Irish Open: Five sleeper picks to steal the show at Portstewart

Five sleepers who could steal the win at McIlroy’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open this week at Portstewart Golf Club, all long shots but nonetheless real threats.

The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open may look at first blush like an exclusive slugfest between some of the European Tour‘s big names – Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Thomas Pieters, and Shane Lowry.

Look again. A bit further down the entry list I see five players who are just itching to notch the win this week at Portstewart Golf Club. They all have a game in their bag that could get the job done.

Rory McIlroy may be the host and the most favorite of the local favorites, and Graeme McDowell may be delighted to be playing on home soil again. Jon Rahm certainly looks ready to flex his mighty muscles. They all figure prominently in Mike Randleman’s power rankings of the Irish Open field.

Beyond those top-10, let’s take a look at five players a bit further down the rankings who are coming in hot and could slide right past the big names to the top of Sunday’s leaderboard – an Englishman, an American, and three Irish lads who would all love to win their national open, one for the second time.