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Golf Betting in the US: How to Bet on Golf

Golf Betting

Golf is one of the most popular sports in the US, so it’s not a surprise to learn that millions love to bet on it. But do sportsbooks offer golf betting, and what markets are available?

In this guide, we’ll look at everything you need to know about how to bet on golf. We’ll take you through each of the wagering options, discuss the most important tournaments, and reveal some unique strategies that could help to improve the success of your golf betting.

🔑 Key Takeaways

  • Discover in which states golf betting is legal.
  • Learn real-life betting tips for golf.
  • Understand key golf betting terminology.

Online Golf Betting in the US

Before we launch into golf betting online, we first need to know which states offer the opportunity to do this legally. Currently, you can legally bet on golf online in the following US states:

  • Arizona 
  • Arkansas
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida 
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Montana
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • Ohio
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • Tennessee 
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • Washington, D.C.
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming

Since the PASPA Act, which prohibited sports betting in the vast majority of America, was repealed in 2018, each state has been handed the individual power to legalize wagering if it wishes. With each new year comes a fresh legislative session, which means that the number of states that are lifting the ban on wagering is fluid and ever-changing.

Visit our page on legal online sports betting states to find out more about the topic.

How Does Betting on Golf Work? 

One of the reasons why golf betting is so popular is that there are dozens of different ways to wager at every tournament: you don’t need to back the event winner to profit! Let’s look at the options you have at your disposal at each of the major sportsbooks:

  • Outright winner
  • Golf each-way betting
  • 3-Ball betting
  • Golf parlays
  • Golf prop bets
  • Golf futures

Outright Winner 

One of the most common golf betting markets, which is prized for its simplicity, is the outright winner option. All you’re trying to do here is predict the winner of the tournament. It doesn’t matter how they win, or by what score – your objective is to back the player who lifts the trophy.

Example: Bryson DeChambeau was available at outright odds of +3,300 to win the 2024 US Open.
He duly did, so his backers profited accordingly.

Fun fact: There were five winners at odds of +10,000 or higher on the PGA TOUR in the first six months of 2024.

Golf Each-Way Betting

Here, you’re effectively placing two bets:

  1. One bet on your player to win
  2. One bet goes on them to finish in the designated number of places on the leaderboard

Example: I backed Tony Finau at +4,000 to win the US Open in 2024.

I wagered $5 each way for a total outlay of $10:

  • $5 went on Finau to win.
  • $5 went on Finau to place (my sportsbook was paying eight places).

As it turns out, Finau didn’t win the US Open, but he did finish in a tie for third place – satisfying the requirement of my each-way bet (i.e., to finish in the top eight places on the leaderboard).

With each-way betting, your sportsbook will divide the odds by a fraction to determine your payout – this is displayed on the relevant betting market when you come to place your wagers.

To continue with my Finau example:

Example: The sportsbook was paying 1/5 the odds, and so the each-way calculation was 40 (the odds I took) divided by 5. Therefore, my payout ratio was 8 (40/5).

So, this is how my each-way bet played out:

  • $5 on Finau to win > Bet LOST
  • $5 on Finau to place > $5 x 8 = $40

Even though Finau didn’t win the tournament, I still profited from him finishing third on the leaderboard thanks to my each-way selection.

3-Ball Betting

What is 3-ball betting in golf? If you’ve never watched a tournament on TV, normally the players are split into groups of three for the first two rounds. This is to speed up play and ensure that the entire field can complete their 18 holes before it gets dark. Once this draw has been made, you can bet on which of the three players within the grouping will win (i.e., shoot a lower score than their two playing partners).

Remember, with golf 3-ball betting, you’re only wagering on the outcome of that specific round! I, personally, place 3-ball bets during the major tournaments. Here, you generally see some weaker players paired with a strong professional.

Example — A 3-ball bet:

  • Scottie Scheffler (-300)
  • Rory McIlroy (+100)
  • Bryson DeChambeau (+250)

Golf Parlays 

As we’ve learned, 3-ball golf betting usually pertains to the opening two rounds of a tournament. For the final two rounds, three becomes two as the players who make the cut are split into pairs – this is where golf 2-ball betting comes into play.

You can place a parlay bet that is comprised of two or more 3-ball or 2-ball selections. You can build golf parlays of head-to-heads and top finishes – most sportsbooks offer options for top 10, 20 and maybe even 40 places on the leaderboard.

