Three Irishmen to the fore as St Andrews awaits 139th Open

JOE takes a look at the contenders for the 139th Open Championships, and considers whether we are living in the golden age of Irish golf.

By Conor Hogan

Irish major winners are not really like buses. There’s sometimes a delay, but you rarely have to wait as long as 60 years for public transport. In a metaphorical sense they are however. As after that long gap between Fred Daly’s British Open win in ’47 and Padraig Harrington’s in ’07, there have been four Irish major victories in three years.

Is this the golden age of Irish golf? There has never been a time, since the Open Championship was first played at the Prestwick Golf Club in 1860, that so many Irish golfers were in with a chance of winning a major.

There’s Padraig Harrington, winner of three major titles in 13 months in 2007-2008. There’s Graeme McDowell, current world number eleven, and Ireland’s first US Open winner this year at Pebble Beach.

Then there’s 21-year-old prodigy Rory McIlroy, who placed in third in the 2009 USPGA championship, and who at the Quail Hollow Championships, after an astonishing final round of 62, defeated world number two Phil Mickelson by four strokes. In doing so, he became the first player to win a US tour event before turning 21 since Tiger Woods in 1996.

Supreme confidence

Jack Nicklaus believes the Holywood, County Down native can be better than Tiger Woods, and despite not yet winning a major, McIlroy is the second favourite to take the Claret Jug at St Andrews.  It isn’t a question of whether McIlroy will win a major, but when.

“I knew I’d come in here as hopefully one of the favourites but it doesn’t put any extra pressure on me because I know if I go out and play this golf course the way I know I can, I should have a good chance,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

“If you look at the winners that have played here before, John Daly in ‘95, Tiger in 2000 and 2005, they’re guys that are renowned for hitting it long and being quite aggressive. Hopefully that will play into my hands.”

The other Irish competitors are McIlroy’s former amateur partner Shane Lowry, and Ryder Cup hero Darren Clarke. Both are long-shots, quoted at 150-1 and 100-1 respectively. Lowry, in his first Open, will probably be delighted to make the cut.

Anyone who remembers his extraordinary win at last year’s Irish Open in Baltry, however, will know that he is capable of a surprise. Former Open runner-up Clarke has lost his way a little in his last few years, but is coming in to form at just the right time, with his second place finish at the Barclay’s Scottish Open.

Tiger Woods, as always, is the favourite. His odds of 6-1 are surprisingly long, however, considering he has twice won at St Andrews, and the lengthening of the course could play into his hands. The bookies are obviously considering his inconsistent form in the wake of his extra-curricular activities. It’ll also be interesting to see how he copes with his first new putter in eleven years.

Race for number one

Phil Mickelson will be motivated by his genuine chance of overtaking Woods at the top of the world rankings. Woods has been number one for over five years, and for almost eleven years of his career in total. A win will certainly put Mickelson ahead of Woods, while second will also be good enough if Woods finishes lower than fourth.

Other contenders will be three time major winner Ernie Els, who will be playing with Ian Poulter and last year’s winner Stewart Cink on the opening day. In-form Lee Westwood has come in the top three in three of the last four majors, but there are doubts about his fitness, while another Englishman, Justin Rose, is well fancied after winning twice on the PGA tour this year.

Last year’s unlikely runner-up, 60-year-old Tom Watson, is not expected to make the cut and is quoted at 250-1 by bookmakers. He will be teeing off on the opening day with Padraig Harrington.

It would be an incredible surprise if Watson was again a contender this weekend. Given that there are so many world-class Irish players, however, it would come as no shock if one of them lifted the Claret Jug on Sunday.