Punters who backed Tiger Woods to win the 2019 Grand Slam saw their hopes crash and burn at the weekend.
The reigning Masters champion missed the cut at the PGA Championship after a horrific 2nd round.
Starting the second round nine shots behind early leader Brooks Koepke at +4000, Woods shot a disappointing 2-under 72.
It sent him home early. It also killed any chance of his huge fan base seeing modern golf’s first-ever Grand Slam this year.
A Grand Slam can only be achieved by someone winning all four majors in the same year.
Woods, a 15-time major winner, won all four majors in a row in 2000/2001, but his feat was not achieved in the same year. That is why the media tagged it a ‘Tiger Slam’.
Tiger slam still on the cards
A Tiger Slam is still on the cards in the coming months. That became possible when fellow-American Brooks Koepke won the PGA.
Nobody on the planet right now looks more capable of pulling off a Tiger Slam. His PGA triumph on Sunday could quite easily be step No 1 on that journey.
When all is said and done, he has, after all, been the dominant performer in the majors since 2017.
That was the year when he won the first of his back to back US Opens. Since then, along with a T2 behind Woods in this year’s Masters, he’s also gone on to win his second PGA in a row.
And what a way to do it! Opening rounds of 7-under 63 and 5-under 65, gave him a commanding lead he never lost.
His stunning 1st-round round lead saw the odds on him quickly go to -400 (1-4). They never improved so not too many punters are likely to have made a lot of money out of this year’s PGA.
At that stage, Dustin Johnson, who finished second was at +1200 in most markets and 3rd-placed Jordan Spieth at +1400.
Koepke had some shaky moments, but…
Koepke did have some shaky moments in the final round when Johnson was closing in on him. He hung in, though, and despite shooting a 4-over 74 was able to triumph once more.
At this stage, no New Jersey sportsbooks are offering any bets on a Tiger Slam. However, both Koepke and Woods feature heavily in their futures markets for the US and British Opens.
For example, for next month’s US Open, Koepke as favorite is listed at +600 by 888Sport and +700 by FanDuel.
For the final Major this year, The Open Championship, Koepke and Woods are FanDuel’s joint favorites at +950.
888sport, however, see Woods as the British Open favorite, clearly because he has had more success on links courses. Koepke is 888sport’s second favorite with Johnson and McIlroy tied for 3rd at +1000.
Of New Jersey’s 14 sportsbooks, the one that should be especially delighted by Sunday’s final PGA result is FanDuel.
The New Jersey sportsbook market leader will have been saved a fortune by Koepke.
It lost something like $2 million on Tiger’s shock Masters win via wagers, daily fantasy payouts and its Big Cat, Cash Back promotion.
The same thing would have happened again had he won this time.
They must have breathed a huge sigh of relief when Woods fell by the wayside.