As ever with parlays, your odds are multiplied together to create the potential of an enhanced payout. However, it only takes one selection in your parlay to lose for your entire ticket to fall down.

Example — A golf parlay with 3-ball betting at its core:

  • Scottie Scheffler to beat Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau (-300)
  • Jon Rahm to beat Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland (-250)
  • Jordan Spieth to beat Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka (+150)

By placing this trio in a parlay, your potential payout odds would be +367 (each of the individual odds multiplied together).

Golf Prop Bets 

A prop bet on golf allows you to wager on a specific event happening. An example would be a hole-in-one: will an ace be scored in the tournament, or on a specific hole?

Another type of prop bet is to wager on the over/under line of a player shooting a particular score in a round. For instance, Rory McIlroy’s line in the opening round of the 2024 US Open was 68 – this number could be higher or lower depending on the quality of the player, and also the toughness of the conditions.

Here is a list of the other golf prop bets:

  • First Round Leader
  • Top 5/10/20/40 Finish
  • Make/Miss Cut
  • Winner’s Nationality
  • Winner’s Score

Golf Futures 

There are four majors in golf: The Masters, US Open, PGA Championship, and British Open Championship. There are also some team events, such as the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, and also the Olympic Games. 

Many sportsbooks will actually offer futures odds for these tournaments months in advance of the start, potentially helping us to lock in some early value.

A futures bet is placed in the same way as the outright winner or each-way options, with the difference being that it’s a wager that is struck weeks or even months in advance of the tournament starting.

Is Golf Hard to Bet On? 

What makes golf betting unique is that some tournaments will have as many as 156 players in them – making it very difficult to predict the winner! There are regular winners on the PGA TOUR at odds of +5,000 or longer, which simply isn’t the case in many other sports.

However, there are plenty of other ways to bet on golf that can be described as ‘lower risk’. You can try each-way betting, which will pay out if your selected player finishes in the designated places, 2-ball and 3-ball betting, and even prop bets such as top finishes and head-to-head match-ups.

What Is the Easiest Way to Bet on Golf? 

The description of ‘easy’ will differ from one bettor to the next. Some will prefer the ease of betting on outright winner selections, where you simply make your bets and then wait and see if any of your picks win the tournament. However, in terms of making a profit, you should target the markets that take the path of least resistance.

Example:

We know that the tournament winner market can feature up to 156 players. However, if you’re betting on match-ups or 2-balls, then your field is limited to two players – the one you back, and the one you’re betting against.

So, these ‘mini’ markets, where you’re betting on a player to beat one or two others, are your best option if you want a higher success rate with your wagers. 

What Is the Most Common Golf Bet? 

The most common golf bet pertains to the tournament winner – be it outright selections or each-way picks. Not only do these markets offer the highest odds returns, but they also give the bettor the satisfaction of having picked a winner in a large field.

However, you can also explore the submarkets to see if you can increase your win ratio – the beauty of golf betting is that there are so many options to explore.

Step-by-Step Guide to Place a Bet on Golf

Betting on golf is like solving a puzzle, and I was hooked after backing Tiger Woods in his 2019 Masters comeback! Using the system I’ll share later, you can enjoy success too.

But first, let’s break down how to bet on golf:

  1. Understand Golf Odds: Sportsbooks display golf odds in three formats: American, fractional, and decimal. For instance, +200 (American) is the same as 2/1 (fractional) and 3.00 (decimal). Higher odds mean the player is less likely to win, according to the sportsbook. Your goal is to find value bets—where the odds are longer than they should be.
  2. Choose a Golf Betting Site: Not all sportsbooks are equal. I recommend BetMGM because it often has the best odds. Why bet at +3,000 when you can get +4,000? BetMGM also shares ‘public money’ charts for PGA TOUR events, showing where others are placing their bets. Another site I like is bet365, which offers flexible each-way places, letting you hedge your bets on more positions.
  3. Place Your Bets: Sign up with your chosen sportsbook, deposit funds, and you’re ready to start betting!

Live Golf Betting 

One of the great things about golf betting is that the entire nature of a tournament can change in one hole! Live betting allows you to place golf wagers during the game. This can be a good or bad thing.

