My week at the U.S. Open
For the first time in 129 years, golf's great championship was played in a state with legal sports betting. I went to Pinehurst to observe the consequences.
I’VE ALWAYS THOUGHT BETTING ON GOLF in person might offer unique advantages, and I was thrilled when The Washington Post let me spend a week at Pinehurst to see whether that was true. This was the first U.S. Open played in a state with legal sports betting.
What I mean by “unique advantages” is that sportsbooks now let customers bet not just on who will win a golf tournament, but also countless props and microbets, like whether a player will hit a particular fairway or make birdie, par, or bogey on a given hole. Bookmakers can’t have eyes on 18 holes at once, so gamblers could seemingly gain an upper hand if they quickly placed a bet after being in the right place at the right time.
For example, when I got to the course at around 7:30 for the first round, this was literally the first ball I came across.
It didn’t take any special access to take this photo; the player just hit an errant drive into Pinehurst’s dreaded wiregrass that landed right in front of me. Were I gambling (I wasn’t; credentialed press weren’t allowed to bet), you’d think I could have found favorable odds to bet against this player were I fast enough.
What I found out after chatting with gamblers at the tournament and speaking on the phone with some experienced bookmakers is that sportsbooks do everything in their power to stop bettors from beating them to the punch — doubling the house edge baked into the odds, suspending betting when a hole is in play, using geolocation to identify who’s betting from the course, and, as one bookie put it, “limiting anyone with a pulse” if they’re caught doing this.
Still, they’re not always successful. Gamblers used to make a killing sending “runners” to golf tournaments who would quickly report whenever they saw a player hit it in a hazard or get an unfortunate lie, like the one pictured above. I learned that about five years ago, runners wearing earpieces at a tournament were questioned by FBI agents who suspected they might be coordinating a terrorist attack.
I covered a lot more at the U.S. Open, including how pro golfers feel about being heckled by gamblers and what sharp bettors are able to glean from scouting practice rounds. Here’s the story:
I had a wonderful time working alongside The Post’s Rick Maese, who was there to cover the tournament more conventionally, and also banged out compelling features about mental health on tour and the unusual footwork of the PGA’s best player.
My time in Pinehurst was made infinitely easier thanks to the generous hospitality of my step-grandparents-in-law, Pat and Craig Ellis, who let me spend the week at their beautiful home in Laurinburg.
It was also special to experience one of the coolest work opportunities of my life on Father’s Day, considering that my Dad introduced me to golf basically as a toddler and has helped me so much at every step of my career, including interrupting his U.S. Open viewing Sunday to give me feedback on my draft. Hopefully Del Monte Golf Course isn’t as tough as Pinehurst No. 2 when we team up for a tournament there in November.
I’m a little sad to be heading home, but excited to see Wynnie and the person she’s been taking care of for the past week.
Thanks for reading!
Wow. Sports gambling has become "the game within the game." So much activity in and around the action that's undetected or uncovered. Probably has always been the case, but you're bringing it to light in such interesting ways. Great reporting