Keen to dive into the world of golf betting? We’ve crafted a comprehensive guide to help you get started betting on golf or fine-tune your strategy if you’re already familiar with the game. From futures and prop bets to accumulators, we’ll break it all down for you.
Golf remains one of the most widely followed sports in the world. Sports punters, in particular, appreciate the variety of markets and attractive odds golf has to offer. We will talk about the most popular golf betting markets, but first, let’s run through some of the basics.
Types of Golf Bets
Here are the most common types of golf bets you will see across bookmaker sites.
Prop Bets
Prop bets, short for “proposition bets,” are wagers on specific events or outcomes within a golf tournament that don’t necessarily affect the overall winner. These bets focus on individual moments or player performances rather than the final result.
Common Types of Golf Prop Bets:
- Player-specific bets: Wager on how a particular golfer will perform. For instance, you might bet on whether a golfer will make the cut, how many birdies they’ll score in a round, or their total number of putts.
- Round or hole props: You can bet on outcomes for specific holes or rounds, such as whether a player will score an eagle or how they’ll perform on a particular hole.
- Tournament-specific bets: These props focus on occurrences within the tournament itself, like whether there will be a hole-in-one or if the winning margin will be a playoff.
The bet shown in the screenshot above from bet365 is an example of a golf prop bet. Here, you would need to predict whether a certain player would play in the final pairing of the tournament. It’s not a bet on the main outcome of the tournament (who will win). Instead, it’s a side wager focused on a specific golfer’s performance during the final round.
The odds of 4.20 for Xander Schauffele to play in the final pairing on Sunday mean that for every £1 you bet, you would win £4.20 if he fulfils that criteria.
Here’s an example of another prop bet. In this bet from William Hill, punters need to predict whether the winner of the ZOZO Championship 2024 will be decided via play off.
Futures Bets
Future bets in golf are wagers placed on the outcome of a tournament or a specific event well in advance, often before the tournament even starts. These bets allow you to predict who will win a major championship, a specific tournament, or other long-term outcomes. Odds for future bets are typically released early, and they can fluctuate based on players’ form, injuries, and other factors leading up to the event.
For example, you might place a future bet on who will win the Masters or the Ryder Cup months before the tournament begins. Because you’re betting ahead of time, the odds can be more favourable, but they also carry more risk, as you won’t have all the latest information about players’ conditions.
These odds from William Hill show the likelihood for participants to win the ZOZO Championship 2024. Here, the odds of 8.00 for Colin Morikawa to win the tournament mean that for every £1 bet, the punter would receive £8.00 if Morikawa goes on to become the ZOZO Championship winner.
Live Betting
Much like live betting in other sports, golf live betting allows punters to place wagers as the action unfolds. However, there are some unique nuances to keep in mind.
Common Types of Live Betting in Golf:
- Tournament winner: This is the most straightforward form of live betting. The odds will fluctuate as the tournament advances, based on real time player performances. Naturally, the favourites will see their odds shorten as they play well, while the underdogs will have longer odds, offering higher potential payouts for a win.
- Top 5/10: When you place a bet on a golfer to finish in the top 5 or top 10 of a golf tournament, you’re essentially wagering on their overall performance throughout the event. These bets are often offered both before the tournament begins (futures) and when the tournament is in progress.
- Individual hole results: Live betting on individual hole results allows punters to place wagers on what will happen on a specific hole during a round of golf. If Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy are both playing a par-4 hole, you can place a live bet on who will come out with the better score on that hole. You might also wager on whether McIlroy will birdie the hole based on his position after his drive. As they play each shot, the odds shift, reflecting their chances of achieving those outcomes.
Accumulator/Parlay
A golf accumulator bet, or a parlay bet, is a single wager that combines multiple individual bets into one. For the accumulator to win, all selections must come true. If any of the predictions don’t materialise, the punter loses. The odds of each bet are multiplied, creating the potential for a much larger payout compared to individual bets.
Let’s say you want to place a four-leg accumulator bet on the following outcomes and their corresponding odds:
- Joohyung Kim to win the Genesis Championship @ 9.00
- Jeeno Thitikul to win the Maybank Championship @ 10.00
- Hideki Matsuyama to win the ZOZO Championship @ 5.50
- Europe to win the Ryder Cup @ 2.70
Total Odds:
9.00 x 10.00 x 5.50 x 2.70 = 1336.50
Winnings:
If you bet £1 on this accumulator and all four legs win, your total winnings would be £1 x 1336.50 = £1336.50
Popular Golf Betting Markets
Now, let’s explore some popular golf betting markets. We will start with the simplest ones and gradually work our way into more complex territories.