I backed Akshay Bhatia at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and was rather disappointed when he missed a four-foot putt to win the tournament! That 72nd hole changed everything and explains why live golf betting can be an interesting angle of attack.

Major Golf Events to Bet On 

There are golf tournaments to bet on each week thanks to the different global tours, but much of the betting action comes with the four majors:

  1. The Masters Golf Betting
  2. The US Open
  3. The PGA Championship
  4. The Open Championship

Masters Golf Betting

The sportsbooks tend to go to town with their US Masters golf betting, with extended places for each-way bets, lower vig on their outright winner odds, and more prop lines than with any other tournament.

Played at the iconic Augusta National, the players are trying to win the famous Green Jacket – the garment handed from the previous year’s winner to the new champion.

Jack Nicklaus is the most decorated champion in Masters history with six wins, but Scottie Scheffler has also won the Green Jacket twice and he’s still in his 20s – could he usurp Nicklaus as the king of Augusta?

US Open

Notorious for being the hardest major to win on US soil, the US Open is designed to be tough and test all of the players’ skills.

Those conditions open the door for shocks and surprises in US Open golf betting. Since 2019, Matt Fitzpatrick, Wyndham Clark and Gary Woodland have won their one and only major (so far) at the US Open, while in the post-war era, only two men (Nicklaus and Ben Hogan) have won this event four or more times.

PGA Championship

The PGA Championship takes place at a different course each year, and is – typically – the easiest of the four majors (i.e., lowest scoring).

Jason Dufner, Jimmy Walker and Yang Yong-eun won’t take their place in golf’s hall of fame – no disrespect – but they’re all PGA champions, which reflects the variable nature of this event. This can be both a blessing and a curse for bettors!

Open Championship

The only major to take place outside the US is the Open Championship, which is hosted on links golf courses across the UK and Ireland.

Links golf, which typically takes place on the coast, is unique. It typically features strong ocean winds and harsh weather, fast fairways and greens, and thick native grasses that are left to grow long as the rough.

Some players thrive on the links, whereas others detest this form of golf. For this reason, backing players who repeatedly play well in these conditions is a useful strategy for bettors.

Ryder Cup

A rare team event in golf, they don’t come much bigger than the Ryder Cup. Pitting a team from the US against a roster from Europe, the three-day battle sees the players take each other on across a range of disciplines, including four-balls, foursomes, and singles.

Played against the backdrop of a raucous crowd, the Ryder Cup is a riveting watch and fascinating to bet on.

Golf Betting Rules and Regulations 

Just to mark your card, there are some common golf betting rules that you should be aware of:

  1. If the player you bet on withdraws from the tournament before the start, you should get a refund on your stake.
  2. If the player you bet on withdraws during the tournament, your bet will likely be settled as a loss.
  3. If you bet on a golf future and that player doesn’t participate in the tournament, your stake should be refunded.
  4. Each-way and top-finish bets are subject to dead heat rules. For example, if you bet on a player to finish in the top 10 and five players are tied for eighth (taking the number past 10), your payout will be recalculated based upon the number of players in the tie.
  5. All bets are settled based on the official tournament leaderboard. So, if an event is cut to 54 holes due to the weather, bets will be settled based upon that shortened leaderboard.
  6. If a tournament goes to a playoff, only outright winner bets on the player who wins the playoff are paid out.

Golf Betting Strategies I Live By

While there’s no foolproof method for betting on golf, here are some strategies I swear by:

  • Current Form + Course Form = Opportunity: Many PGA TOUR events are held at the same venues yearly, so checking historical leaderboards can reveal who performs well on specific courses. Combine this with players currently in good form, and you might find a strong betting pick.
  • Tee-to-Green Is King: I rely on stats, especially from Data Golf. When betting live, I focus on players excelling in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. If they’re setting up birdie opportunities and putting well, they’re worth backing. After 36 and 54 holes, I use this data to guide my live bets.
  • Manage Your Money: In high-risk markets like outright winners, it is crucial for you to properly manage your bankroll. I recommend wagering 2% of your bankroll per pick, giving you 50 chances to win before needing to reload.

So, Are You Ready for Some Golf Betting Tonight? 

By now, you have hopefully learned how to bet on golf. You can now set off on your golf betting journey, wagering on the different markets at your favorite sportsbooks.

Would you like to know more about golf picks and how they can aid your golf wagering yet further? We’ve got your back!