Scottie Scheffler's Masters dominance a bad outcome for sportsbooks
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is in a league of his own, a level of dominance golf has not seen since the prime of Tiger Woods . His -4 round finish on Sunday earned him his second green jacket in three years.
The 27-year-old Texan, a pre-game betting favorite with odds around +400 to +450, was unfazed by the ups and downs as he paraded through Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday. The calm demeanor never changed. Of course, there were more ups than downs, with Scheffler offsetting three bogeys with seven birdies.
Scheffler birdied holes 3, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14 and 16. The highlight is No. 9, a wedge just inches from center row. A birdie on the 10th hole, his third in a row, seemed to suggest that the best player in the world was about to come out of the tournament and enjoy Sunday night at Amen Corner and golf's first big event of the year. A stroll through the back nine of a major championship.
Sweden's Ludwig Aberg went to great lengths to change that narrative. The 24-year-old star, playing in his first major, showed off his heroics with a 25-foot rattle for birdie on the ninth hole. However, Aberg's momentum waned when he hit the water on the 11th hole and made double bogey.
Perhaps the only thing stopping Scheffler from donning another green jacket is his wife. Scheffler promised to withdraw from the Masters immediately if his wife, Meredith, gave birth to their first child. Fortunately for Scheffler and the many bettors who bet on him, she did not go into labor.
Sports betting causes huge losses
Prior to the Masters, every regulated sportsbook in the United States had Scheffler at the helm as the betting operator. After finding his putter missing in early March, Scheffler won back-to-back Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship. He finished tied for second the week before the players arrived at Magnolia Lane.
According to BetMGM, Scheffler purchased 14.5% of Masters tickets and defaulted on more than 19% of bets placed. Fanatics reported that Scheffler took 15% of his Masters winnings and 9.5% of his tickets. ESPN Bet reported that stronger action was taken against Scheffler, with a 22 percent handling rate and a 10 percent citation.
At +400, a winning bet worth $100 returned a net profit of $400. In order to make big money on the favorites, some bettors place big bets.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy bought Schaeffler on DraftKings for $300,000, ultimately netting $1.35 million. According to Fanatics, Scheffler made a total of nine bets over $1,000 before the game to get the win, including a $5,000 bet at +430 that paid off $21,500.
Tiger offsets sports betting losses
After winning the Masters for the second time in three years, Scheffler appears to be in the early stages of a World Golf Hall of Fame career.
For 48-year-old Tiger Woods, his prime may well be behind him, but that doesn't stop bettors from "habitually" backing the 15-time major champion, especially after he's won Champion of the Masters on five titles. Woods broke through -- an impressive feat for a guy who's constantly rebuilding his body and battling injuries -- but he finished last among the 60 players in the weekend's tournament .
Multiple books, including BetMGM, named Woods as the biggest liability, and a number of high-odds lotteries took a major financial hit.
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