How To Bet On Golf?

Golf may not be a major American sport or really the top sport in any country, but it is a fun one on which to bet. And one great thing about golf is that there isn’t much off an offseason, so you can pretty much bet on it year round. The Pickswise experts have been wildly successful in recent years, so you have come to the right place for finding out everything you need to know about betting on golf.

Where Is Golf Betting Legal?

In the United States, betting on golf – and other sports – is legal depending on the state in which you are located. Until May of 2018 there was a federal ban on sports betting in the U.S.A., but that changed when the US Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. Now the issue is up to the individual states.

As of March 2023, The following states all have a legal and regulated sports betting industry, where you can wager on golf:

• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Mississippi
• Montana
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York
• Ohio
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• Tennessee
• Virginia
• Washington DC
• West Virginia

Best Online Golf Betting Sites and Mobile Apps

There are plenty of betting websites and mobile apps that you can use when looking to place a wager on golf. How do you find the one that is best for you? Well, odds can differ slightly from sportsbook to sportsbook and it would obviously be advantageous to give yourself multiple options by shopping at various books to find the best prices. Some books will offer parlay insurances, promotions, and odds boosts that others may not. You can also find golf props at some sites that may not be available at others.

How To Bet On Golf

Placing a bet on golf sounds simple enough, but if you want to do it successfully it requires multiple steps – all of which are important. You should start the process, of course, by figuring out what bet you should make. At Pickswise, we have expert handicappers who do much of the work for you by researching players, results, tournaments, etc. and breaking down statistics, previewing events, making predictions and more. We post the odds that are being offered by various legal sportsbooks, as well. Be sure to check out our golf analysis all year long – not only for the four majors, but also every other PGA Tour event – to help you bet better.

Once you decide on a wager to place, the next step is to determine the best site or app at which to do so. Most ‘books will have a tennis tab either in the left column or at the top, which will then take you to the golf markets that are available such as matches, futures, props, and – if applicable – promos and odds boosts. Locate the desired market, add the desired play to your bet slip, and then lock in your wager with the submit, bet, confirm, or applicable button.

Ways To Bet On Golf

There are many ways to bet on golf. It offers all kinds of betting options because there are so many different tournaments around the world on so many different tours – the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, European Tour, Champions Tour and Korn Ferry Tour. Golf markets generally available at most sportsbooks include head-to-head matchups, each-way betting, individual score and various futures bets.

Futures or Outright Tournament Winner Betting

Outright tournament winner betting is when you bet on someone to win a tournament. These plays are generally made before tournaments begin, but there are also in-play options as the odds adjust with the current scores. A golfer must win the tournament to cash such a play. It doesn’t matter if they win by one stroke or seven strokes. It also doesn’t matter if they finish second by one stroke or 42nd and seven strokes off the lead; anything other than victory is a lost bet.

Each Way Betting 

An each way bet is a slightly safer player than an outright winner. In an each way bet, half of the stake is on a player to win the tournament outright, but the other half of the stake is on the player to post a certain finish (top 2, top 3, top 4, top 5, top 10, etc., as designated by the sportsbook, with odds becoming shorter the lower down the leaderboard you go). A $40 top-5 each-way bet on Jon Rahm means $20 is on Rahm to win the tournament and the other $20 is on Rahm to finish in the top 5. If Rahm wins, both bets cash. If he places fourth, the $20 on an outright win is lost but the $20 top-5 bet is successful. 

One of the most important things to consider when placing an each-way golf bet is not only shopping the odds, but also how many places each sportsbook is paying each-way. Some may pay 5 places each way, which is usually the minimum, but others may pay 8 places, or even up to 10 or 12 in the bigger tour events like the Masters. Typically the more places on offer, the lower the odds offered per player, but that’s not always the case, particularly with longshots, so make sure to shop the odds and place terms when betting each way. 

