Irish stars: flying the flag

When Padraig got to Carnoustie and faced the pressures that the Open Championship threw at him, his experiences at Adare Manor had provided a great rehearsal.

Mark Roe
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This truly is a golden period for Irish golf.

Headlined by the resurgence of Darren Clarke, this is a boom time for the Emerald Isle and I believe there is a very strong chance that we could see the second home winner in as many years at Adare Manor.

Darren and last year's Irish Open champion Padraig Harrington are the two superstars, but we have seen recently how much strength in depth there is in Ireland.

We saw three Irish winners in as many weeks as Clarke's win at the Asian Open was sandwiched by Damien McGrane's win in China and Peter Lawrie's triumph at the Spanish Open.

Those two guys have been waiting in the wings and I was very impressed by both of them, but Darren is the people's favourite and his win in Shanghai will live long in the memory.

We know Darren is a supreme talent and when he plays his best golf, he is simply world class. We all feel for him for what he's been through, but now he's back in the winner's circle maybe his confidence will return and he can start climbing the ladder back into that Ryder Cup team - which is what everybody would like to see.

Maybe he can go even further, climb back up the world rankings and achieve what everybody felt he was capable of - winning a major.

They'll be 10-deep watching Darren at Adare Manor and willing him on to become the second Irishman in succession to win the Irish Open - and only the third in 25 years.

'Fifth major'

The home open means an awful lot to the Irish players. I think Padraig Harrington said it all last year when he said the Irish Open was his 'fifth major'.

I think it would be fair to say that the pressure on Padraig to win last year was equal to winning a major - and I think it was a huge spur in his chase for a major championship.

When he got to Carnoustie and faced the pressures that the Open Championship threw at him, his experiences at Adare Manor - when he went head to head with Bradley Dredge - had provided a great rehearsal.

He'll be more relaxed when he goes out to defend his Irish Open title this week, coming into the field as the Open champion and coming off the back of a top-10 finish at the Masters.

He'll be very confident he can defend his title, but he'll have his work cut out because it's a stellar field.

However, I feel an Irish win is very possible because of the talent that's around at the moment - and you can certainly look to a guy like Darren Clarke with his supreme ball-striking skills

At 7,500 yards long, the Trent Jones-designed course is certainly a ball-striker's golf course and we know the weather can be a bit inclement in Ireland so it could be an absolute monster.

It could suit Darren and wouldn't it be fabulous to see him win the Irish Open and effectively play his way into the Ryder Cup team?

Lacking

Perhaps the only Irishman who isn't in a rich vein of form right now is Paul McGinley.

He's lacking in confidence at the moment, which is a great shame because I'd love to see him come back to prominence. He's got to be looking at all these Irish victories and wanting a piece of it for himself.

It's about time he put his foot to the floor, pressed the accelerator and started to find his best form again. This is a guy who's holed the winning putt at the Ryder Cup and he's a long way out of the mix at the moment.

When he's not confident, the first thing that goes is his putting. He's a very compact swinger of a golf club and has a very solid tee-to-green game, but he gets down on himself on the greens.

He's not aggressive or positive enough with the putter, but we know he can do it under pressure as he proved at the Belfry. He just needs a bit of confidence like anybody else.

I'm focussing on the Irish guys, but there is a very strong field out there this week. Lee Westwood is one who's barely been out of the top 10 in the last year and I feel that if he'd putted anything like his best at the US Masters then he could have won that tournament.

He's somebody who has no weaknesses in his game when he putts well and after 28 victories worldwide, he's a pure thoroughbred winner. If he gets a sniff of that Irish Open, believe me, he will close it out.

I'm also looking forward to seeing Martin Kaymer, who is capable of very low scoring, but he's also very long and very strong - which is what you need around a course like Adare Manor.

I was so impressed by the way he chased down Tiger Woods in Dubai. When he gets into contention his only thought is winning - he's not somebody that plays for money - and that is the type of player that is going to win a lot of championships and is hopefully going to make a debut in the Ryder Cup.

But despite the depth of talent in the field, the home talent is stronger than ever and I wouldn't be surprised if there are some Irish eyes smiling on Sunday evening.