30th June 2012

Irish Open Betting: Padraig Harrington now 5/2 favourite despite going into the weekend two off the lead

Even though he lies two shots behind the lead held by Gregory Bourdy of France, Padraig Harrington is now the 5/2 favourite with Boylesports to win the Irish Open in Portrush at the half way stage. Bourdy leads the tournament on 12 under par by a shot from England’s Mark Foster with Harrington, Italian Lorenzo Gagli and another Englishman Paul Waring on 10 under par ahead of a fairly bunched up leaderboard.

Harrington has shot a pair of 67’s so far this week to confirm he is coming back into good form having had a strong run at the US Open a couple of weeks ago. However the leader has gone two shots better than that so far this week and Bourdy can be backed at a top price of 6/1 with Skybet to win the tournament from this stage.

Mark Foster has put himself in an excellent position going into the weekend and the Englishman knows how to get the job done too. He won the Dunhill Championship in 2003 and had a host of top five finishes last year so he won’t necessarily go away over the weekend. He is a top price 10/1 with Ladbrokes despite the good position he finds himself in at the halfway stage.

Lorenzo Gagli and Paul Waring, the two men alongside Padraig Harrington on 10 under par are still both big prices to win the tournament from here. Gagli is 22/1 with Skybet while Waring can be backed at as big as 40/1 with Boylesports. Wales’ Jamie Donaldson had a hole in one on the opening day and he’s only three off the lead on nine under par. He’s another who knows how to get the job done and he is no bigger than 18/1 with Bet365 to triumph over the weekend.