Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Tiger Woods' 18th hole 'gesture' cost bookies millions

Tiger Woods made a gentlemanly gesture — giving Europe's Francesco Molinari that last putt of the final match of the Ryder Cup — and it ended up costing bookies millions of dollars, according to reports.

Woods, playing in the last match, held a 1-up lead on Molinari on the 18th hole, but when Europe clinched its 14th point to assure itself of winning the Cup, the Woods-Molinari match did not matter — except to the bookies throughout England and Las Vegas.

Looking back at the three-foot putt he called "inconsequential," Woods could have holed it and beaten Molinari and the 39th Ryder cup would have ended in a 14-14 draw.  But he missed the shot and decided not to force Molinari to make his par from a similar distance.

That conceded the hole to to Molinari, halved their match, giving Europe the outright 14-1/2 to 13-1/2 win.

"To be honest, I really didn't pay that much attention," said Woods.  "I was trying to get my point."



While Woods didn't care if he had beaten Molinari and it ended in a draw, bookies are facing huge payouts because of Woods' concession to his opponent.  Otherwise, the bookmakers would not have had pay the bettors who gambled Europe would beat the Americans.  That left bookies having to pay the bettors who placed bets on the Europeans coming back from a 10-6 deficit that day.

Betting firms said they were facing the biggest Ryder Cup payouts ever despite —only moments earlier — they were looking it an bookies' ideal result of a draw.

This comes on the heels of Vegas bookmakers still licking their wounds after the Green Bay Packers-Seattle Seahawks Hail Mary fiasco last week.

To put it in simpler terms.  Bettors who wagered on Europe to win outright were quoted at 33-1 odds when the visiting team trailed 10-4 Saturday morning.

Tiger's magnanimous gesture had Vegas paying out big time  Sunday night.  And, incredibly, Woods apparently had no idea he had a chance to win.

"I went one-up at 17 and I asked Joey La Cava (his caddie) what was going on down 18 because my responsibility was to be able to get my point.  Then they said Europe had a chance to win on this hole, or retain the Cup," Woods said.  "After all that settled down. My putt was useless.  It was inconsequential.

"So I hit it too quick and gave him his putt and it was already over."

It might be some consolation to the bookies that the real loser Sunday was the U.S. team who folded like a pair of threes in a high-stakes poker game.  Nah ... I doubt it.


19 comments:

  1. Why should Tiger give a s#it about the bookies loseing money! Not his responsibility to apease any of them!!

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    1. It's an inconsequential attitude like his that should factor in the next captains choices for the team If it were me I would need people who want to win No matter what it is and all the way to the final hole and not worrying about what the team was doing just take care of your responsibilities and everything else will take care of itself!

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  2. TigersnotmakingenoughOctober 3, 2012 at 12:41 AM

    Wonder if Tiger laid had placed any money against the Americans?

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  3. he is a big bettor in vegas and after divorce like all obama supporters he is on food stamps

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    1. Mighty big words from a "big man" posting hate from his Mama's computer.

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    2. your anon also you pond scum. he makes a valid point. jay -z said even though he doesnt like bigger gov't he is still voting barrack cause he is black. blatant racism. you call it when you see it. the kkk was started by democrats. black republicans started the civil rights movement. democrats only keep minorities down with hand outs and do nothing laws. to keep them voting for freebies. once you learn, you never go back to D

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    3. michael.dixson@twcable.comOctober 6, 2012 at 8:10 PM

      How many white people are on food stamps??? You are freakin hilarious and uninformed, anonymous___wipe

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  4. and if the us team had played half the way they should have, It would not have been a factor, but since they socked like infants all day, it only then that this is a story.

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  5. The US golfers have no National pride, they all just play for money. Future team captains should start looking at other player those who want to play for their country rather than those who only play for money or fame or themselves.

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    1. Not sure about that. Maybe Phil, tiger and Stricker are not about pride but I bet Bubba and other young golfers today were seething about the loss! Where was Matt Kuchar? He is the kind of leader you need on a team!

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  6. bookies are thiefs anyway. So what they have to payout. They normally rake it in. They typically charge 10% of whatever you bet so they make money coming and going. Tiger is the man.

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  7. Tiger is a such a .... If he wins ONCE over the weekend,that putt was meaningless, He is selfish no good ..... He is average golfer in todays field. He wont win another major, and his Ryder Cup record speaks for itself. Team player my...

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    1. I agree. He is past his prime and he is mentally checked out. The golfers today are much better although Tiger in his prime was unbeatable. just not anymore!

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  8. Of course the article fails to mention all the events that the bookies clean up on. They keep the loser's money and take a cut of all the winnings (either through less than favorable odds or a % of the winnings). Once in awhile they have to pay up, that's the way it goes.

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  9. so like they are fitting Tiger up with some cement shoes?

    Whatever losers! If you can't afford to LOSE then don't BET, you bums!!!

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  10. So maybe Tiger had some money on the outcome? I wouldn't doubt it!

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  11. Good deal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  12. One thing is for sure, i would like to see Keegan on the team for a very long time!!!

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  13. Interesting...Ollie walked out to the fairway and insisted to Molinari that he "had to win the match". Any chance that Ollie placed a few euros on the European side coming back to win? If Molinari concedes, the match ends in a tie and Ollie doesn't get a big payout

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