Bookies' new bet-seller

John O'Sullivan on how more and more Irish people are betting ongolf, thanks to Sky and the success of the likes of Darren Clarke.

Golfers are gamblers by nature, manifest in a few guises. Show me an amateur when confronted by water or some other hazard and required to conjure a purity of strike rarely attained to negotiate the danger, and I would say it is possible to enter any golf club in the country on any day and observe this scenario played out.

Few golfers know their limitations, most are inveterate, if slightly inadvertent gamblers and that is part of the appeal of a sport where risk and reward are constant companions.

Consider, then, the conversations on the first tee where a fourball not only decides on partnerships but the stakes. It's not just the well-heeled that enjoy a little "interest" in their game. They may play for palsy-inducing sums of money but the premise is the same for those who wager the euro (front nine), euro (back nine), euro (overall); it adds spice to the contest and confirms bragging rights at the 19th hole.

Most amateurs would balk if accused of being gamblers as they don't consider their little stake as anything other than an integral part of playing. Factor into the equation the number of new golf clubs being built in Ireland each year, the increasing numbers playing the sport, the gambling bent and it shouldn't constitute a surprise to learn that more and more people are betting on professional golf tournaments.

Five years ago betting on professional golf accounted for about one per cent of Paddy Power bookmakers' total turnover. This year it's about 4.7 per cent, or 14 per cent if one cares to remove horse racing, greyhound racing and the Lotto from the equation. In terms of a sports punting pecking order it falls behind racing and soccer.

Boylesports bookmakers would offer a similar perspective on the golf market, up from three per cent to five per cent of total turnover in recent years. On a standard week they would take in between 25,000 and 50,000, doubling or even trebling for the four Majors - the US Masters, the US Open, the British Open and the USPGA Championship.

SupremeOdds.com, an on-line bookmakers, maintain that on the fixed odds side of their operation (they also do spread betting) golf constitutes 20 per cent of turnover and in terms of revenue is up 23 per cent on the previous year.

The markets in all sports have increased but when one considers that, for example, there could be an average of 25 races per day in horse racing, golf is not in a position to threaten. There is also the immediacy of horse racing, greyhound racing or even soccer that allows the punter that quick adrenaline fix: the race is over quickly so elation or disgust is moments away.

Golf punting offers the possibility of value, if a player is in contention over four rounds, or for those who prefer a quicker hit the two-ball and three-ball betting markets, where a player is backed to beat another or others over 18 holes.

The diversity in terms of betting, online, over the telephone, or in the shops makes it easier than ever to invest.

The biggest area of growth, though, is the betting in running. Paddy Power does this for the four Majors and about six other tournaments during the year and also on the Sunday (final day) of each tournament. About 60 per cent of stakes in the Majors comes from betting in running, with about 40 per cent ante post. Boyles previously took about 25 per cent of stakes as betting in running but this year this has increased to 50 per cent.

There is little doubt the popularity of betting in running is largely attributable to the blanket coverage offered by Sky Sports, particularly for US Tour events. Powers take about 63 per cent of their golf turnover from tournaments in the United States and 37 per cent from the European Tour events. The main reason for this is television scheduling.

European Tour events are screened in the afternoon and are therefore unavailable to most people that work and at weekends few would spend Saturday or Sunday afternoon watching golf on television. Given the time difference, the US tour is much more amenable from an Irish viewing context as it is screened late at night.

There is also a pronounced difference in the quality of fields. The growth in betting on golf in Ireland can also be traced to the success enjoyed by Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke in particular. It is the bookmakers' one fear, that if the Irish duo were to drop down the world rankings or if there were no Irish players to succeed them, then interest would wane appreciably.

Both Harrington and Clarke and to a lesser extent, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell and Gary Murphy, would carry money on a weekly basis. There are other favourites, notably the mercurial Scot Colin Montgomerie, Ernie Els and, of course, Tiger Woods.

The Woods phenomenon can be translated into pounds, shillings and pence. When he tees it up at a tournament, the revenue from sponsorship is about 30 per cent more, while viewing figures will increase by 20 per cent on tournaments from which he is absent.

In this year's majors, 34,300 people placed a bet with Powers, the number of bets placed in the four tournaments totalled 99, 860, while so far this year the Ireland's leading bookmaking form has taken 215,000 bets on golf.

It's been a fantastic year for the bookmakers in terms of profits from the majors. Mike Weir (US Masters) and Jim Furyk (US Open) are superb players but not "sexy" enough to command huge loyalty from the punting audience.

In Ben Curtis (British Open) and Shaun Micheel (USPGA Championship) the bookies really hit pay dirt, although one prescient punter with Boyles did place a 10 win bet on the 150 to 1 rated Curtis, netting 1,500.

The one downside from the minnows' success is the fact that the volume of bets struck over the next few tournaments was smaller.

In Britain there was a similar bonanza, the Tote reporting profits of £26,500 to augment the £170,000 windfall they made from the British Open. In fact the chances of being able to discern what would happen in this season's majors is reflected in odds of 268,774,638 to 1 if you had placed a four bet accumulator on the four winners, taking the odds offered by one English bookmaking firm.

Then there is disposable income of the golf punter. The trend, supported by the bookmakers, is for punters to wager higher amounts on golf than other sports. Powers, for instance, would take several four-figure bets in running on the Sunday night of a tournament.

It's not all about professional golf. SupremeOdds.com came up with the novel concept of offering odds of 33 to 1 against any club golfer nominating himself to win the Captain's Prize in his club; it's a bet that has proved very popular.

Golf's tale of punting woe was reversed at the weekend with Darren Clarke's magnificent success in winning the NEC Invitational at Firestone GC in Akron Ohio. The Irishman's victory was a terrible result for the bookies as he had been heavily backed.

The layers, though, can hardly carp in what has been a lucrative season to date.