While millions of viewers were captivated by Sunday’s marathon playoff at the Travelers Championship, one bettor in the U.K. had a little more riding on the outcome.
It took eight holes for Harris English to vanquish Kramer Hickok at TPC River Highlands, but once the tournament was in the books it meant a seven-figure payout for one unnamed London bettor. The individual placed a six-leg parlay with the British outlet BetFair, one that included four different outright golf selections.
The first two legs both hit: Croatia to beat Scotland (3-1) and England to beat the Czech Republic (1-0) in group play of Euro 2020. The bettor also took three favorites to win various golf events around the world: Steve Stricker at the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship, Nelly Korda at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and Viktor Hovland at the BMW International Open. All three won with relative ease, with Hovland’s two-shot victory the smallest margin. Korda won by three shots, while Stricker won by six.
The last leg came down to the playoff that wouldn’t end, as the bettor also included English as the final leg at +3500 odds. English appeared to have won it in regulation, rolling in a lengthy birdie on the 72nd hole to break out of a tie, but Hickok matched his closing birdie to set off a lengthy playoff where neither player could capitalize opportunities.
When English finally slid in a birdie putt on the eighth extra hole, it set off a raucous celebration – but perhaps the bigger party was in the U.K., where the bettor’s initial wager of £11.50 (around $15) turned into £1.039 million (around $1.43 million).
“I thought I was going to have a heart attack when the winning putt went in. I couldn’t believe it,” the bettor told BetFair. “When he won the playoff I was very relieved. I thought he had lost it after some wayward tee shots on the 18th hole.”
After bagging a monster parlay win, the bettor plans to take “a couple months off work” to travel, including a potential trip to the U.S. to play TPC Sawgrass.
The parlay even eclipsed the actual winner’s check for English, who pocketed $1.332 million for outlasting Hickok in overtime.