Si Woo Kim’s Huge Upset

Most causal golf fans were unfamiliar with Si Woo Kim before this weekend. Even winning the Players Championship this weekend won’t help much in the long run. But for several lucky bettors, Kim’s victory won’t be easy to forget. Kim teed off at odds of 500-to-1 and there weren’t that many people who bet on him. But there were several.

USA Today reported on one, which came from the Irish Golf Desk:

“The lucky punter certainly knows their golf and no doubt they will be able to afford plenty of four balls at the K Club after netting a whopping €60,200 from their €200 bet. We can certainly say this time that they got a hole in one over us and a little birdie told us that they are already enjoying spending their winnings.”

That’s $66,000 in winnings from a $220 bet. It’s hard to tell what is more impressive, winning the bet or having the courage to risk $220 on Si Woo Kim.

Kim made it look easy and made par of better on every hole in the final round. The average score on Sunday was close to 74. His score of 10-under 278 was three strokes better than Ian Poulter and Louis Oosthuizen.

“It’s unbelievable that I won this championship, and I am very excited I’m the youngest champion for this tournament,” Kim said. “”I’m very honored to be the champion for this amazing fifth major event …”

Kim won a Wyndham Championship event last year. He said that helped him with his nerves this year.

“Last year I won one of the tournaments and then I could get the two years of exemption,” said Kim. “Because of that, I can play aggressively and I wasn’t that nervous this year. I feel like I’m still dreaming. I never expected that I’m going to win this tournament.”