Golf Odds

Does Bookies Provide the Best Odds for Golf Events?

Yes, Bookies.com always has up-to-date golf odds with the latest lines before and during tournaments from the top sports betting sites where you live. Golf follows a stringent schedule, with four rounds of tournament play Thursday-Sunday. That means you can always find the latest golf odds Wednesday before a tournament.

Futures odds for the majors are also available throughout the year. It’s not like the Super Bowl where you don’t know which teams will be playing until after the conference championship games. We already know Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and the rest of the PGA Tour stars will play all four majors. That means you can bet on Masters, PGA Championship, US Open and British Open odds all year.

Those major futures odds change on a week-to-week basis depending on how guys are playing at the moment. And there’s plenty of value to be found on players trending up, even if they don’t have the tournament results to show it yet. Pay attention to Bookies.com golf odds and you’ll see the sport has a very nice rhythm, with PGA golf betting lines available year-round.

How to Read Golf Odds

Golf odds are different than other sports for a few reasons. It’s an individual sport, the competition lasts for four days and everyone is playing at different times. It can be a little confusing for newcomers. But golf odds are among the easiest to understand once you know how they work.

Outright

This is one of the most popular ways to bet on golf, with odds listed for nearly every player. Most tournaments have around 150 players in the field. So the payouts are big if you bet on the winner before the tournament starts. Even the biggest names can pay out around 10-1 odds if they win. Lesser-known winners could pay out 50-1 or more.

Here’s how the outright lines might look for U.S. Open golf odds ahead of the tournament.

• U.S. Open To Win Outright
• Rory McIlroy +700
• Brooks Koepka +1000
• Jon Rahm +1000
• Tiger Woods +1400
• Justin Thomas +1600
• Patrick Cantlay +1600
• Xander Schauffele +1600
• Dustin Johnson +1600
• Justin Rose +1600
• Rickie Fowler +1600
• Hideki Matsuyama +1800
• Jordan Spieth +2000
• Phil Mickelson +2500

All you’re doing here is betting on a golfer to win the tournament. The golf odds next to a player’s name shows how much you’d win on a $100 bet on a specific golfer. So a $100 bet on Tiger Woods +1400 to win the US Open would pay $1,400 if he wins; $100 on Phil Mickelson would net you $2500 in profit.

Those are just the payouts for the biggest stars. B-listers are still very capable because golf is such a fleeting sport. Guys win one week and miss the cut the next all the time. And they can come into form at the right time and change their lives with an upset win.

Jordan Spieth was favored to win his second consecutive green jacket entering the 2016 Masters, listed at +900 to win the tournament at Augusta National. He had a lead in Sunday’s final round but collapsed down the stretch. He lost out to Danny Willett, an Englishman few had heard of who entered the week with +5000 odds. That means bettors who put $100 on Willett ended up winning $5,000.

You can also find golf odds on players to finish in the top 10, or top 20. So if you’re thinking McIlroy is going to have a great US Open but might not win, you could bet him to finish top 10. The payout will be smaller than an outright win bet, but your odds of hitting are much stronger.

It’s also common to see outright golf odds posted in fractional or decimal format. If you’re not sure how to read these, just plug them into our free odds calculator for an instant conversion to American odds. You can also calculate potential payouts.

Each-Way

Each-Way golf odds are similar to outright. The difference is you’re actually making two bets. Let’s say you really like Justin Thomas’ chances at the PGA Championship. If you want to bet $50 on him to win with +1600 odds, you could instead make a $100 each-way bet. You still get $50 on him to win and would net $800 if he gets it done. But the other $50 is a bet on him to place. That might be a top-five or top-10 finish depending on the book. So if he finishes solo third, you win the each-way bet and get paid out on his odds to place.

Matchups

Golf betting odds on individual matchups will look more familiar for point spread bettors. Oddsmakers will list these for every tournament and major, and it’s a great way to find value – sharp bettors might recognize that a player is in rough form but got lucky the prior week by holing a ton of long putts. That doesn’t help in outright betting, but you can definitely fade him in an individual matchup.

