Betting on Golf | Tips, Bookies and Strategies

Golf Betting On The Majors

The golf calendar is full of tournaments and competitions and players travel around the world playing at some of the finest courses that golf has to offer. However, every year there are four special weekends that everyone looks forward to the most – the Majors. The four ‘big ones’ is where the best players come together to win one of golf’s biggest prizes. Each major offers a huge range of betting opportunities and if you’ve done your research then you can turn the major weekends into profitable weekends!

The Masters

The Masters is the most iconic of the four majors and it’s the only one with a repeat venue every year. The home of the Masters is Augusta National, and although the infamous course holds no mercy for the players, it does give the punter plenty of statistics and historical data to get stuck into.

Many of the players come to the Masters having played the tournament several times already and experience is everything here. Augusta National needs to be played with respect and newcomers often fall into many of the traps hidden around the course. The winner receives the green jacket and it’s more often than not someone who has experienced the highs and lows of the course before.

US Open

The US Open tends to be played on some of the toughest courses. You’ll often see dense rough surrounding the fairways and this spells disaster for those who are not driving accurately off the tee. Shooting par is seen as the average so any bets on low-scoring rounds are not likely to be profitable. To prove this point, Englishman Justin Rose won the US Open a few years back with a final score of 1+ overall. Finding useful betting tips for the US Open golf tournament can be tricky. However, the difficult courses do mean that the Open golf betting odds are slightly higher than in the other majors.

Your best bet is to study player form and pick out those who are hitting fairways consistently off the tee.

Staying on the fairways and accurate iron play into the greens will give players a big advantage. Any wayward shots in the other majors can often be saved but the US Open holds no mercy for wild shots.

The Open Championship

The Open, commonly known as the British Open, is the only major to be played outside of the US. British golf has a unique characteristic and the links-style courses are a different test for the players. The level of scoring is almost always dependant on the British weather and how strong the coastal winds are coming in over the course. Players have won the trophy with scores below and over par so it really does depend on the day.

British Open golf betting is hugely popular in the UK and we think that in-play betting is your wisest option here. Placing your bets in reaction to what the weather is doing will give you a better chance of finding a winner over the weekend.

Also, backing the local Brits who know the courses inside-out is a top tip worth remembering!

USPGA Championship

The USPGA Championship often plays with many low-scoring rounds and this leaves your outright winner predictions wide open. The number of possible winners on a ‘playable’ major course comes in quite high with all the top players and in-form players all fancying their chances. Confidence is everything in golf and anyone coming into a major off the back of a recent win is going to be highly tipped.

One of our top US PGA golf betting tips would be to keep an eye on the results leading up to the tournament, make a note of any winners and consistent top 5 finishers from the last couple of months.

Golf Tour Betting Opportunities

Majors aside, the European and PGA Tours provide most of the golfing action throughout the year. A full season can include over 50 events and most of these are broadcast on TV. This means you can make the most of live golf betting odds and watch some of the up and coming players make a name for themselves on both sides of the pond.

European Tour (ET)

It is played mainly across Europe, with some events played in Asia and South Africa as well. The ET provides a stage for a lot of international talent and each event gives players the chance to earn points. Top earners over the season are invited to play in the ‘Race to Dubai’ finals. With millions of pounds up for grabs, you can guarantee that the top players will be at their best when coming into these events so favourites should be watched closely.

PGA Tour

The PGA Tour is the American equivalent of the European Tour only with bigger prize money on offer. This attracts some of the very best players from around the world and also offers the best chances to climb up the world rankings. The Fed-Ex Cup is the end of season series where the top earners play through four events. The final event sees the top 30 earners battle it out to become the overall champion.

Again, favourites should not be overlooked here as season form plays a big part in coming out as the eventual winner.

LPGA Tour

Outrights, each-way, and in-play betting markets are all available on the LPGA. The popularity of ladies golf is soaring and we are witnessing new young stars entering the game each year, and so there is value to be found when backing newcomers over an experienced field. The LPGA is getting more popular across the betting industry but it doesn’t come too high up on the priority list. This means that the odds might not be as sharp as they should be and you might find some value bets if you know where to look and who to back.

Challenge Tour & Web.com Tour

Lastly, we have two feeder tours that the up-and-coming players sign up to in the hope of breaking into the professional European (Challenge) and PGA (Web.com) tours. Knowledge of the players who step up to the main tours can give you an edge if you think they have what it takes to make an instant impact. It’s a big challenge for most but every now and then we see players that take it all in their stride and find early success. You should find good value on these players when placing outright and each-way bets.

Match play golf betting

All of the events above focus on stroke play, however, on a few occasions throughout the season we do see an exciting twist that comes in the form of match play. Individuals and teams try to outscore each other hole-by-hole rather than calculating the total shots over 18 holes. The golf calendar currently holds a total of four well-known events that embrace match play and the most famous by far is the Ryder Cup.

Ryder Cup

Every two years we get to watch the epic match play battle of Europe vs America. Lifting the Ryder Cup is each teams goal but the bragging rights for the next two years is just as important. The match play format brings out a competitive streak in some of the most mild-mannered players on the tour and it’s an experience like no other in the golfing world. The passion and unconventional atmosphere make this an exciting event to bet on. It brings the very best out of some players and backing the likes of Englishman Ian Poulter, who loves the match play format, can prove profitable over the weekend.

Other match play tournaments

You won’t find as much attention on these but the match play betting markets still offer value if you do your research on each of the teams and players involved:

• Solheim Cup – Ladies version of the Ryder Cup
• Presidents Cup – America vs Rest of the World
• Eur-Asia Cup – Europe vs Asia