Irish Open Power Rankings: Top 10 golfers at Ballyliffin Golf Club

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DONEGAL, IRELAND – JULY 03: Paul Dunne of Ireland talks to the media in the press conference during the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Previews at Ballyliffin Golf Club on July 3, 2018 in Donegal, Ireland. (Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images) /

Paul Dunne grew up hours away in Dublin, but he’ll still be a fan favorite in his native Ireland this week.

He’s a favorite in my eyes, too, because he’s knocking on the door of winning for the second time in as many seasons.

Dunne picked up his maiden European Tour win at the 2017 British Masters and owns four top-10s in 2018 between the PGA Tour and European Tour.

Dunne was in it until the end in placing solo second at the Open de Espana this spring.

He comes into this week making three of his last four cuts, all T30 or better. Last week netted a solid T21 at the Open de France where he rebounded from an opening 74 to finish just six off the lead.

Dunne is 17th on the European Tour in strokes gained putting.

"“I think the scoring will be very good, with greens this good, if the wind stays down,” Dunne said Tuesday. “And if the wind gets up, obviously it can cause havoc with a lot of things. The course in great shape, firm and fast, but not quite as firm as I was expecting with the lack of rain. They did a good job speaking it relatively green out there.”"

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