By F. Edwin Miller
My last post profiled Ernie Els’ epic come-from-behind win in last Sunday’s British Open. This post will take a look at 2012’s Open Championship through the lens of a Las Vegas bettor and the different stages of Els’ and other golfers odds to win it all.
(Andrew Redington, Getty Images Europe)
Put your money on Adam Scott, even if he loses. You might just get it all back, seriously. Officials at SportsBettingOnline have done the unthinkable; they’ve decided to refund money to those who bet on last Sunday’s runner-up.
On Sunday, Scott bogied on the last four holes of Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Course to lose the 2012 Open Championship in stunning fashion. Scott’s destructive final allowed Ernie Els to swoop in and kidnap the Claret Jug. However, Vegas surely didn’t make it look that way. The odds moving into the various rounds of the tournament show some remarkably great disparities several golfers’ chances to win, especially those of Scott’s when contrasted with Els.
“We feel it’s our duty to refund the players for taking such a bad beat,” Dave Johnson, the head odds maker for SportsBettingOnline.ag issued in a statement. “His collapse was historic and we know the bettors who had him must feel as awful as he does.”
Las Vegas odds makers listed Scott’s chance of winning as 45-1 entering the British Open. If Scott would have emerged victorious, every $100 bet would have amounted to a cool $4500. Yet, one particular Els bet reduces that payoff to mere money for chocolate and candy.
After Saturday’s round, Scott had 4-7 odds to win it all as the eclipsing favorite. Tiger Woods, who ultimately tied for third with Brandt Snedeker (who had 15-1 odds), went into the British Open’s last round with 5-1 odds. Though Graeme McDowell ended up tying for fifth, he possessed an even better 4-1 odds after the tournament’s penultimate day. Many golf writers had Els on their odds leaderboard; yet, despite history in his favor (2002 British Open champion), his numbers didn’t impress enough to warrant any legitimate conversation beyond a brief mentioning.
According pregame.com writer, R.J. Bell, Ernie Els came into The Open Championship with a respectable 40-1 odds (only 13 golfers had more favorable percentages). The South African arrived into Sunday’s playing field with an even better 25-1 odds. Yet, the most intriguing part of Bell’s report showed that at Els’ lowest point, the odds played out to 469-1. Some crazy nut actually placed a $70 bet on those odds and escaped with a not-so-crazy, but ridiculously insane $32,830 payoff. On the other end of the spectrum, Scott’s highest point to win topped out at 98.6%. For a one dollar profit, bettors shelled out $70 at this point.
“I’m very disappointed but I played so beautifully for most of the week, I certainly shouldn’t let this bring me down,” a saddened Adam Scott told ESPN reporters about his collapse in The Open Championship. “I know I’ve let a really great chance slip through my fingers today, but somehow I’ll look back and take the positives from it.”
Scott also said he felt good about getting his last shot to roll in to muster a few additional holes but says it just “wasn’t to be.” Hopefully next time Scott can get in touch with the $32,830 prophet so he can spare him the heartbreak in advance.
