Padráig Harrington will start favourite to retain the ladbrokes.com Irish PGA Championship next week - you can bet on that, for sure.
The Dubliner will be bidding for a fifth national title in the €70,000 event at The European Club from Wednesday until Saturday.
It was there that Harrington won the title last year on the week before he clinched 'The Open' crown at Carnoustie and he hopes to repeat the performance this month.
"Playing competitive championship golf always sharpens your game and The European Club is a super links course. It was great preparation for Carnoustie last year," explains Harrington.
Backing the event this time is ladbrokes.com who is ploughing €35,000 into the tournament. That figure will be matched from the coffers of the Irish PGA but Harrington knows as well as anyone that winning the national title is not an easy affair.
Of the four times he has won the crown he had to go to a shootout on three occasions. The other time he didn't clinch the title until the very last hole at The PGA National. Twelve months ago the winner shared top of the leaderboard with Headfort Club professional Brendan McGovern before taking the title at the first extra hole.
McGovern will, of course, be back in the draw next week along with all the leading players in the region such as last year's Order of Merit winner Mark Staunton, 2006 Irish champion David Mortimer, Damian Mooney, Irish Club Professionals' tournament winner John Kelly and ex-Ryder Cup player Philip Walton who, like Harrington, is a four-times winner.
Simon Thornton who won the Ivobank Europro Tour event last month and Alan Murray, who won on the same tour at Cullingtree in May, are also included among the 120 players who will tee-off on Wednesday morning. Teeing up, as well, will be the 1992 winner and ex-Ryder Cup player Eamon Darcy.
Jointly leading the Roll of Honour in the Irish Championship are the late Harry Bradshaw and Christy O'Connor, senior, with 10 wins each. Next best is Des Smyth with six wins and after that come Harrington, Walton and the late Michael Moran on four each.
The championship pro-am will be staged at The European Club on Tuesday.