While betting on golf here in the United States doesn’t seem to be that big of a business, this isn’t the case in the United Kingdoms at all. An estimated $600,000 is wagered here, with almost half of this coming on The Open.
I read about an English caddy who placed 5 Euros to win and 5 Euros each way (place in top 5) on Darren Clarke at 150 to 1 and came away with more than 900 Euros when the Northern Irish pro won last year.
Of course, the real winners were the bookies as having a long shot win is their dream scenario. It’s when marquee pros like Tiger Woods wins that the bookies stand to lose big money.
During my recent trip to play golf in Ireland, I met a London golfer, James Mason, who is a fellow member of The A Position with me. Mason offers betting tips on www.planetgolfreview each week. He also isn’t afraid to put his own money on line.
Mason, a scratch golfer himself, admitted he did a lot of research and reading all he could find each week before offering his tips. “I look for players who provide value bets for the most part,” he admitted, recalling how he tabbed Keegan Bradley at 150 to 1 at last year’s PGA Championship. Putting down 10 pounds to win and 10 pounds each way, Mason collected 1,870 pounds.
Mason’s picks for the Irish Open did not fare well. He had Graeme McDowell at 10-1, Padraig Harrington at 11-1 and Brendan Grace at 35-1 to win and Paul McGinley at 50-1, Marcel Siem at 35-1 and Damon McGrane at 110-1 each way.
He appeared in good shape at the AT&T championship, having Hunter Mahan at 10-1 to win and Brendon DeJonge at 66-1 each way. They were at the top of the leader board after 54 holes, but both slipped out of the running in the final round.
While not in Mason’s league at all in offering tips, I just have a hunch that either Lee Westwood or Luke Donald will end up with the Claret Jug this year, but I’m sure there will be a lot of bets on them despite the fact neither had won a major.
