How Does Golf Betting Work?

Golf fans in the US will focus on the PGA Tour. It’s currently the biggest circuit and it attracts the best golfers. PGA golf is an important part of our sportsbook at Unibet but there are alternatives.

This is a global sport and we’re all about giving you choice. If that sounds interesting, please carry on.

Let’s tee off with two key questions:

1. What are golf odds and what are they saying?
   
2. What are the different bets you can place while betting on golf online.
   

Taking those in order, we’ll explain odds.

What are Golf Betting Odds and how do they work online?

Golf Odds underline two things which are central to golf betting:

1. The probability of an event occurring during a golf tournament of your choice.
   
2. How much we will be paid if our golf bets win.
   

To help find both answers, here’s a bet from the 2022 PGA Championship.

The bet here is for the outright winner of the tournament. Scottie Scheffler was the Number One ranked golfer at the time and he is the favorite. Jon Rahm, who he replaced at the top, was the second favorite.

That’s probability dealt with: This bet tells us that Scottie Scheffler has the higher chance of winning. The remaining players are then ranked in probability order. There are only four names in that image but all golfers will be covered. Click on the ‘show more’ button to find all the contenders.

Now we move on to the second question: Payouts. This is where the exact numbers come in. Scottie Scheffler has odds of +1100. This means that a stake of $100 pays $1100 if he were to win the tournament.

Probability and payouts. Those are the functions of odds.

Public Betting in Golf

It’s over to the public now. Harnessing the power of probability, the betting community finds a favorite. They also rank the rest of the players. We said that Scottie Scheffler was the World Number One and that helps to explain.

The man who started the season as World Number One is in second place. As the golf betting bets are released, the bet settles. Our odds setters then step in to confirm the final numbers.

What are the different types of golf bets in the US?

The tournament winner bet is available for all tournaments on the PGA Tour. Don’t forget that there are competing circuits. The DP World Tour is also strong. Ladies golf is also well represented by the LPGA Tour.

Tournament winner bets ask you to stake on the player who you think will win the tournament. It’s easy to explain but, with over 100 golfers involved, it’s tricky to call. For that reason, there are many alternatives.

#1: Top 10 Bets in Golf Betting

This bet requires you to pick one or more golfers who you think will finish inside the Top Ten.

There are three alternative options here. The Top Ten is the most popular but you can also look at Top 5 and Top 20 finishes.

The aim is the same: Pick your golfer and if they finish inside the Top 5, 10 or 20, they will pay out at the odds shown.

#2: Round Leaders odds and bets in Golf

For all of the big tournaments, you can bet on the outcomes of each individual round. This usually involves betting on the leader of that round.

In the first two rounds, there will generally be groups of three players.

After the cut, the final two rounds will usually be slimmed down to groups of two.

Here we have a group of three from the PGA Tour. The object is to bet on which of those three golfers you think will hit the lowest round and be the leader at the end of this round.`

Kyoung-Hoon Lee had actually won the previous week and he is the favorite of the three at odds of -106. Anirban Lahiri at +125 and Tim Feenstra at +650 are the underdogs.

Whoever is listed, best score match betting involves picking the player who you think will hit the lowest score in the round.

#3: Parlays in Golf Betting

A parlay is a multiple bet. It can start with a minimum of two picks. In theory, it can have no upper limit, but you must remember a key point.

All of the selections within that parlay have to win for the bet to pay out.

If one or more picks don’t win, the bet is lost.

Parlay golf betting can be made within a single tournament such as this one.

We’ve gone for two match bets in the 2022 PGA Championship. Rory McIlroy to beat Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth to beat Cameron Smith.

The bet slip calculates your odds. When you type in a preferred stake, the potential payout is shown.

If it looks good, hit the yellow place bet button.

Parlays can also be made across two or more tournaments. Here’s another example.

With this golf bet, we want Scottie Scheffler to win the US Open and Collin Morikawa to win the British Open Championship. The odds are shown and, when you type in your stake, the place bet button will turn yellow.

The golf odds here may look exciting, but you must remember how a parlay works. If either Scheffler, Morikawa or both fail to win, the bet is lost.

