Weekend Review: Bookies hail best golf result since 2016 as Gary Woodland wins US Open
Donald Trump heaps praise on the 80/1 US Open winner as 1/50 favourite Tyson Fury produces a boxing masterclass
American golfer Gary Woodland fought off a charging Brooks Koepka to win his first ever major title at the US Open – despite going off at 80/1.
Woodland, ranked 25th in the world, shot a two-under 69 to win with a final score -13, ahead of Koepka in second (-10) and Justin Rose in third (-7).
William Hill’s Rupert Adams said victory for Woodland was the best golf result for bookmakers since England’s Danny Willet triumphed in the 2016 Masters. “We were very pleased with that,” he said.
It was a similar story at Ladbrokes, where Alex Apati told EGR: “Woodland winning was a great result for us, given how popular Rose and McIlroy were in the betting.”
Kindred Group’s Ali Gill said: “Woodland was certainly not an overwhelming favourite to win his maiden title, so that was another result that went the way of the layers,” while Betway’s Chad Yeomans added: “Outsider Woodland was a good winner for us as he won his first major, but our offer of eight places gave punters something to smile about, with the ever popular Koepka and Rose finishing in the placings.
Congratulations to Gary Woodland in winning the United States Open Golf Championship. Fantastic playing, great heart – there will be more in Gary’s future!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 17, 2019
British boxer Tyson Fury also made headlines in the US after knocking German fighter Tom Schwarz out in the second round of their Las Vegas bout.
Fury to win was 1/50, so punters looked for value elsewhere, according to Ladbrokes’ Apati. He said: “As is often the case, anyone going off at 1/50 will hardly be touched in the match betting, so punters will look for value in the method of victory or round betting.
“An early KO for Fury – as you can probably imagine – was popular with punters and therefore not a great one for us,” he added.
Kindred’s Gill though said that even Fury’s staunchest supporters did not envisage a second round KO. He said: “Although an overwhelming favourite, even Fury supporters were a bit surprised by the second round KO, so we managed to squeeze a small profit out of his win.”
Tyson Fury is 6'9", 263 pounds.
Wow.
(via @trboxing)pic.twitter.com/f7ViAwurEL
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 16, 2019
Gill also revealed that England women beating rivals Argentina just 1-0 in the World Cup was a great result for the operator, with patriotic punters expecting far more goals.
This was also true for Ladbrokes, where Apati added: “As for women’s football, we’re seeing plenty of punters backing ‘penalty to be awarded’ which seems to be landing in pretty much every game at the moment.
“England only winning by two goals on Friday did help us, while plenty fancied double figures for either Sweden or USA yesterday as well.”
Into the last 16 we go!
Professional performance from the whole squad + @Jodes_14 with the winner! ⚽️
Now focus turns to Japan! ???@england fans you were amazing! pic.twitter.com/wSP66rSMpx— Steph Houghton MBE (@stephhoughton2) June 15, 2019