Golf bettors dealt bad beats at Charles Schwab Challenge
Golf bettors were thrilled when the PGA Tour returned Thursday at the Charles Schwab Challenge. But many gamblers were miserable Sunday afternoon after suffering bad beats on several long shots.
Collin Morikawa, who was available at 40-1 before the event, missed a 6-foot birdie putt for the win on the 18th hole, then lost to Daniel Berger on the first playoff hole when his 3-foot par putt lipped out.
Berger made a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to tie for the lead with Morikawa.
“What it took for Morikawa to lose was Berger making his putt and Morikawa missing his putt. If you do a parlay of those two things, it would be reasonably high odds,” Westgate sportsbook golf oddsmaker Jeff Sherman said.
One up to start the final round, Xander Schauffele (25-1) was tied for the lead on 15 when he sent his second shot into the water. He drained a 31-foot putt to save bogey and holed a 26-foot birdie putt on 16 to regain a share of the lead. But he burned bettors with a bogey on 17 when his 3-foot par putt did a horseshoe around the cup.
For a final dagger, Schauffele’s 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th to force a playoff was right on line and came up short.
While Morikawa and Schauffele didn’t blow the outright lead down the stretch, multiple oddsmakers considered the losses on those golfers to be bad beats.
“One hundred percent,” William Hill sportsbook director Nick Bogdanovich said. “Schauffele obviously was the favorite for most of that round, and Morikawa was a pretty good-sized favorite at the end. You figure to cash with one of the two. It’s horrific. If you had the combination, that’s really bad.
“That’s golf. It’s a roller coaster.”
Six-figure swing
Professional sports bettor Rufus Peabody was one of countless bettors who had futures wagers on Morikawa and Schauffele.
“Maybe it’s the 3-month layoff and I’ve forgotten how to lose, but this one hurts! (big positions on Morikawa and Xander outrights),” he wrote. “Still, a real solid week. But it’s the almost big wins that can hurt more than the big losses.”
After Morikawa missed his putt that would have extended the playoff, Peabody posted on Twitter: “Six-figure swing right there :(.”
Other golfers who left bettors to lick their wounds after the final round were Justin Rose (40-1), who narrowly missed a birdie putt on 18 that would have tied for the lead; and Bryson DeChambeau (25-1), who took the lead on 15, but bogeyed 17 to slip to second and missed a birdie putt on 18 that would have tied for the lead.
Tasty Berger
For every bad beat, there’s a miracle cover. That was the case for a DraftKings bettor who cashed a $1,000 ticket on Berger at 71-1 that paid $71,000. Another DraftKings bettor hit a $5 two-team parlay that paid $1,150 (230-1) on Berger to win the PGA tournament and Denny Hamlin to win Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400.
A William Hill bettor hit a $600 wager that paid $18,000 on Berger at adjusted odds of 30-1.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.