It was a day for a true long shot

Three holes into his final round at the U.S. Open, Dustin Johnson had dug his grave. He went from a heavy favorite to win to a clumsy cartoon character with no shot.

And a few of the most famous names in the game flopped right along with him, just not as spectacularly.

Ernie Els came up short, Phil Mickelson gambled and scrambled, and Tiger Woods never recaptured his magic touch.

A promising Sunday at Pebble Beach turned into the most comical high-stakes round of golf since Al Czervik, Danny Noonan, Judge Smails and Ty Webb played Bushwood Country Club.

Johnson, the leader after three rounds, carded a triple bogey on the second hole and a double bogey on the third. His quick collapse was painful to watch.

“It was unreal,” Las Vegas Hilton golf oddsmaker Jeff Sherman said. “While we were watching Johnson doing that, everybody else was doing the same stuff. It was bad shot after bad shot.”

In a tournament everyone tried to lose, the eventual winner was a true long shot, Graeme McDowell, who was at 80-1 odds early last week. McDowell closed the deal with a 3-over 74, and his only birdie of the day came on the fifth hole.

Sherman said McDowell’s win made the Hilton a “small loser” on the Open because a few bettors hit it big.

“There were some bets on him at 80-1,” Sherman said. “There were some small and mid-range bets that added up, (and) a couple tickets for $100.”

The Hilton sports book was able to minimize the damage, Sherman said, by posting adjusted odds before the third and final rounds. Johnson, a 30-1 shot before the tournament, went into Sunday three stokes ahead of McDowell and five ahead of Woods.

Sherman posted Johnson’s odds at 11-10 on Saturday night, and bettors jumped all over Johnson to move his odds to 5-7 by early Sunday afternoon.

“Big bets right away,” Sherman said. “My supervisor called and said, ‘They are betting him like he already won.’ ”

Crumbling under major pressure, the 25-year-old Johnson instantly fell apart and shot an 11-over 82. Els and Mickelson each shot 2 over and Woods finished 4 over.

Better golf was played in “Caddyshack.” Pebble Beach was appropriately set up to seriously challenge the world’s best players, and the course brought them to their knees. McDowell won simply by shooting par over 72 holes.

Brian Blessing of Las Vegas Sports Consultants did not place one of the $100 wagers on McDowell, but he did find the needle in the haystack by putting a small bet on the winner at 80-1 odds.

“He’s one of the top European players, and he was rounding into form,” said Blessing, who bet on three other players, including top 12 finishers Matt Kuchar and Tim Clark, in addition to McDowell. “That was like the longest three hours of my life.”

Woods and Mickelson, the Masters winner, went into the U.S. Open as 7-1 co-favorites at the Hilton. They each played one great round, with Woods showing flashes of brilliance Saturday.

The next major is the British Open from July 15 to 18 at St. Andrews, where Woods won in 2000 and 2005. Tiger will be the favorite at “no higher than 4-1,” according to Sherman.

I asked Sherman where he would set the total for majors won by Woods the rest of his career. Sherman said 3½. I might bet on Woods winning six or seven more, given he should be in contention for the next 10 to 15 years if he can avoid more car crashes and sex scandals.

“There’s still all this Tiger intrigue going on. I think this is going to put some people’s trust back in him,” Sherman said. “But we’ve seen him take a step back in nonmajors recently.

“When he was winning all those tournaments at a rapid pace, all the other golfers feared him, which they don’t now. Tiger doesn’t win in such dominating fashion anymore. When he wins, it’s such a struggle.”

The final day at Pebble Beach was not a great showcase for golf, and it was a total disaster for Johnson.

But with Woods rediscovering some of his swagger, and a handful of bettors cashing in on McDowell at 80-1, the year’s second major was at least a minor success.

Contact sports betting columnist Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.