The winner of the US Open Lucas Glover has left Irish bookmakers in the rough after he was tipped for victory by a golf pundit on Newstalk radio despite entering the tournament as a 175/1 rank outsider.
Glover's win should have been a dream result for the bookies but Paddy Power says his win ended up costing them €1.2m after veteran golf pundit Bob Bubka advised listeners to the station's 'Off The Ball' sports programme to have an each-way punt on the qualifier.
Paddy Power's said the recommendation instantly triggered "a betting frenzy" in support of the South Carolina native which saw his odds tumbling from 175/1 before the tournament started last Thursday to 11/8 at the start of the final day of play when he was joint leader.
The 29-year-old American had never even managed to survive a cut in three previous appearances in the championship
He nearly blew his chance on the first nine of the final day when be bogeyed three holes but he held his nerve and recovered on the back nine.
"I'd be lying to say I wasn't nervous. I had the knees knocking pretty good on 16, 17 and 18," Glover said. "But I pulled it off and executed some pretty good golf shots . . . it hasn't really sunk in yet. It's an honour to be on the trophy with names such as that. I hope I don't downgrade it or anything with my name on it."
"Glover's win should have had us cracking open the champagne but thanks to Bob Bubka we're still counting the cost," a company spokesman said this morning. .He said the win was "not far off the damage that a Harrington or McDowell win would have set us back."
The spokesman expressed the hope that the pundit would get "a bad case of laryngitis the week before the British Open and keeps his gob shut!"
