How To Bet On Golf
Golf is one of the more popular sports to bet on. Whether you’re a first-time golf bettor or a seasoned punter, knowing how to bet on golf, which are the betting markets, how to read golf odds and which are the best strategies can help you make smart bets.
Golf betting has continued to grow in popularity of the past years, and offers sports bettors a very good amount of betting options. With a field of over 100 players, the majority of whom have a realistic chance of winning, when it comes to how to bet on golf there is plenty of great value to be found.
Golf Betting Markets
There are a number of ways you can bet on golf. Here we take a look at the most popular ways to bet on golf.
Tournament Winner
The most common type of golf bet is to wager on which golfer will win a tournament. In this instance, if Jordan Spieth is +1200, that means you’d win $1,200 off a $100 wager (plus the original $100 amount).
If you don’t think any of the golfers listed by the sportsbook will win the tournament, you can put your money on ‘The Field‘.
Top 3 / Top 5 / Top 10 / Top 20 Finish
Betting on a player to finish in either the top 3, top 5, top 10 and top 20 are great betting alternatives to actually picking a player to win the event. Of course the odds won’t be nearly as big as if you are betting on a golfer to win the event.
Matchups (or 2-Ball)
In order to win a golfer matchup bet the golfer you select must finish the tournament or event ahead of the other golfer listed in the matchup. A distinction you must know when betting it because there are also round-by-round matchups. Matchups are definetely a great chance to utilize your golf knowledge to win some money.
3-Ball
The 3-Ball market is usually offered in the 1st and 2nd rounds of a four round tournament. With the 3-Ball market, you select which player in a three player group will post the lowest score for the round. For a winning tie between two players, the payout is half the accepted stake, for a tie between all three players, the payout is a third of the accepted stake. Two and three ball betting is often picked over the outright winner by bettors who like to minimize the variance and risk.
First-round Leader
A self-explanatory bet. The odds on this are usually very high, as it’s not only unpredictable, but the variance in just one round is high. Sportsbooks will also usually release new odds on 2nd-round, 3rd-round and 4th-round leaders after the day of play is over.
Prop Bets
A “proposition bet” is a gamble made regarding a circumstance that’s not necessarily tied to the tournament’s final outcome.
Eg:
- Tiger Woods’ first-round score: 70.5. Over/under?
- Will Phil Mickelson place in the Top 20?
- What will the winning margin be?
- Will there be a hole-in-one?
- Who will be the top amateur?
To Make/Miss the Cut
Many online bookmakers offer the chance to bet on players they think will “make the cut” (and play the final two rounds) or “miss” the cut (and go home early). The cut is when a large number of players are removed or eliminated from the event after the second round or second day of play.
Each-Way Bet
More common in Europe, this bet is a double bet of sorts: you’re wagering that a golfer, in this case, wins the event and also finishes high. This means that you’re effectively putting a second stake on your player finishing in the top 5 places. It can be a great way to secure a big win, especially if you fancy an outsider to finish near the top.
Most each-way bets pay out on a top-five bet, although top-six bets are also common. If you wager £10 on an each-way bet, you have to pay £20. Basically, you’re wagering double the money – kind of like an exacta or trifecta in horse racing. You will usually get a pay-off one quarter of the original odds if the player finishes inside the top five (but fails to win).
So you’ve placed an each way bet and your man finishes tied for 5th. What happens then? This is when the dead heat rules comes into play and the basic idea is that your original stake is split by the number of players who finish 5th.
Nationality Bets
This type of bet involves betting on the country a player is from instead of the player themselves. For example, you can bet that the winner will be an American Golfer ot that the US will have more players than England in the Top 20.
Golf Live Betting
The most basic form of an in-play bet on golf is betting on a winner during the final round on Sunday.
There’s also live hole-by-hole betting during each round. This will be a bet where you can choose between two players playing in the same group, betting on one to beat the other on a certain hole. In-play odds fluctuate stroke by stroke, meaning you can often find great value if you’re a great reader of the game.
You can also bet on a player’s score each hole. For example, you might find Justin Rose Over/Under 4.5 if he’s approachineg a par 5 hole. Basically, you back Under if you fancy a birdie, eagle, albatross and condor or Over if you fancy a par, bogey, double bogey, etc..
Golf Spread Betting
Spreads are often offered on the position a player may finish in a tournament. Plus, spreads are also offered on the number of strokes a player may finish with.
Where to Bet on Golf
The top online sportsbooks are going to offer betting lines for both major and minor tournaments
The likes of William Hill and 888sport will have odds on most tournaments from PGA and European Tour.
For all major tournaments you’ll often find that sites such as bet365 will offer a number of specials too as well as enhanced odds and free bet offers.
Make sure you head to our bookmakers page for all our favorite sites offering Golf betting.
Also, don’t forget to check out the rest of our betting guides here at GamblerSaloon if you have questions about any of the many other sports betting options that you have out there!
