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Tony Finau is the odds-on favorite to walk away with a victory at the Mexico Open this week, but one man is really, really hoping Carl Yuan will be able to pull off a miracle after wagering more than $6,500 on the golfer thanks to a tweet that came back to haunt him.
Carl Yuan hasn’t exactly taken the golf world by storm since turning pro in 2018, as he’s spent the bulk of his career grinding away on the Korn Ferry Tour.
The 26-year-old from China (who is known for his very unorthodox swing) narrowly missed the chance to earn his PGA Tour card after finishing 126th in the FedEx Cup rankings in 2023, but he caught a lucky break by securing it after Jon Rahm defected to LIV Golf.
Yuan got off to a pretty solid start this year by tying for fourth place at the Sony Open, but he missed the cut at his next two tournaments before withdrawing from the Phoenix Open after the first round due to a neck injury.
He was healthy enough to head down to Vidanta Vallarta for the Mexico Open this week, but he wasn’t expected to be a major contender when you consider he was listed as a +11000 longshot (for the sake of comparison, Finau was getting +650).
However, one guy nonetheless bet a grand total of $6,575 on Yuan to top the rest of the field courtesy of a tweet where he promised to throw down $5 for each “like” it received in the span of 24 hours—a number that ultimately reached 1,315 when everything was said and done.
For every like this tweet gets in the next 24 hours I will bet $5 on Carl Yuan to win the Mexico Open.
— Tom & Marty's (@tomandmartys) February 19, 2024
While some people would’ve flaked, the bettor lived up to his word and embarked on a saga that required him to make the trek to multiple casinos to place wagers at physical sportsbooks due to the betting limits instituted by the electronic platforms he had access to in New York.
If Yuan is able to defy the odds, he’ll take home a cool $524,088.