Rory McIlroy’s dramatic victory in a play-off at the U.S. Masters has resulted in one of the largest golf-related payouts in William Hill’s history, following a combination of direct bets and a promotional refund initiative, the storied British betting firm reported today.
In addition to traditional backers of McIlroy, the UK bookmaker had offered a “Money Back as a Free Bet” promotion if the 35-year-old from Holywood, Northern Ireland, secured the win at Georgia’s hallowed Augusta National course.
McIlroy blew winning The Masters in normal play when he missed a par-put on the 18th. Memories of successive and agonising McIlory misses over the last 11-years, with the golfer being branded the nearly-man, came flooding back for his legions of fans.
But McIlroy beat England’s Justin Rose in a play-off to the death and became only the sixth player–following Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods–to win all four of golf’s so-called Majors–The Masters, every April, the PGA Championship in May, the U.S. Open in June and British Open in July.
Grand Slam
McIlroy’s nail-biting victory–his fifth major title–triggered a “significant” seven-figure return to William Hill customers, and similar pay-outs by other gambling companies.
The last man to claim golf’s Grand Slam was Tiger Woods, who completed what is known in golfing legend as “The Tiger Slam”, winning all four titles in a row over two seasons in 2020 into 2021.
Jack Nicklaus, the previous Grand Slam winner before Woods, who completed the slam in 1966 by taking the British Open, is still the golfer with the most major championships: 18 to Tiger’s 15.
Until yesterday, McIlroy’s last Majors triumph was the PGA in 2014.
He has now emerged as a strong contender for a sporting knighthood, following iconic British golfer Sir Nick Faldo, and is considered the front-runner for this year’s prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award (SPYA).
Arise Sir Rory
William Hill, part of the evoke group, for example, has cut McIlroy’s SPYA odds from 2/1 to 8/11, positioning him as the clear market favourite.
“Masters Sunday 2025 will go down as one of the most dramatic we’ve ever seen,” said William Hill Spokesperson Lee Phelps.
“[It] was also as one of the most significant in the history of betting on golf for William Hill.
“Rory McIlroy was always the biggest liability in our book before a ball was hit.
“And the stakes were raised when we announced Money Back as a Free Bet if McIlroy completed the career Grand Slam. In total, we’re now looking at a seven-figure payout.
“We laid tens of thousands of individual bets on McIlroy to win The Masters alone, while there was a good spread of business across the competitors this year with punters safe in the knowledge they had some Rory insurance.
“In the end it was an amazing sporting moment and it’s great to see Rory in that elite group of golfers.”
As for McIlroy, after donning the Master’s winner’s famous green jacket, he joked: “I would say it was 14-years in the making”, referencing the 2011 Masters when he threw away a four-shot lead in the final round.
