.40: Alex Fitzpatrick (13)
59.53: Tyrrell Hatton (10)
51.00: Robert MacIntyre (12)
49.10: Matt Wallace (12)
45.07: Nicolai Hojgaard (13)
38.13: Joe Dean (11)
37.78: Harry Hall (15)
36.30: Kota Kaneko (11)
33.99: Oliver Lindell (10)
33.16: Shaun Norris (11)
32.03: Jacob Skov Olesen (12)
31.43: Rasmus Hojgaard (11)
30.63: Michael Hollick (12)
28.43: Sergio Garcia (9)
28.29: Casey Jarvis (13)
28.18: Mikael Lindberg (10)
27.07: Stefano Mazzoli (14)
26.68: Bernd Wiesberger (12)
26.48: Patrick Reed (9)
26.47: Jeff Winther (9)
25.47: Thriston Lawrence (11)
Only those entered this week are included in table
Note: List Contains Leading Reserves