Golf Betting - How to Bet on Golf

Different Golf Wagering Opportunities

In golf betting, there are generally three types of different bet types a gambler can make for any given golf tournament. Bettors can wager on a particular golfer to win the event, wager that a golfer will place in the top three, or bet that a particular golfer finishes higher than another golfer.

When looking at the odds of a golfer to win an event, bettors will generally see something along the lines of:


Tiger Woods + 150
Phil Mickelson + 250
Steve Stricker + 300
Jeff Overton + 700
Ernie Els + 700
Field + 600

These odds are essentially listed as money line odds, meaning for every $10 you wager on Tiger Woods you would win $15 if he wins the race. Those wagering on Overton would win $70 for every $10 bet. Since your wager is returned to you on a winning bet, those wagering $10 on Overton would receive $80 back from a sportsbook and not $70, as sportsbooks require you to pay for your wager at the time it is made.

Many tournaments will include a betting entry called "Field," which consists of all other golfers besides the ones listed by the sportsbook. Even though a bettor gets more than one golfer with one wager, the field almost always consists of those golfers given the least opportunity to win and is usually best avoided.

The odds will naturally be lower when betting on a golfer to finish in the top three, as the sportsbook must pay off three different winning bets, as opposed to just one.

Using the example above, odds for the golfers to finish in the top three would resemble:

Tiger Woods - 160
Phil Mickelson + 100
Steve Stricker + 110
Jeff Overton + 200
Ernie Els + 200
Field - 110

In this case, a bettor would have to risk $16 to win $10 that Tiger Woods will finish first, second, or third, while the bettor wagering on Jeff Overton stands to win $20 on their $10 wager, instead of $70.

The last commonly placed bet in golf is head-to-head finish between two players. Here, a bettor doesn't really care what place the golfer finishes in, as long as the golfer wagered on finishes higher than the other golfer.

A line for this type of bet will look something like:

Tiger Woods - 190 Steve Stricker + 150

In this example, bettors wagering on Woods to finish higher than Stricker will be asked to risk $19 to win $10, while bettors believing that Stricker will finish higher than Woods will put up $10 to win $15.

Those familiar with sports gambling will have no trouble making the transition to golf wagering, while those new to the world of sports betting should be able to pick up the concepts of golf betting without a hitch.