• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Betting Offers UK

Best Free Bets & Casino Sign Up Offers For 2022

  • Betting Offers
  • Free Bets
  • Casino Bonuses
  • Home
  • New Sites
  • Free Spins
  • Free Bet Clubs
  • Bookies
  • Football
    • Premier League
  • Horse Racing
    • Cheltenham Festival
      • Disruptions & Cancellations
      • Old Course v New Course
      • Prestbury Cup
      • Top Trainers
      • Top Jockeys
      • Amateur Races
    • Grand National
      • Picking a Winner
      • Grand National Winners
      • Grand National Fences
      • Disruptions & Cancellations
      • Back to Back Winners
      • How Often Does the Favourite Win?
      • Prize Money
      • Virtual Grand National
      • Grand National Sponsors
      • Reserve Horses
      • How Many Finish
      • How Many Run
      • Grey Horses
      • Popularity
      • Amateur Jockeys
  • Irish Lottery
  • Blog

What is the Biggest Final Round Deficit Anyone Has Won From in Golf?

23 May, 2022

Golf Ball Near PinThose that know their golf will have been eyeing the leaderboard at the 2022 PGA Championship after 54 holes and stroking their chin with interest.

The top five players had, at the time, just one PGA TOUR title between them, and given how hard it is to win at golf’s top table, the quintet would have their work cut out in opening their trophy cabinet for the first time at one of the sport’s majors.

Eagled eyed punters will have noticed that discrepancy, and they were no doubt eyeing the betting market with interest – Justin Thomas, seven shots adrift ahead of the final round, was still very much on the radar of many at 30/1.

And their attentiveness was rewarded. As Mito Pereira, a PGA TOUR ‘maiden’, fluffed his drive on the 72nd hole into a water hazard to end his hopes, it was left to Thomas – already a major champion and 17-time winner worldwide – to tackle Will Zalatoris, another yet to taste the ultimate success, in a play-off.

You can probably guess the rest….

Thomas, despite facing an eight-shot deficit after bogeying his third hole of the day, roared back to complete the most astonishing of wins, and added his name to the list of stars that have overcome all of the odds to deliver remarkable final round performances.

Ten Shots (Paul Lawrie, Open Championship 1999)

Paul Lawrie Playing Shot
Image Credit: sportsphotographer.eu, Bigstockphoto

There has, arguably, never been a more dramatic conclusion to a golf tournament than the closing holes of the 1999 Open Championship at Carnoustie.

Jean Van de Velde, a fairly unheralded Frenchman with just one European Tour win to his name, found himself with a three-shot lead heading into the final hole….all he needed to do was hit his drive somewhere near the fairway to wrap up a remarkable victory.

But, for reasons unknown, he decided to unsheathe his driver instead of flopping a more risk-averse iron shot into the short grass, and Van de Velde’s hit with the big stick landed so far wide that it landed on the seventeenth fairway.

His second shot was so wild that it headed towards the grandstand, and hitting out of deep rough he could only nudge his ball into the water hazard known as Barry Burn.

Facing disaster, the Frenchman truly lost his head – taking off his shoes and socks and wading into the water to try and play out without taking a drop. But he decided against it, dressed himself and then chunked a chip into a greenside bunker.

In the end, Van de Velde actually got up and down nicely for a score of seven – the triple-bogey getting him into a play-off with Justin Leonard and Paul Lawrie, who had started the final round ten shots adrift of the leader.

Unsurprisingly, Van de Velde was unable to right himself in the play-off, while Lawrie – a Scotsman cheered on by a vociferous home support – birdied the fourth extra hole to complete one of the most jaw-dropping final rounds in golf history.

The Frenchman insists he has no regrets, but a replica of the famous Claret Jug would no doubt look great on his mantelpiece at home….

Nine Shots (Stewart Cink, MCI Heritage 2004)

USA Flag Against Clear Blue Sky

Stewart Cink’s nine-hole comeback on the final day of the 2004 MCI Heritage is the biggest deficit reeled in on American soil.

His victim, as it were, was Ted Purdy, who threw away a four-shot lead as Cink demolished the Harbour Town Golf Links layout with a score of seven under par.

Cink would actually have to wait two hours for Purdy’s round to finish, having laid down the clubhouse lead that would ultimately not be beaten, although Purdy did mange to tie things up at -10.

However, it would take four play-off holes to separate them, with Cink finally asserting his dominance to clinch his third PGA TOUR victory at the time.

As tends to be the case in these scenarios, Purdy was yet to win at golf’s top table at this point. He would finally get over the line, however, roughly a year later in the Byron Nelson Championship.

Eight Shots (Various Players)

Justin Rose Playing Shot
Image Credit: chatchai, Bigstockphoto

There have been, by our math, seven different occasions in which a player has overturned an eight-shot deficit heading into the final round of a tournament.

