 Padraig
Harrington Comes on Strong During Final Hours of
British Open
Excitement surrounded
the 2007 British Open as Padraig Harrington was
making a serious run.
Padraig Harrington,
the Irish professional golfer and former No. 6 in
the world rankings who has won eleven tournaments on
the European Tour and two on the PGA Tour, briefly
shared the lead with Sergio Garcia during the 11 am
EST hour.
Harrington has been
consistently listed with odds between 20 to 1 and 25
to 1. He came into this year's Open with odds
of 25 to 1 to win and entered the final day with
odds of 20 to 1.
The
potential payout was between $2000 and $2500 for
every $100 bet depending on when the wager was
placed.
Sergio Garcia has
led consistently since Day One after opening with
huge 30 to 1 odds. He was made the big
favorite by Saturday.
Another Argentinean
was making a name for himself at an Open event
following Angel Cabrera's win at this year's US
Open. Andres Romero shared the lead with
Garcia and Harrington by 11:40 am EST. Romero
was a "field" choice for
bookmaker Sportsbook.com.
A Harrington win
could spell trouble for British bookmakers and
especially
Paddy Power,
Ireland's biggest bookmaker. It is quite
typical for local punters to bet heavily on their
native son. The amount of betting volume on
Harrington at Paddy Power was not immediately known
but it is likely the least favorite option after a
Tiger Woods win, which destroyed bookmakers last
year.
----
Alistair Prescott,
Sports911.com
Originally
published July 22, 2007 11:44 am ET
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