Bookmaker's bad gamble costs itself $2.1 million

Last update: August 17, 2009 - 12:04 AM

The Irish bookmaking firm Paddy Power was so certain Tiger Woods would win the PGA Championship that it paid out $2.1 million in winnings to Woods' backers before Woods teed off in Saturday's third round.

The firm has made early payouts before, and Woods' four-shot lead prompted it to try the strategy again -- which should yield in free publicity what it cost in payoffs to bettors.

"It takes a special kind of dimwit to turn what should have been our best-ever golf result into our worst,'' the firm said in a news release Sunday night. "Paddy Power punters are obviously the big winners here and have made like bandits getting paid out on Tiger as a winner. Our only saving grace is that [Irishman Padraig] Harrington didn't do the business, thank God!''

Those who favored Yang made out even better. His pre-tournament odds with Paddy Power were 150-1, and he was 16-1 going into Sunday's final round.

RACHEL BLOUNT

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