Weekend Review: Open victory for Shane Lowry a let-off for the layers
Betway rues offer on enhanced placed terms at the end of each round as bet365 “dodges each way bullets” during 148th Open
Shane Lowry sealed his first ever major championship trophy with a confident six-shot victory to win The Open this weekend, in a win that had the bookies purring.
“This feels like an out-of-body experience,” Lowry told reporters after winning the 148th Open Championship, hitting a one-over 72 to beat England’s Tommy Fleetwood on nine under.
The Open was a spectacle for sport. Proud to be a part of it. Many Congratulations to @ShaneLowryGolf , his family and his team on achieving a dream. Hopefully one day it can be me. Thank you everyone for your support always💪🏻#TheOpen @TheOpen pic.twitter.com/fix2ZvvluE
— Tommy Fleetwood (@TommyFleetwood1) July 22, 2019
Lowry went off at odds of 70/1 with bet365, where spokesperson Steve Freeth said: “Lowry was a loser pre-tournament but fortunately we didn’t do too much damage in-play.
“The places looked pretty grim going into the final day but we dodged a few each way bullets, with the likes of Stenson, Rose and Rahm falling away.”
Pre-tournament favourite Rory McIlroy endured a torrid first hole on Day 1, needing eight shots, much to the delight of the bookmakers.
Ladbrokes’ Alex Apati said: “McIlroy’s early exit was great for us, given that he headed into the tournament, as he always does, as the most popular pick with punters by some distance.
“Tiger was pretty friendless pre-tournament, while winner Lowry went off at 50s and was fairly popular but on the whole The Open was a good one for us.”
After 68 years, #TheOpen has returned to Northern Ireland🙌@taylormadegolf pic.twitter.com/UxYcVpW8jq
— Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory) July 17, 2019
Kindred Group’s Ali Gill added: “It would have taken a while of scrolling down the outright odds list to find a bet on Shane Lowry winning the Open.
“However, the Irishman put on a demolition job with his six-shot win. He was, quite obviously, very popular in-play, but those giant odds were long gone and we ended up with a very healthy margin overall on an event which got lots of interest over the four days.”
Betway suffered a little more in the golf betting after offering enhanced place terms for players at the end of each round.
The firm’s Chad Yeomans said: “It was always going to be tough [with the friendly place terms]. Lowry put in a fantastic round of golf to take the prize at Royal Portrush, a bad result for us.”
Elsewhere, Ladbrokes benefitted from the fact Dillian Whyte failed to knock out Oscar Rivas in a heavyweight bout at London’s O2 Arena.
Whyte survived a ninth-round knockdown to land a unanimous points decision victory and move one step closer to fighting WBC champion Deontay Wilder.
“Whyte was pretty short in the match betting so was largely backed to win by knockout, meaning the method of victory helped us out,” said Ladbrokes’ Apati.
What a night of boxing 🥊 Well done to the body snatcher @DillianWhyte . He was in there with a tough and top opponent & they fought like warriors 👊🏾
Surely the @WBCBoxing have to give him his chance now! 👊🏾 pic.twitter.com/o8eZOBIh6C
— Frank Bruno MBE 🇬🇧 (@frankbrunoboxer) July 20, 2019
In the football, Algeria’s narrow 1-0 win over Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations final was Kindred Group’s biggest betting event of the weekend.
“The result was one that left us slightly in the black at the end of a popular tournament this summer,” added Gill.