How to Bet on Golf in 2024: What Types of Golf Bets Can You Make at Online Sports Betting Sites?

The sport of golf has a long history with betting. It would be rare to find a frequent golfer who hasn’t made at least a few friendly wagers with friends or colleagues while out for a round. It could be as simple as a $10 stake on a “closest to the pin” or a “longest drive” competition.

With the surge of sports betting sweeping across the world, that long-standing relationship has been extended from betting on the course to betting on the professionals at in-person or online sportsbooks.

Whether it be the PGA Tour, LIV Golf (now home to former PGA Tour stars and major winners like Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith, and Phil Mickelson, among others), the LPGA, the European Tour, or other professional circuits around the globe, most of the top online sports betting sites are offering golf betting odds on most notable tournaments each week.

With the 2024 PGA Tour season underway, let’s look at the main types of golf bets available at books like BetOnline, Bovada, and BetDSI.

Types of Golf Bets

Golf Tournament Winner Betting

Of the many types of golf bets that you can make online, the most obvious and easy to understand type of golf bet to make is to bet on a golfer to win a given tournament. If you’re placing this bet pre-tournament the odds can range anywhere from around +300 (3/1) to +100000 (1000/1). Factors such as the skill level of the golfer, their history of success, the strength of the field, and how well they’ve played recently are used to determine golf tournament betting odds.

For example, you may see Rory McIlroy at +900 (odds of 9-to-1) to win The Masters. If you place a $100 bet on him before the tournament at those odds and he goes on to win the Green Jacket, you will win a profit of $900.

The higher the odds are, the less likely the bet will win but this means you’ll win a lot more money if the long-shot golfer comes through for you. Back in August of 2020, Jim Herman won the Wyndham Championship at 600/1 odds. If you were smart enough to place a $100 bet on Herman pre-tournament, you would’ve walked away with a cool $60,000 profit.

Most sportsbooks also offer live odds, which provide the opportunity for action during the tournament. If you want to wait until the final round to place a bet, you can certainly do that. In tournaments where things may be more difficult to project prior to the tournament, it might be better to wait until the weekend to bet on a tournament winner. However, you will get shorter odds on the guys at the top of the leaderboard than what you would have been able to prior to the tournament.

Finishing Position (Top 5/Top 10/Top 20) Betting

These bets work exactly like tournament winner bets, but instead of betting on a golfer to win the tournament, you can bet on them to finish inside a certain position. Many sportsbooks offer top 5, top 10, and top 20 golf tournament finishing position odds.

While these types of bets obviously don’t have as large of a payout as bets on a golfer to win the tournament, they’re perfect if you’re looking for a lower-risk bet that still carries a lot of value. These bets are also a good idea if you think there is a long-shot golfer that will perform well in the tournament, but you don’t necessarily think they’ll perform well enough to win.

Golf Tournament Matchup Betting

Tournament matchup bets are another popular way to bet on golf. This is where you can bet on one golfer to finish ahead of another golfer in the final leaderboard. Since this is just a head-to-head bet, the odds are shorter than with tournament winner odds or most finishing position odds, but you have a much better chance of winning.

In a 50/50 matchup, you may see -110 or -115 odds offered on either side. For example, Scottie Scheffler could be -110 to finish higher than Rory McIlroy at The Masters. At -110 odds, you’d have to bet $110 in order to profit $100 on a winning bet.

You may also see matchups between golfers of varying skill levels. In those cases, you’ll see odds skewed to favor one golfer or the other. For example, Viktor Hovland, who was the FedEx Cup champion in 2023, may be a -180 favorite over Collin Morikawa at the BMW Championship. That means you’d have to wager $180 on Hovland if you’re hoping to profit $100 on a winning bet.

These bets last throughout the duration of the entire tournament. If one of the golfers involved in the bet misses the cut, their opponent gets the win if they make the cut. If both golfers miss the cut, the bet pushes.

3-Ball and 2-Ball Bets

3-ball and 2-ball bets are perfect for golf bettors who don’t want to wait for the entire duration of the tournament to find out if their bet is a winner or loser. These types of bets are solely for one round of the tournament and it’s a bet on who will win the group, or pair, that they’re playing in that day.

For example, if Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, and Jordan Spieth are grouped together for a round and tee-off at the same time, you can bet on which of the three golfers will finish that round with the best score. Since there are three golfers in a group you’ll usually get plus-money odds on your bet.

Why are these bets called 3-ball and 2-ball bets? Golfers play in groups of three in most tournaments, while in some events, usually during the Saturday and Sunday rounds, player pairings may be in groups of two and not three. If there are groups of three, then you will have the option to make 3-ball bets, and if there are groups of two, you will have the option of making 2-ball bets.

These kinds of bets are perfect for anyone who just want to bet on single-round action. With the odds usually at plus-money, you can get a decent payout if your golfer finishes with the lowest score in the group.

Prop Bets

Finally, there are prop bets. These are more of the “fun” type of bets that you can place pre-tournament. There’s usually less strategy to golf prop bets, but they can be quite a bit of fun to cheer for. An example of one of the more popular types of prop bet is “will there be a hole-in-one?”. If someone records a hole-in-one at any point during the tournament, your bet wins. Easy, simple, and fun to cheer for.

Other types of golf prop bets include “over/under lowest round of the tournament,” “will the tournament be decided by a playoff?”, and “what will be the worst score on any given hole?”.

Odds for prop bets can vary quite significantly depending on the likelihood of the outcome.