Alright y’all, the fifth major is here. The Irish Open kicks off tomorrow in Mount Juliet with a fairly decent cast, led by our very own Shane Lowry. The tournament was also held in the Kilkenny establishment last year, with the American, John Catlin taking home the less than normal spoils (boo COVID).

I don’t have any major fancies, but the four buckos listed below are my small EW selections for the week, but it goes without saying, I hope one of the Irish boys takes home the trophy. Some exciting young talent on show as well, with the likes of John Murphy, Mark Power and Cormac Sharvin all teeing it up tomorrow.

3 points in total are being bet, so nothing massive, but a little punt for a bit of extra interest. Enjoy.

Thomas Pieters – 0.5point EW @ 14/1

The big hitting Belgian is currently fifth in the Race to Dubai, but first when you take out the PGA Tour players ahead of him, who have jumped to the top of the DP World tour due to their successes in the majors. Rory, Hovland, JT and Zalatoris are all ahead of Pieters, in what is a bit of farce, given they all play on the American tour. Pieters’ strong standing at the top of the DP World Tour was backed up by a second-place finish in the BMW Championship, last week in Munich. He could have easily taken home the victory had it not been for Li’s 40ft putt birdie putt on the first playoff hole. Pieters couldn’t hole his much shorter birdie attempt and the victory when to the Chinese superstar, who expressed some of the rawest emotion I’ve seen from a golfer in a long time.

Pieters is in form and has also decent course form on the Kilkenny track. Pieters finished in a tie for 12^th in last year’s renewal, which bodes well for his preparation at a crack at the title this year. He also has a tied 9^th and 10^th in two of his last five starts. He is currently sitting at 14/1 and looks primed for a solid run.

Jordan Smith – 0.5point EW @25/1

The Englishman is currently sitting in 11^th spot on the Race to Dubai leaderboard. He hasn’t finished outside the top 25 in his last five starts, that includes a T8 last week in the BMW and a T10 in the European Open the week before. He was only one back last week starting the final round but dropped down five spots after an average level par 72. He will have learned a lot from that round, which he will hopefully transfer into this week. He is trending in the right direction, while also having a solid year in general. Smith finished T41 in this last year, but had a poor +1 weekend, after finishing Thursday and Friday on -6. Not looking too bad at 25/1.

Richie Ramsay – 0.25point EW @50/1

The Scotsman has shortened from 66/1 into 50/1 in the last few days. Paddy’s knew I was going to tip him, so they had to make the first move… Ramsay had a solid performance last week in Munich, finishing in a tie for 13^th. He is currently sitting in 48^th on the Race to Dubai leaderboard, which isn’t anything overly impressive, but he has Mount Juliet form. Have I told ye I like course form? Ramsay finished in a tie for fourth in 2021, along with the next man on my hitlist.

Francesco Laporta – 0.25point EW @100/1

The Italian is justifying his 100/1 price tag with his 140^th placing on the Race to Dubai leaderboard. As mentioned, the good news is that he had a fourth-place finish in last year’s renewal. He has missed two of his last three cuts but finished in a tie for 36^th in the BMW, last week. He was in a tie for 14^th going into the last round, before blowing up with an erratic +2 74. He had plenty of birdies in his four rounds in Munich, but also a lot of bogies, which included a triple on day three. If he can steady the ship a little and take the learnings from being in a good position last week after three rounds, he could go well around a course that he obviously likes.