Fantasy Golf Picks & Predictions – 2017 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open

European Tour Fantasy Golf Picks and Predictions for the 2017 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open

The 2017 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Fantasy Preview

The countdown is on to the British Open on July 20, and that means the European Tour now enters it’s ‘Links season’; starting here with the Irish Open and followed quickly by the Scottish Open next week.

Once again Rory McIlroy takes on hosting duties via his charitable foundation, and this time around he also has the added incentive of being defending champion after a three-shot triumph at the K Club 12 months ago.

Typically, the Irish Open has taken place in May, but a move to July has really helped to improve the quality of the field as all and sundry drop in to hone their Links game. This year we have Justin Rose, Hideki Matsuyama, and Jon Rahm, neither European Tour regulars, stopping by alongside the ‘regulars’ such as Thomas Pieters, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Rafa Cabrera-Bello.

This tournament is hosted on a rotational basis, and this is the first time it will have passed through Portstewart Golf Club of Londonderry, and so unfortunately we don’t have any course form numbers to work with.

What we do know is that this is your archetypal Links golf property. Built into a natural landscape of sand dunes and rolling hills, Portstewart couldn’t be any more Links if it tried! There are some great videos on YouTube introducing the course if you have five minutes to burn.

This could be one of those weeks where the canny veterans come to the fore, because at 7,004 yards for its Par 72 nobody is going to blast this track away given how narrow the fairways are. Even the Par 5s, which are short by modern standards, are not necessarily attackable unless clever shot placement is achieved.

So what a conundrum DFS gamers face this week, particularly at the head of the salary listings. Rory McIlroy can’t find a putter he likes, Hideki Matsuyama and Jon Rahm haven’t played much Links golf in their young careers, Justin Rose missed the cut at the US Open, Thomas Pieters snapped his driver in a fit of rage in France while Tommy Fleetwood heads into the event on the back of that outstanding win; can we expect him to double up in a field of this quality?

It’s a tough week, make no mistake, but happily there are some standout options further down the player list. Let’s have a look…

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Our Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Fantasy Picks & Predictions

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The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Fantasy Picks

Andy Sullivan – $9,200 – There are some players who simply thrive on Links golf, and Andy Sullivan is one of them.

The pint-sized pro has recorded excellent showings at the Irish Open (T6 in 2015), Scottish Open (T6 in 2016), and the British Open (T12 in 2016), and that’s no coincidence: his control off the tee and precise ball striking is clearly an asset when the wind is up and landing areas are small.

Sullivan has been playing good golf for a while now. Impressive enough at the WGC Mexico event (T20) and at The Masters, where his T48 return was hampered by a second round of 78, the Englishman has followed up with a form-line of 13-51-8-30, so you sense a huge performance is on the horizon.

A three-time European Tour winner, Sulli is ready to add another title to his collection.

Shane Lowry – $9,000 – Players from Great Britain and Ireland tend to have a great record in their home tournaments, with eight of the last ten winners of this particular event hailing from the region.

Shane Lowry won this tournament as an amateur in 2009, and despite his obvious talent that remains the highlight of his career nearly a decade later. The Irishman will be desperate to remedy that as soon as possible.

Another fine Links exponent – T5 in the Irish Open of 2013, T4 in the Scottish Open 2014, T9 in the British Open that same year – Lowry’s form has tailed off in the past few years, but green shoots of recovery have been noted.

A missed cut last time out will be enough to put some off, but cuts made at The Masters and US Open have sandwiched a T6 return at the BMW PGA Championship.

Padraig Harrington – $8,600 – There’s just something about Links golf that brings the best out of wily veterans, and while Padraig Harrington cannot compete with the young guns when it comes to a driving contest, he is certainly a genuine contender on short tracks where course management is key.

A three-time major winner, Harrington is also a former Irish Open and Alfred Dunhill Links champion who occasionally shows glimpses of fine form: winning the Portugal Masters in October last year confirmation of that.

T17 last time out in the Travelers Championship, there’s no reason that this old dog can’t rewind the hands of time and deliver another fine showing on home soil.

Thorbjorn Olesen – $7,800 – A favorite of ours is Thorbjorn Olesen, and he has a habit of letting us down even when a good performance appears to be inevitable. But on Links tracks we’re always happy to have him on board.

A five-time European Tour winner who has triumphed in the Alfred Dunhill Links, the Dane has served up a pair of top-20s in this tournament as well to confirm his status as one of the finest wind players on the continent.

Heading into the ‘Links season’ with a T4 at the Nordea Masters and T3 at the Open de France is all the persuasion we need to get him involved this week.

Jamie Donaldson – $6,800 – The older, more experienced players tend to perform well on Links tracks; perhaps because they’ve been around the block a few times and know that patience is a virtue on these tough assignments.

We drafted Jamie Donaldson last time out, and while he didn’t blow us away at the Open de France he did at least solidify his recent upswing in form – banking another top 40 to go with those at the Nordea Masters (seventh) and the BMW International Open (T14).

The Welshman is a former Ryder Cup ace and Irish Open champion (2012), and his last three starts in this event have yielded a win and two other top-10s. Needless to say, he looks primed to go well once again.

Joakim Lagergren – $6,300 – A bit of a punt this one, but at this kind of price we’re willing to take a chance on a young man with a top five to his name in a Links-based tournament.

That came in the Alfred Dunhill, and capped a fine 2016 campaign in which he landed seven top-20 finishes in his first full year on the European Tour.

So far 2017 has been a mixed bag, but there are little nuggets of form – T2 at the Qatar Masters, T14 at the BMW International Open – which suggest he can go low when the mood takes him.

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