A playoff decided PGA Championship betting on Sunday and Martin Kaymer defeated Bubba Watson to win golf’s final major of the season.
Kaymer was not among the favorites in PGA Championship odds but his victory is not a total surprise as he has won five times on the European Tour.
PGA Championship betting in 2010 will probably be remembered more for the player who finished fifth than for the player who ultimately won the title. Dustin Johnson bogeyed the final hole to fall into a three-way playoff with Watson and Kaymer but PGA rules officials determined that he had grounded his club into what was actually a bunker on the 18th hole. The rules violation was not discovered until after Johnson had completed the hole and it took some time for the two-man playoff to begin between Watson and Kaymer after Johnson was penalized two strokes to fall into a tie for fifth place.
PGA Championship betting was exciting on Sunday as a number of players were in contention to win. In the final 30 minutes of regulation play on Sunday, six players were separated by just a single shot. Johnson had the best chance to win as he had a one-shot lead playing 18. He ended up bogeying the hole to fall into what he thought would be a playoff. He then learned of the rules violation and ended up tied for fifth. The course at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin is loaded with bunkers and the one he hit into couldn’t even be distinguished as a bunker.
The playoff between Watson and Kaymer was a three-hole playoff since that is how the PGA Championship is decided when players are tied after 72 holes. Johnson birdied the first hole to take a one-shot lead but Kaymer birdied 17 to even up the match. On the 18th, Watson hit into the water and all Kaymer needed was a bogey to win as Watson double bogeyed the hole.
The win by Kaymer was not a fluke vs. the PGA Championship odds. He is now third in the Ryder Cup standings and he is ranked fifth in the world. World number one Tiger Woods closed with a 73 and was never a factor as he tied for 28th.