Irish Open Tips: Paul Dunne

The Irish contingent of Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell all feature high in the betting for the Irish Open but another local favourite could slip in and steal the honours.

Paul Dunne caught the public’s attention with his exploits at the Open Championship last season and I’ve been impressed by his transition to professional.

The 23-year-old has been playing wherever he can and has used sponsors’ invites to good effect. He started the year with a ninth place at the Joburg Open and then backed it up with an impressive T13 at the Farmers Insurance Open on the PGA Tour.

For a young golfer, he’s quickly gained the invaluable experience of playing in high quality fields and shouldn’t be fazed by being under the spotlight this week.

Having tipped him for the Trophee Hassan II, I was impressed with his T16 finish despite him not having his ‘A’ game. Blessed with a wonderful short game, he already looks at home on the European Tour and is a great bet at 100/1 with Paddy Power paying 1/5 odds for a top-7 finish.