Top-5, Top-10 or Top-20 Finish

Betting on a top 5, top 10, or top 20 finish is obviously a safer player than betting on an outright tournament winner. Top 20 will obviously come with the shortest odds, followed by top 10, top 5 and outright winner. But there is often value on the shorter odds because it is much, much easier to finish in the top 20, for example, than it is to win. These markets can be great for those longshot picks that you think may sneak into the top 20 but might not have what it takes to go all the way.

To Make The Cut

In almost every tournament, there is a cut at the midway point in which a certain number of players toward the bottom of the leaderboard do not qualify to play the weekend. Those golfers miss the cut. The majority of golfers – the ones with the best scores through two rounds – make the cut and advance to play on Saturday and Sunday. In the make the cut market, it doesn’t matter if a golfer is first or 33rd; as long as he or she makes the cut, the bet is a winner.

Round Matchups – 2-Ball or 3-Ball Pairings

During most tournaments, sportsbooks will offer head-to-head betting between 2 (2-ball) or 3 (3-ball) players. Most of the matchups on offer at the ‘books will be between players who are also paired together on the course for a certain round. In 2-ball betting, a player must only beat his one opponent on that given day for the bet to be a winner. In 3-ball betting, he or she must post a better 18-hole score than two other players. A draw is often available in 2-ball betting, as well, and with longer odds than Player A or Player B because the event of posting the same score is unlikely. In such cases, if 2 golfers both shoot 68 then a draw bet is won and any bet on Player A or Player B is lost.

First Round Leader 

In addition to winning the whole tournament, another popular market is first-round leader. Golf tournaments are divided into four rounds – almost always Thursday through Sunday. A first-rounder leader bet only takes into account the first 18 holes of a tournament. This is a tricky market to get right with so many golfers at the tournament. Factors such as tee times, weather conditions, course records and first-round records should all be considered when looking at this market.

Nationality Bets –  (Top American, Top European, etc.)

Nationality betting is when you pick a golfer to finish ahead of everyone else from his or her country at a certain tournament. If you bet on Jordan Spieth to be the top American at the British Open and he finishes seventh overall but beats all other Americans, the bet cashes. If you bet on Justin Rose to be the top Englishman at the Masters and finishes second overall but compatriot Paul Casey wins, the bet is lost.

Ryder Cup Betting 

The Ryder Cup is a team competition between Europe and the United States that takes place every two years and alternates host sites between the 2 sides. You can make futures many months and even years in advance, and there are plenty of markets on offer during the event such as head-to-head matchups, and total matches won by a player (any golfer can play up to 5 matches during the event).

What Are The Different Golf Tours? 

PGA Tour Betting

The Professional Golfers Association primarily holds tournaments in the United States, with the main part of each season running from January through August. Its biggest events are the PGA Championship, the Players Championship and the Tour Championship. Outside of the PGA Championship, the other three majors are not run by the PGA but they do count toward PGA prize money and FedEx Cup points.

LPGA Tour Betting

This is the women’s counterpart to the PGA Tour. Whereas the men’s circuit features 4 annual major championships, the women play 5 each year.

DP World Tour Betting

Many of Europe’s best golfers play the majority of their schedule close to home. This tour (formerly known as the European Tour) sanctions the British Open, which is the fourth and final major on the annual calendar.

LIV Tour Betting

This lucrative rival tour was founded in 2022 and began poaching players from the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. Its tournaments consist of only 54 holes rather than 72. As of March 2023, LIV players are banned from also competing on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour and there are no ranking points awarded at LIV events. LIV players are, however, allowed to compete in the 4 majors.

Korn Ferry Tour Betting

Golf’s proverbial minor league. Based on performance, many golfers who do not earn PGA Tour cards play on the Korn Ferry Tour. It was previously known as the Ben Hogan Tour, the Nike Tour, the Buy.com Tour, the Nationwide Tour and the Web.com Tour.

Champions Tour Betting

This is a branch of the PGA Tour in which golfers must be at least 50 years old.

