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Odds-on Rory McIlroy falls short
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Read my BMW PGA Championship preview here
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Read my Fortinet Championship preview here
Having begun round four of the Irish Open trailing by two, the pre-event favourite, Rory McIlroy, birdied the first hole on Sunday and it wasn't long before he was trading at odds-on.
The world number two hit a low of 1.9110/11 and he looked the most probable winner when play was suspended as heavy rain and lightning struck.
With the course softened, it looked highly likely that Rory and co would rip up the K Club when play resumed after an hour and a half but the only man to make hay after the break was pre-event 60.059/1 chance, Vincent Norrman.
The 25-year-old Swede had begun the final day trading at around 170.0169/1 and trailing the overnight leader, Hurly Long, by fully six strokes. Norrman was matched at a 1000.0999/1 on Sunday when he parred the first six holes.
Victory looked highly unlikely but six birdies in eight holes from the seventh saw him hit the front and when he birdied the 72nd hole he posted a score that nobody else could reach.
The 54-hole leader, Long, a pre-event 1000.0999/1 chance, was matched at just 2.6413/8 when he rallied on the back-nine to reach 14-under-par. After a birdie at the par three 12th, however, back-to-back bogeys at 13 and 14 stopped him in his tracks.
An eagle at the par five finishing hole would have seen him draw alongside Norrman but unsurprisingly, he failed to hole out from nearly 60 feet for the three and the Swede was left holding the trophy. His second in six starts!
Normann got off the mark on the PGA Tour in July when he beat Nathan Kimsey in a playoff at the Barbasol Championship, so it's been quite a few months.
Given he's now a two-time winner, and up to number 76 in the Official World rankings, could Normann feel slightly aggrieved at missing out on a place in Luke Donald's European Ryder Cup team?
He's 15 places and a PGA Tour title ahead of fellow Swede, Ludvig Aberg, who got the nod from Luke last Monday.
More Irish Open heartache for Fox
Matt Cooper's each-way fancy, Ryan Fox, who I backed with a round to go at 14/115.00, hit a low of 2.021/1 on the back-nine yesterday. But he finished 5-5-5 to fall two shots short in a tie for third and he must be starting to think he'll never take this title.
The Kiwi now has Irish Open form figures reading 4-2-MC-MC-MC-3.
Frustration for long odds-on Rory backers
As brilliant as McIlroy is, he's not a safe conveyance for betting purposes.
The guys on Sky Sports talk as though victory is a forgone conclusion whenever he gets in-the-mix but he comes up short more often than not. Even when he does win it's usually in dramatic circumstances - as it was in Scotland in July.
He's often one to take on in the win markets at odds-on and laying him in the place markets can pay dividends to.
Despite hitting the front after two holes yesterday, he ended the week in a tie for 16th. He was matched at a low of 1.171/6 to finish inside the top-five and some poor soul backed him at 1.011/100 to finish inside the top-10.
We've got a busy schedule this week and I've previewed the BMW PGA Championship here and the Fortinet Championship here.
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