Finding the Fairway in the World of Golf
Introduction to Golf Betting
Golf is a sport that can be enjoyed by people from all walks of life, and it’s a sport that is usually considered more of a hobby than anything. It’s not a hobby for everyone though as golf is played professionally in nearly every country around the world.
The PGA Tour is the top golf organization for professionals, but the LPGA and European Tour are two other organizations that have professional golf. Even though this sport is usually played for fun or entertainment, there is big money involved in professional golf tournaments.
There are 18 holes on a golf course, and each major tournament usually lasts four rounds. Golf tournaments typically start on a Thursday and then conclude on the following Sunday.
Understanding the Fundamentals of Golf
The goal in golf is to have the lowest score possible, and “par” is a term that is used to describe what an average score should be. Players are out to shoot under par by registering a birdie or eagle on each hole.
Golf is also a game that has some very strange rules, but the main object is pretty simple. Golfers hit the ball where it lies and try to make it into a small cup on the green by taking as few shots as possible.
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour has tournaments all year long, but there are four tournaments that stand out above the rest. These are known as the Majors, and all but one of the tournaments rotates to different golf courses each year.
The Masters is always played at Augusta National Golf Club in April. The other three major tournaments are the U.S. Open, the Open Championship, and the PGA Championship.
Outside of the major tournaments, the other major golf tournament is the Ryder Cup. This is a competition between the United States and Europe, and teams compete in a number of different formats to try to pick up points and help their continent win.
Golf Betting Picks
Even though golf betting is very different from other sports, some of the betting picks that can be made are similar. Most of the golf picks are made during a weekend tournament, but there are so many options available.
When it comes to making golf picks, focusing on just one golfer is the easiest way to do it. From there you can pick the number of strokes for a player, the position they will finish, if they will make the cut, or even how many birdies they will card.
Other golf picks that can be made for a tournament would fall under the “Futures” category. These picks would include picking the golfer that is going to win the tournament, or making a selection on a golfer to finish in the top-10 or the top-five.
Prop Bets in Golf
Prop betting has made its way to the sport of golf as well, and those are other picks that can be made during a golf tournament. Also, Prop picks can be made on fun or unique events that happen during a golf tournament, or even on things that take place surrounding an event.
All of the golf picks are going to be available throughout the year, but there is more attention paid to the major golf tournaments. For events like the Ryder Cup, golf betting is completely different because that format is not the same as a traditional tournament.
Golf Odds
Even though betting on golf is much different than betting on other sports, many of the odds that you will find are going to be the same. As long as you know how to read Golf odds then you won’t have any trouble understanding how golf odds work.
Moneyline is the most common type of betting odds that you will find when it comes to golf, and you will still see favorites and underdogs listed. Golfers that are favored in a bet will have (-) odds while the underdogs will have odds that come with a (+).
You will also see some over/under odds when it comes to golf. These odds are usually going to be set at -110 for each side of the bet, which is pretty common regardless of what sport you are betting on.
The biggest difference between golf and other sports is the betting types that are used, but the odds look and work the same way with this sport. No matter what odds you are looking at, the most important aspect is to find value in the odds and know that you are going to get some bang for your buck.
Golf Betting Stats
Golf is different from some other sports in the fact that individual player stats are not so widely known or even available. There are still some golf stats used to track how a player has performed, but you aren’t going to see these blasts on sites such as ESPN or other outlets.
Winning a golf tournament is the ultimate goal, but there are some stats that go along with that, and those stats can give you an idea of which golfers are playing the best.
Unlocking the Secrets to Success in Golf: Analyzing Key Performance Stats
The first state to look at is the number of cuts made as that is the first step to competing in a tournament. From there, you will want to look at the number of top ten finishes for each golfer in relation to how many tournaments they have played in that season.
If you want to look at individual stats that provide additional information then driving distance is one of the first things you should look at. This is a stat that you can find pretty easily, and golfers are always trying to find ways to get more distance from their drives.
Hitting the ball a long way helps, but golfers also have to be accurate to win golf tournaments. The number of fairways hit is another stat that you will see pop up during live golf coverage, and the golfers that drive their ball into the fairway typically have more success than those that don’t.
