LostGolfBalls.com BLOG

Information and tips on everything golf ball related from the largest recycler of used golf balls in the world

Epic playoff battle for players and bettors

Read More →

Posts by Tag

see all
All Posts

Epic playoff battle for players and bettors

harris

Image Source: Golf Digest
 

There is nothing more exciting in sports than sudden death playoffs. It is the ultimate in drama, featuring an ending that is sudden, powerful and either incredibly uplifting or deflating, and that applies to both the competitors and bettors. With single-sports wagering becoming more and more prevalent, the hardcore gamblers and the casual bettors are becoming invested in the outcome.

Certainly that was the case last Sunday in the Travelers Championship, featuring Harris English (Titleist Pro V1) and Kramer Hickok (Titleist Pro V1), battling it out in eight holes over the course of two hours following 72 holes. You had to feel sorry for Hickok, who lost when Harris birdied to end it all, because he had two opportunities to win with putts that lipped out.

Clearly the boisterous crowd wanted Hickok to win, shouting, “Kramer, Kramer” several times. He was hoping to win the tournament, what would have been his first on the PGA Tour, that his former University of Texas teammate Jordan Spieth (Titleist Pro V1x) won in 2017 when he holed out from a bunker.

Without going through every shot in the playoffs, both players rose to the occasion, matching one another to extend the battle. And here is how the whole thing became personal. I had picked Harris to win in our weekly PG Golf Pool. For weeks, I had seen my team go from comfortably in first place to the equivalent of a falling stock with no end in sight. In the third round, Harris was doing well until he had a hiccup on three holes on the back nine, missing an easy birdie and then bogeying twice, for what I would call a three-stroke swing. But in the final round, in particular in the playoffs, he was solid with his putter.

If you had picked Bubba Watson (Titleist Pro V1x) to win, you probably felt sick. Going for his fourth win in the tournament, after totaling three victories and one runnerup between 2010-2019, Bubba had the lead after the first nine holes and looked home and cooled out. But he came undone on the back nine, in particular the last five holes, shooting six-over par.

If that isn’t proof that golf might be the most maddening sport of all, nothing is. And anyone who picked Bubba in their pool or bet on him, well, I’m sure they felt just as disappointed.

SPEAKING OF BUBBA: In the second round, Bubba had the head of his driver fly off, but the ball still travelled 300-plus yards. Nobody shapes shots quite like Bubba – well, maybe Phil Mickelson – and clearly no one can make a ball do that with a broken driver.

WAITING ON DUSTIN: For the longest time, Dustin Johnson (TaylorMade TP5x) has been number one of the Official World Golf Rankings, but he has slipped to number two. While he has earned in excess of $4 million this year, he accumulated $950,000 of that from the first three tournaments of the 2021 season. That included the $600,000 from winning the Masters, which was moved to November from its traditional April date because of COVID.

In 12 tournaments since the Masters, he has posted only two top-10s. He’s also missed the cut twice – in the Masters and the PGA Championship. He tied for 17 in the Travelers, which he won in 2020.

Can this can be considered a slump? Johnson has won at least one PGA tournament in 13 of 14 years since 2008. So halfway into 2021, he has not shown anything mildly resembling a really good result. But you can never discount him completely. Surely, he will win a tournament this year and likely at a decent price for bettors. I’m going to go out on a limb and say maybe in The Open Championship.
Perry Lefko
Perry Lefko
Perry Lefko is an award-winning writer who has published nine books, three of them bestsellers. He has been involved in sports writing for more than 35 years and has interviewed many superstar athletes. He lives in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada and enjoys watching golf and playing it.

Related Posts

Genesis Invitational Gives Us The Reality Of Sports

I’ve written this before and I’m repeating it because it never ceases to amaze me how televised sports is the ultimate reality show, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, as the now-defunct ABC Wild Word of Sports used as its intro. On the final hole of the Pebble Beach Open, Jacob Bridgeman (TaylorMade TP5x) was hitting a shot off of pebbles on the beach on the 18th hole. His ball ended up in the ocean and resulted in a bogey, tying him for eighth place when he was close enough starting the hole for a much better finish. I thought his spirits were crushed and dismissed him for the Genesis Invitational. So what does he do? Goes on a tear and headed into the final day, chasing a tournament record score. But he nearly frittered away the win, coming undone on the back half of the back nine and eking out a single stroke victory, and only because he parred a four-foot putt that must have seemed much longer because of the pressure. That’s drama, real drama, not manufactured reality. He won the event for the first time in his 66th tournament on the PGA Tour and only 65 days after marrying.

It's Time To Talk About Tiger Woods Again

Some thoughts on the world of golf with the Masters less than eight weeks away: When Tiger Woods (Bridgestone Tour B XS) speaks, we all listen. As the host of the Genesis Invitational this week, Woods held his annual address about his health, career, playing in the Masters and the PGA Tour at large. Woods is gradually returning to swinging his clubs from his latest back surgery last fall, which naturally had reporters asking him about his playing status. He did not specify when he will return to playing again, yet he tersely and emphatically did not rule out playing in the Masters. “No,” he said. Woods has always tried to play in the Masters, no matter his physical condition.

Chris Gotterup Making A Name For Himself

Who is Chris Gotterup (Bridgestone Tour B X), and why is he tearing it up early in the 2026 PGA Tour season? If you had asked golf fans heading into this year’s season, some may have known him and success he has had, but I don’t think there would be many who would say he was slated for a breakthrough season. But now the word is out: Not only is he a long-ball hitter off the tee and someone who can keep it in the fairway, but he also has a complete game and championship mettle. With two victories in only three tournaments in 2026, most recently last weekend beating two-time winner Hideki Matsuyama (Srixon Z-Star XV) in a playoff in the WM Phoenix Open, Gotterup is on a heater. Matsuyama, the tournament leader heading into the final round, was spraying his ball all over the course and was scrambling most of the day. Gotterup was quietly doing his own thing. In fact, while Scottie Scheffler (Titleist Pro V1) was making a serious run for the lead that just fell one shot short after a seven-under par, Gotterup was putting together a similar round. He had the tournament lead after round one with an eight-under par – Scheffler was just hoping to make the cut after opening two-under par – but shot one-under par in his next two rounds. Gotterup really turned it on in the final round. He was two-under after the front nine, but five-under on the back nine, including birdying five of the last six holes.