DraftKings sportsbook has responded to claims it changed its rules involving golf betting to prevent the company from shelling out millions of dollars to fans who put money on Wyndham Clark to reign supreme after the conclusion of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am third round.
Despite horrible weather having set in around the Monterey Peninsula area last week, Clark shot an extraordinary round of 60 on Moving Day to leave himself one stroke in front of Sweden's Ludvig Aberg at the second Signature Event of 2024.
Clark's position at the top caused a plethora of golf bettors to back the 2023 US Open champion in a range of parlays or outright punts. But as the storms began to take hold of the course, it quickly became apparent play would be highly unlikely to start on time - or at all - on Sunday.
As it turned out, Saturday's action would be the last of the week, and the PGA Tour ended up cutting the tournament at 54 holes during the early hours of Monday morning - crowning Clark as the champion.
However, not everyone was left smiling. According to Golf Digest, DraftKings kept "betting lines for Wyndham Clark futures open late on Saturday and into Sunday," leaving themselves open to an extremely large payout to customers.
It is believed that the sportsbook's original language relating to the early culmination of a PGA Tour event read: "any PGA Tour tournament bet would be paid out as long as the players completed at least 36 holes."
The @ATTProAm has been shortened to 54 holes due to inclement weather. @Wyndham_Clark is the champion for his third PGA TOUR title 🏆 pic.twitter.com/eTbq4eyZaOFebruary 5, 2024
However, DraftKings reportedly updated their language to say: "any tournament bet would be void if placed after the last shot of the tournament," thus voiding all bets that fell under its new provisions.
Therefore, the issue for fans was that they felt DraftKings had not suspended betting early enough - especially when considering the awful weather forecast for Sunday and the PGA Tour's overspill day 24 hours later.
Yet, in a statement released on Monday, DraftKings disputed the claim it changed its golf betting policy during the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and said its house rules are "currently the same as they were at the start of the event."
The statement read: "We are currently reviewing the settlement of certain bets placed on this weekend’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am following the cancellation of the final round due to severe weather. DraftKings' house rules are currently the same as they were at the start of this event."
Bettors who placed any money on Clark to win before he teed off on Saturday were not affected by the early cancellation of the tournament.