Five Ways To Bet Better On Golf

1. Look for value – Winning a golf tournament is an incredibly difficult thing to do for anyone. Keep in mind that a golfer must beat everyone in the field to win. A tennis player, by contrast, only has to beat the players who happen to match up with him or her in the draw (can be as few as 4 opponents at smaller events and up to 7 at a major). Golf tournament fields are huge, too, which also creates high variance. Big-name players often come with a lot shorter than they should, thus making them poor value bets. Underdogs are more often than not the play.
2. Pay attention to the course – A golfer can be well-suited for a course like Augusta National (the Masters) but not well-suited for St. Andrews (an occasional British Open choice). Look for golfers who may not be among the most famous players but have fared well at a particular tournament in the past. That is where the best value can be found
3. Current form is more important than anything else – Current form in golf is vital for picking winners. Because it’s a four-day event you need to be at your best each round to be in contention to win. You should be on golfers who are playing well consistently and feeling confident. A general rule of thumb is to look for players coming in off a top 25 finish in their previous event.
4. Keep an eye on the strokes-gained statistics – We can analyze each aspect of a player’s game using strokes-gained statistics. There are 4 different statistics available: strokes gained off the tee, strokes gained approaching the green, strokes gained around the green and strokes gained putting. Strokes gained is a better method for measuring performance than the traditional statistics because it compares a player’s performance to the rest of the field and can isolate individual aspects of the game.
5. Don’t ignore the supplementary markets – There is more to golf betting than picking an outright winner. Sportsbooks are now offering a wide range of pre-tournament and in-game betting markets where you can find value and lower variance. 

Golf Betting Strategies

Basic
As is the case with betting on any sport, it is important to establish your bankroll when it comes to betting on golf. In the worst-case scenario, what is the most you are willing to lose in one tournament or maybe in a month – or a year? What is the max you would be willing to bet on a single player when you have a lot of confidence? After establishing these kinds of parameters, the next step is to familiarize yourself with the sport and its players. Become knowledgeable about as many players as possible and stay up to date with the latest news, scores, injuries, etc.

Intermediate
As you become more experienced with golf betting, you will naturally find your niche with respect to what players, tournaments, markets, etc. you enjoy betting on and bring you success. Where do you get your edge betting on golf? Answer that question based on the data you have compiled on your betting history and continue to exploit that edge. There are so many different tournaments and tours around the world, so golf bettors can have very different specialties. Remember to take a look at various sportsbooks and betting apps to find the one that offers the best odds on a certain market, or one that offers an intriguing prop that you might not be able to play elsewhere.

Advanced
The best and most accurate way to find the aforementioned edge is to keep a log of your golf betting. Track all of your bets – including the size, player(s), outcome and also the units won or lost (you can keep track of your winnings in terms of both actual money and units, but units are a more accurate representation of your success). Make sure to break it down player by player and tournament by tournament, so you can pinpoint your most (and least) successful betting areas. Watch as much golf as possible, because it will help you rely on your own instincts as opposed to the opinions of experts and analysts.

Things To Avoid When Betting On Golf 

As mentioned above, there is generally lots of parity in golf – much more than in the other most notable and betting-popular sport (tennis). It’s extremely difficult to win a golf tournament even for the very best players in the world. Don’t be on someone just because he or she is a big name and is going off with tournament-winning odds well into plus money. Do your due diligence in the research department instead of haphazardly making a wager.

Don’t bet on a golf tournament without becoming familiar with the current course. Although rarely as extreme as the surface difference in tennis (clay, grass, hard courts), golf courses can differ in a big way. Big hitters may have a sizable advantage on long courses, for example, but not so much at courses with shorter yardages. Golfers who hit it a long way but also erratically are best suited for courses with wide open fairways but could struggle when the fairways are tight and the rough is unforgiving.

Don’t give up betting on golf if you hit a cold spell, especially in the futures market. As mentioned above, every golfer goes into tournaments with relatively long odds compared to favorites in other sports. It’s not easy to win on the course or on the betting front. But just one successful futures bet can make up for a whole host of losses. Stay patient; stay disciplined.

The Pickswise golf handicappers are on hand with expert Golf Picks and Golf Predictions as well as tournament previews and analysis throughout the PGA Tour, including all of the majors.