Bookies breathe sigh of relief as McIlroy PGA struggles mean SEVEN-FIGURE payout avoided despite Scheffler triumph
BOOKMAKERS were breathing a sigh of relief this morning after avoiding a costly PGA Championship result.
William Hill were staring down the barrel of a monster SEVEN-FIGURE payout if Rory McIlroy was able to back up his Masters success in the sport's second Major of the season.
McIlroy knows the course well having won several times there and was expected to come and swing freely after his Augusta triumph.
That meant he was well-backed with punters before the off, along with fellow European hopefuls Ludvig Aberg and Justin Rose.
The backing meant a whopping seven-figures were due to be paid out by William Hill if he did win here.
Not only that, Hills had a money back offer with bettors set to receive their money back as a free bet on losing picks if McIlroy had made it two from two in Majors this year.
But a first round score of +3 immediately put him on the back foot and he was able to recover two shots back in round two.
That saw him play the weekend but he couldn't climb the leaderboard and shot +1 on Saturday and Sunday to end in T-47 with +3.
Despite Scheffler being favourite for the event and world number one, the bookmaker was cheering his dominant win in the end as he wrapped up his third Major triumph by FIVE shots.
Scheffler went into the final day with a three shot lead after a blistering end to round three, but struggled to get going on Sunday and was joined at the top by Jon Rahm after shooting a +2 front nine.
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That pressure seemed to kick Scheffler into second gear and he went -3 in the next six holes while his rivals toiled in the straight and he opened up a considerable lead once more.
A bogey on 18 wouldn't do him any harm as he finished -11 and five shots ahead of fellow Americans, Davis Riley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau - who ends runner-up yet again.
Spokesperson for William Hill, Lee Phelps, said: “Scottie Scheffler’s victory at the USPGA Championship may have thrilled golf fans, but it was equally well received at William Hill, with the result sparing us from what could have been another significant seven-figure payout, following Rory McIlroy’s triumph at The Masters only last month.
“Scheffler was a popular pick taking a third of winning stakes, but far from our biggest liability – especially compared to some of the fan favourites who attracted massive support before the first tee, namely Justin Rose and Ludvig Aberg.
“But, by far, our worst result would’ve been McIlroy. Not only was he very well backed, but our offer also meant punters would’ve got their money back as a free bet on any other selections should the Northern Irishman had won back-to-back Major championships.
“We had some risky exposures had certain players such as Jon Rahm pulled off a late charge; the Spaniard took 20% of bets on Sunday, but Scheffler's performance across four days meant we avoided what could’ve been one of our costliest golf events in recent history.”
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