Greens in Regulation and Putting
Moving down the golf course, the next important stat to look at is greens in regulation (GIR). This stat focuses on a player’s ability to get the ball to the green and give themselves a chance at making par, or bettor.
Putting is the final aspect of golf that needs to be looked at, and there are two key stats that go along with putting. The first stat is the number of putts, and the golfers with the fewest putts are going to find their way to the top of the leaderboard. Another key stat when it comes to putting is the percentage of makes inside of ten feet. Golfers can’t afford to miss putts from that close if they want to win a tournament or at least finish inside of the top ten.
Golf Betting Trends
Betting trends are extremely valuable to look at when betting on golf, and it could be the difference between winning or losing some money. These trends are usually pretty easy to spot as long as you know what you are looking for.
The easiest trend to look at is the most recent results for every golfer in the field. If a golfer just won the most recent tournament then you can assume that he is playing well, and will be coming into the next tournament with some momentum. On the other end of that, it’s hard to bet on a golfer that has missed the cut in three straight tournaments that he has played in.
Handling Pressure in Major Golf Tournaments
Since the major golf tournaments are the most important, these events also come with a ton of pressure on the golfers as well. Some golfers are able to deal with that pressure better than others, and it’s important to look at past results in a major tournament before making a bet on the next Masters or Open Championship.
Another important trend to look at when betting on golf is how each player fares at a particular golf course. There are a number of courses that host the same tournaments every year, and that can make it easy to handicap the field. Every golf course is laid out in a different way, and some golfers will play well at a course, while others will struggle.
Golf trends can always change from year to year, but it’s important to look at these three factors when you start to do your golf research.
How to Bet Golf
A lot of information has been covered in this article, but now it’s time to use a concrete example to show how to bet on golf. We will look at two specific examples to help explain how a golf bet can be made.
Head-to-Head Bet
The first example is a head-to-head bet. For this example, we will use Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, and this will be a bet that lasts for the entire tournament.
- Phil Mickelson +145
- Tiger Woods -135
This means that Tiger Woods is the favorite to finish ahead of Phil Mickelson in the standings at the end of the weekend. If you make a $135 bet on Tiger then you can win $100, but you can bet $100 to win $145 on Phil Mickelson.
Over/Under
Another popular bet to make on golf is an over/under. This is usually offered for the total number of strokes for each player. Here is an example using Rory McIlroy for Round 1 of the U.S. Open.
Rory McIlroy
- Over 69.5 -110
- Under 69.5 -110
If McIlroy cards a score of 70 or higher then the right bet in this situation would be the over. If McIlroy was able to shoot at 69 or better than the under would be the right bet to make.
Yes, betting and golf seemingly go hand in hand, but it’s actually legal to bet on golf at the sportsbooks. This has become a popular betting option since there are so many possibilities.
Yes, you should be able to create a golf parlay, but it really depends on the sportsbook that you are wagering at. When creating a parlay, you will be able to combine many different betting options into one large wager.
No, this will be a betting option that is available, but it’s not something that you have to do. Picking a winner of a golf tournament is hard, but it can also lead to a pretty significant payday.
Ties can happen in golf, but only if those ties don’t come at the top of the leaderboard. Each tournament will have a specific format used to settle a tiebreaker because each tournament has to have just one specific winner.
There are four rounds in a golf tournament, and you can make wagers for each round. You will find many options for each round, and those options will typically be available for each player in the field as well.
If you can’t decide which golfer will win the tournament then you can make a prediction about which golfer will finish in the top-10. This is another type of futures wager that is popular with golf bettors.
Yes, and golf is actually a great sport when looking to bet live. Since golf is played at a much slower pace than some of the other professional sports, you will have some time to look at the odds and make a wager.
Yes, you are going to find some over/under betting options on golf, but they are going to be different from what you traditionally see. A golf over/under bet usually focuses on the total number of strokes for an individual player.
The biggest golf tournaments to bet on are the four major golf tournaments on the PGA Tour and the Ryder Cup. The four major tournaments are: Masters, Open Championship, PGA Championship, and the U.S. Open