Larry Brown Sports

Anyone who took the 40-to-1 odds on Adam Scott to win the British Open before last weekend must have been feeling great about their wager entering the final four holes of the tournament. Even if you put a measly 10 bucks down you probably would have already decided what you were going to do with your $400 when Scott had a four-shot lead over Ernie Els. As we know, Scott collapsed and Els came back to win. The good news for those who bet on Adam through SportsBettingOnline.ag is that the loss won’t cost them a thing.

As Geoff Shackelford pointed out, SportsBettingOnline announced Monday that they will be refunding any bets that were placed on Scott since he choked so badly.

“With so many of the favorites including (Tiger) Woods not cashing, it was a good day for sportsbooks,” head oddsmaker Dave Johnson said. “But that wasn’t the case for those who dropped money on Scott. We feel it’s our duty to refund the players for taking such a bad beat. His collapse was historic and we know the bettors who had him must feel as awful as he does.”

It’s still painful just to break even after thinking you had the bet wrapped up, but breaking even when you should have lost is a nice consolation prize. Heck, Scott even had his name stenciled on a medal for engraving. As Johnson mentioned, the sports books made plenty of money. Aside from this lucky gambler who made a fortune on him, not many bettors wagered on Els to win. Refunding people’s money is a smart PR move that gets people talking about the site.

H/T Eye on Golf
Photo credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

Adam Scott collapsed so badly at the British Open on Sunday that his name was already stenciled on a piece of championship hardware before the tournament ended. But it wasn’t all for none. When Scott birdied the 14th hole, the betting odds for him to win the tournament skyrocketed to -7000. That means he had a 98% of winning with four holes remaining and Ernie Els, who was in second place and trailed by four shots, had virtually no chance.

According to WagerMinds.com, at least one bettor wasn’t prepared to give up on Els at that point and decided to make a wager to prove it. Els was an incredible 469-to-1 underdog heading into the 15th hole, and the bettor placed $70 on Els to take home the trophy. As we know, Ernie erased the four-stroke lead and went on to win. His victory reportedly netted the gutsy gambler $32,830.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again — the fact that he won doesn’t make it a smart bet. Every year we see bettors who win incredible amounts of money on miraculous comebacks or long-shot horses, but wagers of this nature happen all the time and are usually guaranteed money for the house. Something tells me the person who won over $32,000 on Sunday doesn’t care if their bet was intelligent or not.

Anyone who was watching the final round of the British Open on Sunday likely thought Adam Scott had the major won through 14 holes. Scott had a four-shot lead over Ernie Els with only four holes remaining, but he bogeyed every one of them. Els, who finished before Scott, turned up the pressure with a great birdie putt on the 18th. The rest was history and Els wound up with the hardware.

As you can see from the photo above that @cjzero passed along, those of us who were watching the tournament at home weren’t the only ones who thought Scott had it under wraps. Scott’s name had already been written on the champion’s medal as a stencil for engraving. We’ve seen this before in golf back in January, when a giant check was prematurely made out to a golfer who blew a three-shot lead late in the final round. It may be an ancient cliche, but moments like this remind us that it ain’t over ’til it’s over.

If only Nan Fowler could see this! For those of you who don’t understand that reference, Nan Fowler is the woman who was allegedly considering pressing charges against Ben Roethlisberger, or a member of his foursome, for urinating on the side of a golf course. Cameras caught a golfer doing the same during a wind delay at the British Open on Friday. Check out the video of a golfer peeing in the bushes at the British Open, courtesy of Deadspin:

I really, really hope this isn’t becoming a trend. Peeing on the side of a golf course where people may be able to see? That’s just horrible. Someone needs to do something to clean this new fad up, and fast.

Source:
Public Urination: The Scourge Of St. Andrews [Deadspin]
Video Credit: YouTube user nikolausp

So most people were going gaga over Greg Norman’s resurgence at Royal Birkdale where he shot even par on both Thursday or Friday and two over Saturday, leaving him in the lead after 54 holes. All this talk about his brilliance and how his marriage to Chris Evert changed his life and gave him a new mental edge. Yeah, so much for that. If that were the case, then why did he blow the lead like usual? I do have to admit that I was utterly stunned to see Norman’s name towards the top of the leaderboard on Thursday. I honestly thought the senior scores were getting mixed in with the regular players because it had been so long since Norman was a contender on the scene. Anyway, Norman managed to turn the attention away from himself come the final round, and the real story was Padraig Harrington.

Last month I was fawning over Tiger Woods much like the rest of the media and viewing public when he battled a severe knee injury to win the U.S. Open. Needless to say, it was a pretty incredible feat. But how about Paddy Harrington? The big story entering the British Open aside from Tiger not being in it and Kenny Perry deciding not to play in it, was defending champ Padraig Harrington’s questionable status. Harrington hurt his wrist last weekend working a speedbag in the gym and couldn’t even manage more than three practice swings on Wednesday. Harrington even said his chances of completing the first round were only 50-50 and that if it were any other tournament, he would have pulled out of the event.

I didn’t get to watch a whole lot of the tournament, only a few holes here and there, but I do know it was just as much of a shock for me to see Harrington’s name towards the top of the leaderboard on Thursday, much like Norman. Even more shocking was to see Harrington come from behind to win his second straight claret jug. No asterisk here for a non-Tiger win — Harrington’s a legit champ who successfully defended his title. And seriously, how about some love for a guy who won a tournament even though his wrist was so bad he couldn’t take more than three practice swings the day before the event? I’d say that’s pretty darn incredible.