Pros Should Be Allowed to Make Small Bets on Golf

Описание: Voice over: Michael Robles
Writer:
Alex Micel
Video editor: Lance Keller
Professionals
Should Be Allowed
to Make Small Bets
on Golf
Golf gambling is almost as old as the game itself, and
in this installment of Bad Takes Week, Alex Miceli says
the pros shouldn't be shut out—within reason.
A "C-note," a "Benjamin" or a "yard" ... all slang
for a $100 bill.
The value of the staple of American currency
has changed over time, but it’s still an important
dividing line.
A dinner slightly over $100 seems so much
more expensive than one a hair under $100.
Similarly, if you bet less than $100, it’s a small,
somewhat insignificant amount, more for fun.
Over $100, it feels like a more substantial wager
—and may become an issue.
Which is why I’m proposing the PGA Tour set a
limit of $100 for all its players to be able to bet
on any golf event.
Gambling in golf has been part of the fabric of
the game since it started in Holland or Scotland
(right, Phil?), and since
the Supreme Court in
2018 struck down the federal ban on betting,
this country has devoured gambling like the
Cookie Monster with a fresh package of Oreos.
Yet two Korn Ferry Tour players, Jake Staiano
and Vince India,
were recently suspended for
violating the Tour’s Integrity Program by
gambling
. It seems ironic that the Tour has an
Integrity Program which bans gambling by its
players, yet it has official relationships with six
betting operators (bet365, BetMGM, betPARX,
DraftKings, FanDuel, PointsBet) and recently
opened a DraftKings-backed sportsbook at TPC
Scottsdale.
Staiano and India bet small amounts on golf and
not all of it was on PGA Tour golf.
Staiano bet a total of $116.20 across four bets:
$25 on Bryson DeChambeau to make a birdie on
a par-5 in a PGA Tour event in 2021 and three
bets on The Match, the November 2021
exhibition between DeChambeau and Brooks
Koepka.
Maybe "irony" is not harsh enough.
But let’s be serious, betting less than a C-note
on golf is just plain fun and no one is trying to
get rich, just entertained.
Research by Stanford University
in 2009 and a
story in the
Springer’s Journal of Gambling
Studies
in 2014 concluded that gambling for the
majority of people is fun.
And gambling on golf is fun.
Instead of acting like the fun police, the PGA
Tour needs to lighten up and allow a
fundamental tenet of the game to proceed for
everyone—including its own players.
It’s possible that Old Tom Morris was turning in
his grave when the three- and six-month
suspensions were announced by the PGA Tour.
Even Old Tom gambled on golf,
in challenge
matches
, so why not allow the current PGA Tour
player?
The limit of $100 makes it a safe bet that the
game and its integrity will not be blemished if,
say, Rickie Fowler bets $100 on Brian Harman to
win the the
British Open
.
The story behind that would be entertaining.
Who in fact is getting hurt?
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