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With the final round of Open Qualifying wrapped up, we turn our attention to the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Ballyliffin Golf Club, where Rory McIlroy plays host to a host of big names. Reigning champion Jon Rahm shares the favourite tag with McIlroy, although the Spaniard has been quick to oust any talk of a repeat of last year's "Unique week", when he shot a tournament record -24 264.
Irish Incentives
The European Tour's fourth Rolex Series event of the year will offer added incentives, with a $7million purse, increased Race to Dubai points, increased Ryder Cup points and three Open Championship places up for grabs.
The beautiful Donegal coastline will be on show along with a links course that will challenge players in every department. McIlroy believes it is one of the toughest links courses in the world so we're expecting it to make for great viewing.
In the Hunt
With such a tough course and so much up for grabs, we can expect to see the best rise to the top. The added incentives mean added pressure, so psychology could come into play in a big way this week. We all know that this has a major effect on McIlroy; if he gets it right then he has the ability to win by a huge margin, but it's too 50/50 for me so I don't think the joint-favourite tag is deserved. Rahm, on the other hand, is one of only two men with multiple Rolex Series victories (Alex Noren's win last week put him in the exclusive club) and would be the obvious choice to retain his title.
Graeme McDowell joins Rahm and fellow Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello on the tee after being forced to withdraw from the Open Qualifying event this week due to a lack of clubs. GMac's bag was lost in transit by Air France so that means he needs to secure one of the three spots either this week or next week at the Scottish Open. The host will be accompanied by Matthew Fitzpatrick and Thorbjorn Olesen, whilst other home favourites Shane Lowry and Padraig Harrington will no doubt have the place rocking if either can replicate past wins in the tournament (2009 and 2007 respectively).
Written by Joe Carabini