Perhaps the ‘best’ of those was Justin Rose’s triumph against the odds in the 2017 WGC-HSBC Champions event, who hauled in the future Masters winner Dustin Johnson despite claiming at the start of the final round that he was targeting second place.

Johnson had a six-shot lead heading into that concluding 18 holes in Shanghai, but he crumbled in the wind and, after a tawdry day at the office, hit his approach on the 72nd hole into the water to leave the door ajar.

Rose birdied three of his last four holes, and didn’t even realise he had a chance of winning until he signed off on his scorecard and caught a glimpse of the leaderboard.

“It’s the kind of day you certainly don’t expect,” he said triumphantly afterwards.

“It’s the kind of a day you hope for – dream for – but a lot of things need to go your way in order for a day like today to happen, coming from eight shots behind, especially going against a player like DJ.”

For the record, the other six players that have delivered eight-shot turnarounds in the final round of an event are:

  • Mark Lye (Bank of Boston Classic 1983)
  • Hal Sutton (St Jude Memphis Classic 1985)
  • Chip Beck (Buick Open 1990)
  • Scott Simpson (Buick Invitational 1998)
  • Craig Stadler (BC Open 2003)
  • Kyle Stanley (Waste Management Phoenix Open 2012)

Previous Post: « In Which Sports are Women Paid As Much as Men?
Next Post: Who are the Longest Odds Winners in Sports Betting History? »

Primary Sidebar

Blog

Mouth of Winning Horse Wearing Sash
Which Cheltenham Festival Races are Most Likely to Be Won by Favourites?
Wooden Gavel Against Spanish Flag
What is the Referee Corruption Scandal That’s Blighting Spanish Football?
Hand of Golfer Holding Ball
Adapted Golf Balls to be Introduced to Try and Make the Game Harder
Dark Bay Horse Looking Out of Indoor Stable Door
Which Trainer Has the Most Cheltenham Festival Runners?
Light Brown Horse Portrait View
How Often Do Horses with 50/1+ Odds Win at the Cheltenham Festival?
More Blog Posts | Full Archives

Archives

Betting Sign Up Offers

  • Free Bets
    • Bet £5 Get £20/£30+
    • Bet £10 Get £30/£40+
    • Casino Free Bets
  • Casino Bonuses
  • Free Spins

Loyalty Offers

  • Acca Bonuses
  • Acca Insurance
  • Best Odds Guaranteed
  • Free Bet Clubs
  • Loyalty Points

Major Events

  • Grand National
    • How to Pick the Grand National Winner
    • Grand National Winners
    • Grand National Fences
    • Prize Money
    • Disruptions & Cancellations
    • Back to Back Winners
    • How Often Does the Favourite Win?
    • What Is the Virtual Grand National?
    • Grand National Sponsors
    • Reserve Horses
    • How Many Horses Finish?
    • How Many Horses Run?
    • Most Successful Owners
    • Changes Over Time
    • Female Jockeys
    • Grey Horses in the Grand National
    • Amateur Jockeys
    • Popularity
  • Cheltenham Festival
    • Festival Disruptions & Cancellations
    • Old Course v New Course
    • The Prestbury Cup
    • Top Trainers
    • Top Jockeys
    • Amateur Races
  • Premier League
    • Without the Big Six?
  • Irish Lottery

Related Posts

  • Adapted Golf Balls to be Introduced to Try and Make the Game Harder
  • Why is St Andrews Called the Home of Golf?
  • Golf’s Most Bizarre Reasons for Disqualification: From Tipp-Ex to Towels and Tantrums
  • What is the Biggest Final Round Deficit Anyone Has Won From in Golf?
  • The Saudi Golf League: What Is It and Will It Happen?
  • Golf Major Winners on Debut: Collin Morikawa Joins Select List Twice
  • Why The Open Championship Remains the Hardest Tournament to Win in Golf
  • The Brooks Koepka vs Bryson DeChambeau Rivalry: Is This What Golf Needs to Keep It Relevant?
  • Could Double Payout on the 2021 Memorial Tournament Set a Precedent for Bookmakers on Void Bets?
  • Who are the Oldest Major Winners in Golf History? Phil Mickelson Becomes a Record Breaker at 50

Betting Blog

  • American Football
  • Athletics
  • Betting Industry
  • Boxing
  • Cricket
  • Darts
  • Football
  • General
  • Golf
  • Horse Racing
  • Motor Racing
  • Politics
  • Rugby
  • Snooker
  • Tennis
betting-sites.co.uk
gambling-sites.co.uk

Please bet responsibly. If you need help to stop gambling visit Gamstop.


Copyright © 2023 Betting-Offers.com | BeGambleAware.org 18+