Cape Town - The lucky punter who waged $85 000 (R1.2 million) on Tiger Woods winning this year's Masters to win $1.19 million (R17 million), has been revealed.

James Adducci, 39, was a first-time sports bettor who day-tripped the 2 900km from Wisconsin to Las Vegas to place the bet at William Hill - and then promptly flew straight back home.

Adducci flew in on Tuesday, April 9, two days prior to the first tee shot at Augusta National and was given odds on Woods of 14/1.

The self-employed day trader, with a mortgage on his house, two student loans and two car loans, said the $85 000 bet was "everything I had that I could afford to lose."

"I just thought it was pre-destined for him to win."

Woods would duly go on to win his fifth Masters title - and the 15th Major of his career - by a single stroke on Sunday.

"I had been thinking a lot about this. I watched Tiger's performance at the Tour Championship, and things seemed to be going his way. I looked at how well he did there, and some other factors you can't put stats behind. It wasn't about the stats for me. The fact that this was going to be his first major in front of his kids, I was convinced he would win," Adducci was quoted as saying.

Reportedly Adducci's wife wasn't initially keen on the bet.

"She said to me, 'I can't stop you from doing this, because if he wins, I'll never forgive myself.' She's a keeper."

Adducci was handed a cheque of $1 275 000 which amounted to the sum of his winnings ($1 190 000) and initial stake ($85 000).