19th Hole

Gambler’s heartbreaking loss at PGA Championship will make you feel sick

Published

2 years ago

May 24, 2022

Winning a golf tournament is hard. Winning a major is very hard. Backing golfers to win majors can sometimes be a nightmare!

Related: Gambler bets $10k on 150-1 chance golfer at WM Phoenix Open

After the third round of last week’s PGA Championship, Mito Pereira stood on the 72nd tee with a small but significant advantage. He had been fighting all day to keep hold of a three shot overnight lead and, courtesy of two birdies against four bogeys, stood on the final par-4 with a single shot margin and one hand on the Wanamaker trophy.

Related: Justin Thomas gifts caddie Bones the major winning memento he never got from Phil Mickelson

And then the bad stuff started.

As we all now know, the promising Chilean hit his drive into the creek and took a penalty stroke before flying his ball to the left hand rough. The horror continued as it took three more to record a ‘6’ and a place one shot off a two-man play-off.

Pereira looked distraught and the golf world felt for him, but it may also have felt an element of sympathy for one of Pereira’s backers, sports bettor Rufus Peabody.

Peabody, who oversees data at Unabated, a stat-based sports information company, tweeted a copy of his bet on the former Korn Ferry Tour star – $500 to win $150k. The caption? “Well, that hurt.”

Well, that hurt. pic.twitter.com/6QGCefS9SJ

— Rufus (@RufusPeabody) May 22, 2022

Having made the wager on Friday, Peabody joined the hoards of golf viewers to witness the 27-year-old go from seventh after the first round to second at halfway, before a third round 69 gave him a healthy overnight lead.

Of course, Pereira was surrounded by the likes of Justin Thomas, Will Zalatoris, Matt Fitzpatrick, Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young, so the pressure was on, but all looked calm before that wayward last tee shot and the subsequent double-bogey.

Of course, backers were not playing for the trophy or the status, nor were they playing for what would have been a historic first win on the PGA Tour, but even as a professional sports gambler, it surely hit Peabody hard?

Not a bit.

The large-staking sports investor came back on to tweet calmly:

Yeah, I feel gutted. But nothing I can do. Outside my control. Experience the disappointment. Then reset, and move on. No "what ifs" allowed. That's how you survive doing this as long as I have.

— Rufus (@RufusPeabody) May 22, 2022

It may take a while for Pereira to get over those half-a-dozen shots, but Peabody was back at work on Monday, explaining:

Find joy in the process. As I write this, code is running on my computer, digesting this week's data and recalculating golfer ratings, getting me prepared for next week's PGA and Euro tour events. Whether this week was a win or a loss, tomorrow I start at zero.

— Rufus (@RufusPeabody) May 23, 2022

Rufus will be back this week with updated wagers, and Mito will be back on the course soon enough.

What is gone is gone. Reset.

Butch Harmon reveals what he worked on with Rory McIlroy during visit earlier this year

Published

19 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

While speaking on the “Son of a Butch” Podcast, legendary swing coach Butch Harmon revealed what he worked on with Rory McIlroy when the four-time major champion went to visit him after the Players Championship this season.

Butch Harmon on what he worked on with Rory:

“The work I did with him wasn’t a tremendous amount of changing what he did, it was his attitude and the way he played certain shots. From 150 yards and in he made a full swing like he was hitting a driver and I wanted him to make…

— Matt Vincenzi (@MattVincenziPGA) May 15, 2024

“The work I did with him wasn’t a tremendous amount of changing what he did, it was his attitude and the way he played certain shots. From 150 yards and in he made a full swing like he was hitting a driver and I wanted him to make more 3 quarter swings and chop the follow through off a little. He’s a very high ball hitter, but with short irons high balls aren’t good, it’s hard to control, we wanted to bring the ball flight down.”

The work certainly seemed to help McIlroy, as he went on to win the Zurich Classic alongside Shane Lowry and the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in back-to-back starts.

Rory will now tee it up at Valhalla for the PGA Championship, which is the site of his most recent major victory in 2014.

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19th Hole

Brandel Chamblee says this technological development was key to Phil Mickelson winning major championships

Published

19 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

While speaking with GolfWRX, Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee shared that he believes the solid core golf ball helped Phil Mickelson win major championships.

“One of the consequences of the solid core golf ball coming around was it put the straightest of hitters in the rough.

“Phil started winning majors in 2004, I don’t think that’s any coincidence. I think he started winning majors after the solid core golf ball came along and put everybody in the rough.

“And so [Phil] is like ‘I got you in the rough, I’m going to kick your a**. This is my game. I’ve been in the rough my whole career. I can go over trees, through trees, around trees.’

“Because he’s got that amazing creativity and Phil is an underrated iron player, phenomenal iron player. Great, great great out of the trouble. If you put the top-40 players on a list and ranked them in terms of accuracy, he would be 40th.

“So, I think that was one of the consequences of the solid core golf balls was it allowed Phil to win major championships.”

Mickelson went on to win the Masters in 2004 as well as five additional majors from 2004-2021 including three total Masters, two PGA Championships, and an Open Championship.

Check out the full interview with Chamblee below:

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19th Hole

Former Augusta National employee pleads guilty to transporting stolen Masters memorabilia; Arnold Palmer’s green jacket among stolen items

Published

20 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, a man was charged in Chicago with stealing millions of dollars’ worth of memorabilia from Augusta National last month.

The man, Robert Globensky, was charged with transporting the memorabilia across state lines.

The report states that between 2009 and 2022, Globensky allegedly transported “millions of dollars’ worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and historical memorabilia” from Augusta National “and transported to Tampa, Florida, knowing the same had been stolen, converted and taken by fraud.”

The document was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Since then, more details have emerged about the case.

According to Darren Rovell of Cllct, one of the items that was stolen was Arnold Palmer’s green jacket.

The Chicago Tribune also reported that Globensky was able to steal the merchandise due to his role as a former warehouse coordinator at Augusta National who oversaw the Masters merchandise that was sold.

Rovell states that “A source with intimate knowledge of the case said an Augusta National member, who knew the jacket was missing, contacted a well-known collector who had gained a reputation for tracking down rare items. The member’s goal was to return the jacket to Augusta under the guise of purchasing it in a private sale.”

The plan worked, and the man agreed to sell the jacket for an agreed upon price of $3.6 million. After the sale was complete, the FBI swarmed the house of the thief.

Cllct also reported that Globensky pled guilty in a federal court in Chicago on Wednesday and now faces up to 10 years in prison.

The Chicago Tribune adds that Globensky’s plea deal includes an agreement to provide the government a cashier’s check for $1.5 million in the next few days.