You’re betting on which of the two players you think will finish the tournament with a lower score. Remember, this is golf and you actually want the lowest score. A standard matchup for the British Open might look like this:

• Tournament Matchup
• Rickie Fowler -160
• Jordan Spieth +130

Fowler is the favorite here. Bettors who think Fowler will finish ahead of Spieth at the British Open would need to risk $160 to win $100. Spieth is the underdog and his believers can bet $100 to win $130 if he finishes ahead of Fowler.

Golf odds are also available on single-round matchups. So while the odds look the same, the format is different. Instead of betting on Fowler or Spieth to beat the other player for the whole tournament, you’re just doing it for one round. That means if Spieth shoots 68 and Fowler shoots 70 in Round 1, Spieth bettors win $130 because he had the better round. The rest of the tournament doesn’t matter.

3-ball

Same idea as the matchups, but these golf odds include three players – usually guys who are playing in the same threesome on a given day. Golf 3-ball odds might look something like this for an opening round at the US Open:

• Round 1 3-Ball
• Tiger Woods -110
• Brooks Koepka +130
• Dustin Johnson +240

Now you’re betting on which of the three players from this group will have the best score at the end of the round. Tiger Woods bettors are risking $110 to win $100 if he beats Koepka and Johnson. Koepka bettors would win $160 on a $100 bet if he gets it done and Johnson backers would get $240 on a $100 wager if he shoots the lowest score.

These often have juicy underdog odds because golf is so random. A guy could shoot 2-over 74 in Round 1 and still win the tournament, while an anonymous pro could shoot 7-under 65 in Round 1 and collapse over the weekend.

You can also parlay matchups to really increase the potential payout. You can play around with different combinations using our free parlay calculator.

Team Events

Team events like the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup are extremely popular with golf bettors. The bi-annual Ryder Cup is played between two teams – the top Americans and the top Europeans. It’s a three-day competition with foursomes, four-ball and singles formats. All of these are very betting-friendly. The Presidents Cup has the same format, but the Americans play an International team comprised of all the top players outside of Europe.

You can bet on individual matchups each day when the pairings are announced, or you can bet on the winning team before the Ryder Cup starts. Ryder Cup odds would look something like this for the teams.

• Ryder Cup Winning Team
• United States -110
• Europe -110

Bettors pick which team they think will win the Ryder Cup and can risk $110 to win $100 on either team with the odds listed above. The Ryder Cup alternates between a U.S. venue and European venue, and home course advantage plays a big factor.

How Are The Odds Generated?

There’s a lot that goes into the odds entering a golf tournament. The first thing most oddsmakers look at is current form. Professional golfers are extremely streaky and can go on crazy runs. If someone like Jon Rahm has six top-5 finishes in a row, he’ll probably be the favorite or close to it.

Oddsmakers also study the course. Unlike a football field or basketball court, the playing surface is drastically different each week. A super long course with generous fairways would favor guys who bomb the driver but struggle with accuracy. Shorter, tree-lined courses favor the straight hitters and distance doesn’t matter as much.

Most players have a few courses where they always play well and a few where they always play poorly. Looking at a player’s current form combined with his history on a given course is a great starting point for setting golf betting odds.

How Often Do Golf Odds Change?

Golf futures for the majors change often throughout the year. Players rise and fall like stock prices based on their recent performances. It’s important to check Masters odds often throughout the winter – a guy struggling in December will often turn it around before April, and you can get good odds on players when they’re playing poorly months out.

Individual matchup odds fluctuate once they’re posted on Tuesday or Wednesday prior to a tournament. It’s a shorter window than other sports, so you’ll want to jump on matchups you like as soon as they’re posted.

Odds to win an event also fluctuate throughout the actual tournament. You can make outright bets when the odds change after each round depending on the leaderboard. Bookmark this page to make sure you’re always getting the latest golf odds from top legal online sportsbooks.

