The 2023-24 golf season continues this week, as the DP World Tour heads to the K Club in Straffan, Ireland for the Irish Open 2023 over the next few days. With $6,000,000 on the line, plus a bit of pride on the line for certain players, this should be a hotly contested event this weekend.
Rory McIlroy is the biggest name in the field, with the Northern Irishman looking to claim his first title here since 2016. The former world No. 1 is also hoping to bounce back from the disappointment of losing his FedEx Cup recently and will be motivated to get a good result in front of a home crowd. However, he’ll have strong competition, particularly from defending champion Adrian Meronk, who also will arrive in Ireland with some fire in his belly after missing out on Europe’s Ryder Cup team.
Who will prevail on the greens of Ireland? We break down the latest odds from bookmaker bet365 and outline the best bets to make on the Irish Open 2023 this week.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: September 5th, 4:00 P.M. (GMT)
Unsurprisingly, bookmaker bet365 has Rory McIlroy as a heavy favourite, with the Northern Irishman paying just 4.50 to claim the title here at the K Club. Behind him, world No. 13 Tyrell Hatton pays more than double on 11.00, with an even greater jump back in the odds to the chasing pack. Shane Lowry, Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott are on 21.00, with Adrian Meronk rounding out the favourites on 26.00.
A virtually identical trend is followed for top finish odds, with McIlroy at 1.95 for a top five finish through to Meronk at 6.50 for the same.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: September 5th, 4:00 P.M. (GMT)
In terms of the best bets here, this feels like a choice between back McIlroy or Meronk. Both will be motivated and focused this week coming off a little recent adversity and wanting to deliver here to prove they’ve still got it. While McIlroy is the more conservative bet, odds of 4.50 are not very enticing, with this about as low as golf odds get to win an event outright. Instead, we suggest taking McIlroy for a conservative top 10 finish at 1.52 and backing Meronk to win outright.
Meronk was imperious at the Irish Open last year and while that was played on a different course, the skill-set he displayed there is equally as transferable to what the K Club will offer. He’s had several other strong performances since then and having missed out on the cut for the Ryder Cup team, he will be wanting to show he was the better choice than Shane Lowry. Back him to defend his title at a lucrative 26.00.
