Players 2026: Bettor misses out on over $12K after sweating out Austin Smotherman FRL bet overnight
Jared C. Tilton
If you think Austin Smotherman had a stressful night waiting to hit the final putt of his first round at the Players Championship, just imagine how this one bettor felt. On Thursday, Smotherman was cruising at five-under par and facing a 15-foot birdie putt on no. 18 to the take the solo first-round lead. That’s when the horn sounded for darkness, forcing the world no. 100 to sleep on his pivotal putt overnight. But it wasn’t just Smotherman who had to sweat it out. It was also the handful of intrepid Smotherman FRL bettors across the country, including one backer who stood to win $15,300 on a bet of just $90 if Smotherman’s birdie putt went down.
Unfortunately, after 12 hours of mulling it over—not to mention a change in course conditions, lighting and the interruption of his “flow”—Smotherman failed to make the putt, instead two putting for par and joining the group of five tied at five-under par heading into Friday’s second round.
DraftKings dead heat rules stipulate that any potential winnings be divided by the number of players tied for the lead, meaning this bettor went from a potential payout of $15,300 to $3,060. That’s a still decent profit on a $90 bet, but who among us wouldn’t be wondering “what-if” this morning?
Ultimately, it’s a big “what-if.” Smotherman’s odds of making the putt were 27.4%. In other words, under normal conditions, he would make that putt about one in four times. Forced to break up his momentum and think about it for 12 hours, however, it’s conceivable those odds were substantially longer on Friday than they were Thursday evening. It stops short of being a truly “bad beat,” but try telling that to this poor sap this morning.