Stephen Allan couldn’t help but like his odds. He knew he was playing well, and when he happened to glance at a sportsbook prior to the 2002 Australian Open, he thought he’d bet on himself. Literally.
Allan, the 2002 Australian Open winner, joined GOLF’s Subpar Podcast to discuss his career and recent win on the PGA Tour Champions (now 51, he won the Galleri Classic in March), but he also relived that 2002 Aussie Open, the biggest victory of his career.
Due to weather, the event was shortened to 54 holes, and Allan finished 12 under to beat Aaron Baddeley, Rich Beem and Craig Parry by one at Victoria Golf Club in Cheltenham, Victoria.
“I think all the best Aussies at the time, apart from Greg Norman and [Steve] Elkington, were there,” Allan said. “So it was good to win, and Rich was the defending U.S. PGA champion at the time.”
Allan took home the winner’s check, but he also benefited from a $20 bet he placed on himself with 100-to-1 odds to win.
“At the time we were not banned from betting in Australia or here. The PGA Tour hadn’t told us we couldn’t bet,” Allan said. “So I actually put money on Geoff [Ogilvy] to win because it was his home course. As I looked through the odds, Geoff was way over the odds. There were some guys from Australia that had played well and won a couple of tournaments in Australia, but little events. And Geoff, I don’t think he’d won on the PGA Tour yet, but he played really good. So I’m like, he’s got to be the favorite coming to his home course. And I looked at my odds, and on this site I was 100 to 1, and I was offended because I knew I was playing better than that. So I bet on myself as well that week.”
Although the best part about betting on yourself, according to Allan?
“Not once do you think about it when you are out there,” he said. “Too much is going on and the chance to win the tournament is too important.”
You can listen to the complete Subpar episode here or watch the YouTube video below.
As GOLF.com’s managing editor, Berhow handles the day-to-day and long-term planning of one of the sport’s most-read news and service websites. He spends most of his days writing, editing, planning and wondering if he’ll ever break 80. Before joining GOLF.com in 2015, he worked at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa. A graduate of Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn., he resides in the Twin Cities with his wife and two kids. You can reach him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.