Winning Margin Bet
A winning margin bet in golf requires you to accurately predict the exact number of strokes by which a golfer will win the tournament. Instead of simply betting on the winner, you’re wagering on the margin of victory.
Let’s say you place £20 on the ZOZO Championship winner winning the tournament by two shots, with odds of 4.50, as shown in the screenshot sourced from William Hill above. You will win if the winning margin is exactly two shots. In total, you will receive (£20 × 4.50) £90.
In some cases, the bookmaker will specify the name of the winner as well. In the screenshot below, which has been taken from bet365, you will see different winning margin odds for multiple players.
Top Place Finishes
You can place bets on a player to finish in various positions, such as the top 5, top 10, or top 20. For your bet to be successful, the player must achieve the position you’ve chosen. For instance, if you bet on a player to finish in the top 5, they must secure a top 5 finish for your wager to win.
The screenshot shows several top-place finish markets for Xander Schauffele at the ZOZO Championship. You’ll notice that as the finishing bracket narrows, the odds lengthen. For example, Schauffele is priced at 3.60 to finish in the top 2, while a top 10 finish offers shorter odds at 1.57.
Head to Head and Three Way Bets
In a head-to-head bet, you select one player to out-perform another in a specific round or over the entire tournament. The odds are typically based on the players’ current form, history, and performance.
If Rory McIlroy is matched against Scottie Scheffler in a head-to-head bet, you can wager on who will have the lower score by the end of the round or tournament.
A three-way bet expands the head-to-head format by including a third option, typically a tie or draw. In this format, you can bet on one of three outcomes: Player A, Player B, or a tie between the two.
This means that, as mentioned in the earlier example, bookmakers will also provide odds for a tie, where both players finish the round or tournament with the same score.
First Round Leader
Which player will be at the top of the standings after the first round? To win this bet, you will need to successfully make this prediction. This particular betting market is very popular among regular golf punters because of the high payout potential.
In the first screenshot, you’ll find the first-round leader odds for the ZOZO Championship, as displayed on bet365. How do these compare to the outright winner odds?
In the second screenshot, you’ll see the outright tournament winner odds provided by bet365. Xander Schauffele is priced at 5.50 to win the tournament outright, while his odds for being the first-round leader are set at 9.00. If you take your time and have a closer look, you will find that the odds will vary similarly across these two markets for all participants.
Each Way Bet
A golf each-way bet is a versatile option that combines a win bet and a place bet into a single wager. It allows you to bet on a golfer to win the tournament while also hedging your bet by betting on them to finish in the top 5 (or other specified positions).
How does this differ from an accumulator bet? In an accumulator, if just one of your predictions fails, you lose the entire stake. In contrast, an each-way bet provides a level of insurance. The main bet is on a specific player to win the tournament.
If the player doesn’t win but finishes within the specified placing for the each-way bet, the punter can still claim winnings, albeit at shorter odds than those for the outright winner.
To make it clearer, let’s explain the odds shown in the screenshot. We will discuss the odds offered for Xander Schauffele in the first column. What does the notation “E/W 1/4 1-5” mean?
E/W stands for “each way,” meaning the bet consists of two parts: one bet on Schauffele to win the tournament and another bet on him to finish in a specified placing.
1/4 indicates the fraction of the odds that applies to the place portion of the bet. In this case, it means that if Schauffele finishes in one of the top 5 positions, the place part of your bet will pay out at 1/4 of the winning odds.
1/5 specifies that the place terms are for the top 5 finish. So, if Schauffele finishes in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th place, you’ll receive a payout for the place portion of your bet.
You will receive a 5.50x return if Schauffele wins the tournament, but if he doesn’t, you still have a chance to profit. Let’s explore how your winnings will be affected if he fails to become the champion but manages to finish within the specified bracket.
If Schauffele wins the tournament at odds of 5.50, and you placed a £10 each-way bet (total stake of £20), your winnings for the win part would be:
£10 × 5.50 = £55
If Schauffele finishes in the top 5 but does not win, your place payout would be calculated at 1/4 of the winning odds:
£10 × 1.25 = £12.50 (1/4 converts to 1.25 in the decimal format).
In both cases, add your £10 stake to determine the total payouts.
Betting on golf can be more challenging than wagering on other sports. So, we’ve broken down the complexities in the simplest way to make it easier to understand. While golf betting can be tricky to navigate, it also presents the opportunity for greater rewards compared to other sports betting.
