Punter wins staggering $15k bet after agonising Players Championship delay

Austin Smotherman landed a punter a staggering $15,000 by taking the opening round lead at the 2026 Players Championship.

The American joined five other players at the top of the leaderboard at TPC Sawgrass after the first round was complete, but only after an agonising overnight wait to finish his final hole.

Getty

With the prestigious PGA event getting underway on Thursday, heavy rain and lightning in Florida meant proceedings had to be paused for 21 minutes at midday.

Smotherman was among those teeing off in the afternoon, and this saw his start to the tournament delayed by 30 minutes.

Despite being made to wait, the US star got into his groove, finding himself among five players tied in the lead heading into his final hole.

Sitting at 5-under 69 on the par-5 ninth, Smotherman looked set to take the outright lead when he had a 15-foot birdie putt.

But with the light fading, he opted not to take his putt attempt, and instead chose to return on Friday morning to complete the round.

How much?

While Smotherman was left with an agonising wait to get his nose in front, there was one person biting their nails even more.

Ahead of the 31-year-old’s final hole putt on Friday morning, it was revealed online that a punter had placed a $90 bet on him being in the lead at the end of round one.

But with Smotherman never previously winning a PGA Tour event, the odds of this were understandably less than favourable.

So much so in fact, that the golf fan was staring at a staggering $15,300 return if the World No.99 came good on his bet.

And the punter can’t have slept well on Thursday night, with the ninth hole green famously fast and slippery.

Getty

Quids in

Smotherman headed out on Friday morning needing to two-putt to secure a par that would see him remain in the joint lead, and land the punter their huge sum of money.

Their wait was made even more painstaking when the US star was made to wait an hour into play resuming before taking on his putt.

And things didn’t get any less nerve-wracking when Smotherman took to the green, as he sent his first putt five feet beyond the hole.

But after missing his chance to take the lead outright, he kept his cool to two-putt and transform the fortunes of one lucky fan.

A hugely impressive first-round from Smotherman saw him shoot a 5-under 67 to join four other stars in joint-first.

Also sitting pretty after the first 18 were fellow Americans Maverick McNealy, Lee Hodges and Sahith Theegala, as well as Austria’s Sepp Straka.

And while Smotherman did just enough to land the punter a five-figure prize, his time in the lead didn’t last long.

Just after the California native rounded off his opening round on Friday, a number of his rivals got underway on day two, with Straka, Theegala and Alex Smalley all landing early birdies to move ahead of Smotherman.