Horizon Irish Open 2023: Course and current form stats

• Parkland course with plenty of sand and water

• Accurate Hoge 50/151.00 must not be overlooked

• In-form Syme 80/181.00 could claim another e/w finish

Tournament Notes

• With the Ryder Cup starting later this month, and the BMW-sponsored PGA Championship taking place at Wentworth next week, the 68th Irish Open has attracted a reasonable field;

• Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Billy Horschel are just three of the big names taking part in County Kildare this week;

• The K-Club's most recent appearance on the DP World Tour calendar came in 2016, when hosting Ireland's national open. It was a tournament won by Rory McIlroy;

• Despite being one of Ireland's most famous golfing venues, The K-Club is still relatively young, opened in July 1991;

• It made its European Tour debut in 1995 and 11 years later became the first Irish venue to stage the Ryder Cup.

Course Notes

• The K-Club's famous North Course was designed by one of golf's greatest-ever players, Arnold Palmer;

• This will be the 12th time that the DP World Tour has visited the North Course, with the K-Club's South Course staging three such tournaments too;

• It is a parkland layout, where the majority of putting surfaces slope from front-to-back;

• A well-bunkered venue with tree-lined fairways and a number of subtle dog-legs;

• It is a relatively long course, with water in play on 13 holes.

Latest betting for this week's Horizon Irish Open

DP World Tour: Consistency Chart

Most Times Within Eight Shots of Champion (Since Jan 1st, 2023)

No of Times

11: Alexander Bjork
8: Gavin Green
8: Adrian Meronk
7: Grant Forrest
7: Thorbjorn Olesen
7: Yannik Paul
7: Jordan Smith
6: Jorge Campillo
6: Ewen Ferguson
6: Marcus Helligkilde
6: Ryo Hisatsune
6: Romain Langasque

For DP World Tour events only;
Only those entered this week are included in table

Betfair Sportsbook

Irish Open Top Tips: Five To Watch

Gavin Green 100/1101.00: Five top-10s this year, including a tie-for-eighth in Switzerland on Sunday. Currently leads the Putts per Green category on the DP World Tour.

Tyrrell Hatton 11/112.00: Tied-fifth at the K-Club seven years ago and will be part of Europe's Ryder Cup team in Italy.

Tom Hoge 50/151.00: Survived through to the second phase of the recent FedEx Cup Play-Offs, but failed to reach East Lake. Is currently ranked fifth in the Strokes Gained: Approach the Green category on the PGA Tour.

Rory McIlroy 7/24.50: Returns to the venue where he won the Irish Open in 2016. The world No 2 will be tough to stop if he hits the ground running on Thursday.

Connor Syme 80/181.00: His season has suddenly taken an upturn thanks to a brace of top-five finishes these past two weeks. Stood on the podium Sunday and is a career-high No 167 in the world.

MC* - Missed Additional 54-Hole Cut

Note: List Contains Leading Reserves