Max Kieffer beats 70/1 tip Gavin Green to Czech Masters title as 400/1 shot places in Prague
Ben Coley’s 400/1 pick Jake McLeod earned backers a full-seat payout at the Czech Masters, but it was a frustrating ending as Gavin Green missed out on the title by just one shot.
Green had been chosen in ours Preview before the tournament at 70/1 and was odds-on for much of the final round after shooting clean and leading by five holes.
Disaster struck on the 14th when his tee shot found water before the Malaysian missed a 5ft bogey putt and regained the lead, and he was back after Max Kieffer’s brilliant birdie on the 17th had made.
Playing last behind, Green fired his approach shot to the lip within 10 feet just for his birdie putt, presenting Kieffer with his first DP World Tour title.
🏌️♂️ The bad news: That lip-out cost our 70/1 pick Gavin Green a playoff spot
💰 The good news: Not only did he finish second, but our 400/1 tip Jake McLeod secured the place money in sixthpic.twitter.com/NM3S7Xhnih
— Sporting Life 🎯🔴🎾⛳️🥊🏏🏉 🏈 (@SportingLifeFC) August 21, 2022
If it’s been tough for green-backers, it’s certainly no less than Kieffer deserved after losing a 9-hole marathon playoff once in Spain and finishing second again in Austria two summers ago.
Kieffer carded seven birdies in a final round of 66, six of them over the first 11 holes before a bogey on the 15th seemed to slow him down.
However, when Green returned to the field, the German hit a 220-yard approach to just six feet on the difficult 17th and pocketed the putt ahead of a par in the final set that Green couldn’t reach.
“It’s hard to say at the moment what that means,” said Kieffer, who played at the circuit in his 249th event. “It’s great, I’m a bit at a loss for words.
“You think ‘I want to be ready in case he birdie’, you expect him to birdie. You don’t want other people to miss putts, but when the guy on TV said you won it, the feeling was just ridiculous.
“I don’t know how I feel. I think it will take me a few days.
“I just love to play golf and even if I hadn’t won I still have a great life, I still enjoy playing golf so now it’s even better to win.
“You just have to keep trying. I’ve had a difficult couple of years where I haven’t played well and then I feel like I’m playing very well this year, but deep down in golf you never know. I’m so happy and I’m really going to enjoy it.”
Earlier, McLeod had started with a 400/1 eagle birdie to jump from seventh to second place, and a level par back nine was enough to give the supporters the spot money despite bogeys on the 13th and 15th holes to back up.
Ahead of him was Tapio Pulkkanen, second last year, along with Louis de Jager in third place, Zander Lombard in fifth and Kieffer’s compatriot Marcel Schneider in sixth with McLeod.
- Our next golf betting preview will be published on Monday evening