Weekend Review: Bubba Watson’s WGC Match Play title is also a victory for the bookies
Layers take the spoils in the golf and F1 but get KO’d in the boxing after Dillian Whyte’s impressive knockout triumph
Bubba Watson’s surprise victory at the WGC Match Play golf tournament in Texas provided the bookies with their biggest win of the weekend.
Watson joined Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els as the only players with multiple major and WGC wins after adding to his 2014 title by beating Kevin Kisner 7&6 in the final.
“Despite his previous record in the event, no one saw Bubba Watson’s victory coming, leaving us way ahead in the outright market and edging the final itself,” said Kindred Group’s Ali Gill.
Game over. ?
An incredible performance from @BubbaWatson. pic.twitter.com/RpNyY9Q9dD
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 25, 2018
Ladbrokes Coral’s director of exchange, Shane McLaughlin, added: “The Match Play Championship markets were strong all weekend and one customer didn’t have too many anxious moments in the final when he backed Bubba Watson for £10,000 at 1.64 to win £16,400.”
Bet365’s Steve Freeth described Watson’s win as result of the weekend, along with Sebastian Vettel’s F1 victory after the driver leapfrogged Lewis Hamilton in the Aussie Grand Prix.
Freeth also revealed that Dillian Whyte’s sixth round knockout of Lucas Browne was costly for the operator: “We tried to keep on the right side of Dillian Whyte but whatever price we put out they took. There were a number of lumpy five figure bets snatching a few quid on Saturday night.”
.@DillianWhyte knocks @lucasBrowne out cold with a devastating left hook in Round 6 to end the fight. #WhyteBrowne pic.twitter.com/MhAMTkKrS5
— HBOboxing (@HBOboxing) March 24, 2018
It was a similar story for Kindred. “In the boxing, Whyte’s impressive heavyweight win was one that our punters, rather than our traders, would have been celebrating.”
In the absence of the Premier League, international football took centre stage with a host of friendlies taking place in the run-up to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Gill said: “As is usually the case on an international friendly weekend, results were mixed as teams experiment in the lead up to the World Cup.
“The picks of Kindred winners include England’s low scoring win over the Netherlands, Poland’s defeat to Nigeria and a draw between heavyweights Germany and Spain.
“On the other side of the coin, Sweden’s 2-1 loss to Chile hit us the hardest, followed closely by Argentina’s defeat of Italy, but smaller swings elsewhere left us ahead overall.”
In a friendly clash between two teams that won’t be at the World Cup, BetVictor’s Charlie McCann told EGR that 84 people predicted Gibraltar’s win over Latvia at 20-1.
Liam Walker scores the only goal as Gibraltar clinch just their second ever victory, beating Latvia 1-0 at home in a friendly. ?⚽️ pic.twitter.com/ttDSRCcR1A
— UEFA Nations League (@UEFAEURO) March 25, 2018