The perfect fluke is becoming (fairly) commonplace.
Golfing holes-in-one have been in the news lately, thanks to amazing scenes at the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl in Wales at the weekend.
Most remarkably, England’s Mimi Rhodes, playing in the final round, scored an “in-off” ace when her ball struck an opponent’s ball on the par-3 5th green, changed direction and landed in the hole.
Making this even more newsworthy was the fact that the opponent, Steph Kyriacou of Australia, had made an earlier hole-in-one during the tournament – at the 8th in the second round.
Stats gurus calculate the odds of any golfer holing out with a single shot are 12,500 to 1, while for professionals it drops to 2,500 to 1.
These odds have been steadily dropping over the years as golf gains in worldwide popularity and holes-in-one become a regular occurrence in pro tournaments.
At this year’s majors, Si Woo Kim holed out in the PGA Championship and Victor Perez in the US Open, while Nico Echevaria achieved the feat in the Scottish Open on the DP World Tour.
Odds on offer for St Jude Championship
Betting eyes inevitably turn to the next big pro tournament on the calendar, the St Jude Championship, a FedEx Cup playoff round starting on Thursday at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.
Punters might be surprised to find the so-called perfect fluke is rather tightly priced.
To the question “Will there be a hole-in-one?”, there are “yes” and “no” answers. Both are at 1.85.
When you think about it, this is entirely rational on the part of the bookmakers – given the odds mentioned above extrapolate to a one in 4.5 rounds chance of an ace in a pro tournament.
Actually, Betway’s 1.85 is one of the better prices you’ll get anywhere online.
If you don’t fancy picking up a R850 profit on a R1,000 outlay, there are many other wagering possibilities for the St Jude.
The outright win category has world No 1 Scottie Scheffler at 3.90, Xander Schauffele at 16.30 and Justin Thomas at 23.80.
These odds are correct at time of publishing and subject to change.
