Punter Wins $1.2 Million From Tiger Woods Masters Bet

Tiger Woods won his first major in 11 years on Sunday, and he was a picture of joy as he punched the air and roared with delight. Indeed, golf fans across the globe celebrated similarly, as one of the game's all-time greats collected his fifth green jacket.

But one fan watching on no doubt celebrated a fair bit more jubilantly than the rest. That's because the 43-year-old's triumph at the Augusta National earned them a whopping $1.2 million (£916,000).

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The mystery US punter placed an $85,000 (£64,900) bet on Woods winning the Masters with William Hill, two days before the tournament teed off, winning the life-changing sum from the 14/1 odds.

I say 'life-changing', but presumably the unknown gambler had a fair bit of cash in the first place to put $85,000 on the veteran golfer. Still though... $1.2 million.

The payout is actually the most Willy Hill has ever forked out on a golf bet and Nick Bogdanovich, William Hill US director of trading, said it represented a 'painful day' for the company.

In a statement, he said: "It's great to see Tiger back. It's a painful day for William Hill - our biggest golf loss ever - but a great day for golf."

The bookies took the loss with good grace though, celebrating Woods' victory on Twitter.

It didn't always look like the bookmakers were going to have to make the hefty payout though.

When the back nine started the punter was probably sweating a little bit, with Woods two shots behind Francesco Molinari and the Italian not looking in any danger of slipping up.

Molinari was on course for his second major in a year but Amen Corner had other ideas and he double bogeyed the 12th after going into the water.

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By the time the pair got to the 15th there was a five-way tie for the lead but Molinari again went into the water, picking up a double bogey and ending his chances.

Ultimately though, Tiger made his way to the front of the pack and managed to hold his nerve to secure a historic victory.

The question now is whether Woods can catch up with Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors... Might be worth a flutter.

Topics: Golf, SPORT, News, Betting

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey