Our golf betting blog from DownThe18th continues with a tale of some close calls at the Ryder Cup in Gleneagles
Golf Betting Blog: A Rose among thorns
We will not see the Ryder Cup on British shores for a number of years and what a weekend we enjoyed for this temporary goodbye.
A romping 16½ - 11½ victory for the united European team left their American opponents in complete disarray.
We were lucky enough to be there on that final Sunday, witnessing the history unfolding from all areas of the course as Sir Alex Ferguson and yes, even Alex Salmond appeared among the heroes at Gleneagles.
After the raucousness on the first tee subsided (kudos to the mad fivesome in the grandstand with fully prepared songs for each player, including the re-working of ‘Thank you for the Music’ for Henrik Stenson), it was down to business for the players and of course, all of us gamblers.
Europe were clear favourites at 4/6 with most, whilst the US could have been found at 6/4. Like the masses, we thought the home side were too strong, but not at the unattractive odds-on price tag.
We dipped into the overall points market and found Justin Rose at 12/1 far too striking to ignore. An elder statesman and shoe-in for most matches, he went on to produce some sublime golf, leading with Rory McIlroy (6/1) from the front.
Thank you to Hunter Mahan for giving us déjà vu with his chipping skills on the 18th in the singles. Four down and out of it, Rose went on a mad run including Seve-like shots, and that half point meant he steered clear of the impressive pantomime villain Patrick Reed (a whopping 66/1 before the weekend).
After his matchplay exploits earlier in the year, Victor Dubuisson was an appealing 4/1 for top rookie and it looked good before Reed (7/1) won those spoils, losing us some money and having the cheek to shush us in the meantime!
Like many of us do every Saturday for the football, we also delved into accumulators. Our personal biggest was Dubuisson, Ian Poulter, Rose, Phil Mickelson and McIlroy at 20/1. The former three all halved their matches in close run affairs.
As Jamie Donaldson hit the most miraculous winning shot, we screamed and yelped along with 40,000 others at the course, celebrating not just European victory, but realising that somehow we’ve managed to break even thanks to Rose.
Partying over, it’s back to the Tour and staying in Scotland for a trip to the home of golf. The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship has a stellar field and it should be another cracking week for Scottish golf.
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