Iirish Open: Familiarity helps but it offers no guarantees

It is unlikely, surely, that Rory McIlroy will be franking Pádraig Harrington’s theory about how an Irish winner is odds-on this Sunday evening, but the home stable can still boast a few other runners and riders as the Irish Open begins its second lap.

None less so than the Dubliner himself, of course, and yet it was an interesting observation by the three-time Major winner earlier, whatever the identity of the victor.

Scanning the roll of honour since the turn of the millennium doesn’t exactly strengthen his argument — previous Irish Open winners on links courses in that time frame have hailed from Finland, New Zealand and Sweden as well as Ireland and Wales.