Irish Amateur Strokeplay Championship: With a list of championship winners that reads like a who's who of world golf, Portmarnock is almost certain to produce a class champion when the AIB Irish Amateur Open concludes on Sunday evening.

Irish Open winners such as Hubert Green, Ben Crenshaw, Severiano Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam and Jose Maria Olazabal leap to mind and Irish Close champion Rory McIlroy is determined to add his name to that illustrious list by making a solid start when the 72-hole strokeplay event gets under way at the north Dublin links today.

The 17-year-old from Holywood in Co Down is bidding to become the first player since Tom Craddock in 1959 to hold the Irish Close and Irish Amateur Open titles at the same time.

Chief among his rivals is Welsh Walker Cup veteran Nigel Edwards, his European team mate in last month's Bonallack Trophy victory over Asia-Pacific in New Zealand.

With three Walker Cup caps as well as this season's South African Amateur and Sherry Cup titles to his credit, 37-year old Edwards is just one of a legion of players capable of stopping McIlroy in his tracks.

"There are many good players in the field, not just him," Edwards said. "I would have thought there are probably 20 who can win.

"All Ireland is pinning a lot of hopes on him, but believe it or not there is a world outside Rory McIlroy.

"There is a lot of talk about him and he has done very well. I played with him on the European team that won the Bonallack Trophy in New Zealand there and also in the first two rounds at Carton House last year.

"He is a very aggressive player and a very confident player and he will go on to achieve great things. But there are another 119 players in the field who have a chance too."

McIlroy is arguably the form player in the field following his third-place finish in the Lytham Trophy at Royal Lytham and St Annes last weekend.

His driving accuracy and crisp iron play will be a major advantage on a course that rewards straight hitting like no other.

And he is keen to get back in the winner's circle again following the disappointment of a three-putt bogey on the final green at Lytham that ultimately cost him place in the play-off for the title.

Clearly relishing the challenge ahead, McIlroy said: "The rough is down but Portmarnock is still a very tough golf course. I know people look at me as one of the favourites but I am just trying to play the best golf I can.

"I held the Boys, the Close and the Irish Youths at the same time last year so to hold the Close and this one at the same time would be pretty sweet.

"It's a very fair golf course and I am playing and driving the ball well, so I think I have a very good chance."

McIlroy, who celebrated his 17th birthday last week, is the lowest handicap in the field at plus 4.1.

The cut-off for the field of 120 fell at plus 0.5 with seven players off plus four, 13 off plus three and 35 off plus two.