#4: Golf Betting Futures

A Future is a long term bet on the outright winner of an event. In a sense, every tournament winner bet in golf is a ‘Future’. For regular tournaments on both main Tours, the bets open in the days leading up to the event.

For bigger golf tournaments, the odds might be in place all year round. These would include the four Major competitions. This means that you can consider long term Futures on winners of events including.

• The US Masters
• The USPGA Championship
• The US Open
• The Open Championship
• The Ryder Cup

The advantage of taking a future early is that you may well get longer odds. There is a balance because you won’t know about recent form, but the better odds are published well in advance.

Tips And Strategies for Golf Betting

Whichever golf bet you want to drop; we’d like to offer some advice. You know about the bets, but we don’t want to leave you at this point. While there are no guarantees, the following tips could help you tilt those odds in your favor when you’re betting on golf.

#Tip 1: The Public Standpoint

The public wants their voices to be heard. They’ve told you who they think should be the favorite and they ask you to listen. They won’t be right all the time, but they are working on probability.

When it comes to online golf betting the players at the top of the bet are the ones who are most likely to win. Based on their quality and their suitability for the golf course, they are listed among the favorites for the golf tournament.

Now it’s make your mind up time. Do you bet with the public and back the favorites in the golf bet or do you bet against them and look for an underdog

#Tip 2: How to Research

Statistics are your friends when you’re betting on golf. By looking more closely at those golfers, you may be able to pick out some winners.

Golf offers unique stats such as Green in Regulation - the number of times that the player hits the green in the regular number of shots. Stats relating to Fairways hit tell us how many times the golfer hits the fairway. If they keep going into the rough or the bunkers, those stats will be lower.

Other key stats may include

• Driving Distance
• Strokes Gained: Tee to Green
• Strokes Gained: Putting
• Scrambling

It’s worth taking some time to find out exactly what these stats mean. When you’re familiar with them, they are available on certain sites. The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) issue their Power Rankings ahead of each tournament.

These Power Rankings list those stats among other qualities. Certain stat profiles fit specific courses better than others. It’s an interesting science and one that’s worth getting to know if you are serious about golf betting.

Other factors to look at include:

• Previous records in this tournament

It’s true that some players have a liking for certain tournaments. If they’ve won the title once, they may have a better chance of doing so again.

Maybe it’s a liking for the course. Perhaps they just feel confident in an event where they have enjoyed previous success. Whatever the reason, it’s a factor worth considering.

Injuries and Resting

The top players take regular breaks from the Tour. Often, they like to be well rested for the bigger events. If a player is rested, they may be in better shape coming into the tournament.

However, if that break has been due to injury, they may be best avoided as they work their way back to fitness.

#Tip 3: Pick your Bets Carefully

If you’re new to golf betting, we recommend you run with the tournament winner bet. It’s certainly the easiest to understand so that’s in its favor. However, other sports such as tennis have only two possible outcomes - a win for either player in their match.

In golf tournaments, the fields can be 150+ strong. Favorites are often toppled. Many bettors stick with the outright bet, but you should be aware of the high levels of competition.

Because of this, many of our customers prefer the Top 5, Top 10 or Top 20 golf betting bets. The odds will be lower but the probability of landing a winning bet has increased.

Match betting reduces the winning options even further. With just two or three players in the mix, the choices are slimmed down.

Other prop bets are in place and these will also test your skills as a golf analyst. Take some time to assess them and decide which golf betting bets you are comfortable with.

Finally, a word on parlays in golf betting. These are popular because of those increased odds. However, do remember that they are balanced by the greater exposure. Only one of your parlay pick needs to fail and the bet is lost. We suggest looking at golf parlays when you have more experience of golf betting.

#Tip 4: Follow Unibet for Golf Betting Promos in the US!

Our competitive odds stand up to the test from across the industry. We are crazy about those golf odds and work hard to make sure you get value for money.

Want to enhance that value? Sure, that’s fine but you need to opt in for offers and promotions. Alternatively, you can just keep checking the promotions page of our site. Whichever you choose, there are some exciting offers here so please keep in touch.