Live betting is also a great way to get action on golf. Live golf odds are extremely volatile because everything can change on one shot. A player with a two-stroke lead could hit his tee shot in the water and fall into a tie with a double bogey. A player two shots behind could drain a long eagle putt to tie for the lead. Golf is the perfect sport for in-game betting, and it’s often where the most value lies.

When Are Odds Released?

Outright golf odds are available early in the week, usually the Monday before a tournament starts. These won’t move much before Round 1, unless oddsmakers are seeing a disproportionate amount bet on one or two players.

Prop bets such as individual head to head matchups and 3-ball golf odds usually come out a day or two before the tournament starts on Thursday. That’s because the matchups are usually made up of golfers playing in the same group, and the PGA Tour doesn’t release tee times until Tuesday before a tournament.

As for the major odds, they’re on the board all year. The 2021 Masters odds will be posted shortly after the 2020 Masters ends, for example.

What Bets are Placed From Golf Odds?

Sportsbooks offer all types of PGA golf odds for betting action ahead of majors and PGA Tour events like the Players Championship. Some of the most popular types of golf bets include:

• Outright
• Each-Way
• Matchup
• 3-Ball
• Futures
• Live Betting
• Player Props

List of Golf Majors to Bet On

The golf gambling season revolves around four events. These are known as the majors, similar to the Grand Slam events in pro tennis. Players’ careers and Hall of Fame chances are measured by major titles, so these are the four most important golf tournaments of the year.

The Masters

A tradition unlike any other at storied Augusta National Golf Club, this is the premier golf betting event of the year. It’s the only major played at the same venue every year, with the best in the world gathering in Augusta, Georgia every April.

This is an exclusive event so the field size is only half that of a regular golf tournament, making things a little easier from a betting standpoint. From the opening tee shot to the final-round thrills at Amen Corner, the Masters never disappoints.

Stellar iron play is a common trait among winners. The greens are so fast and undulated that an approach shot that misses the mark by even a yard or two can bring disaster. Look for odds to win on players with the best Strokes Gained Approach stats every year.

PGA Championship

The PGA Championship was traditionally the final major of the year before it moved to May starting in 2019. The PGA Championship is held by the PGA of America and played on a different course around the country each year.

The course setup is usually easier than you’d see at a US Open. Typically the players who make a lot of birdies and hold their own in a shootout do well at the PGA Championship.

US Open

This is truly an open event. The United States Golf Association holds a series of qualifying events in the months leading up, with a set number of spots for anyone who can make it through.

The US Open is held at a different course each June, with popular venues including Pebble Beach, Oakmont, Winged Foot, Pinehurst and Shinnecock Hills. It is called the toughest test in golf for a reason. The course setup is always extremely difficult. That’s why the most mentally tough players often do well, so keep that in mind when looking over the US Open golf odds. Players who consistently make a lot of cuts usually fall into that category, so check out cuts made numbers before betting.

British Open

The British Open (or Open Championship) is the most historic of all majors, hosted by the Royal and Ancient each July at a rotation of European courses including St. Andrews, Carnoustie, Muirfield and Turnberry.

Sports betting is legal throughout Europe, so it’s also the most gambling-friendly of the four majors. Locals tend to pack the sportsbooks the week of the tournament to place a few pounds on their favorite golfer.

The golf usually ends around noon or 1 p.m. due to the time difference, so this is a perfect betting event for the early risers. And the weather can be very dicey given the climate. Howling winds and driving rain is a common site at the British Open. Make sure to look for players with a proven track record in windy conditions, or those who grew up in colder climates, when studying the British Open golf odds. And the greens are usually much slower than major championships in the U.S., so putting statistics don’t matter as much.

How the Latest Odds Can Impact Your Betting Decision

Golf betting is all about finding value. That’s why it’s essential to keep up with the latest golf odds in order to track movement and recognize when a guy is playing better or worse than his odds indicate. Scorecards don’t always tell the entire picture.

Advanced stats are readily available, so staying on top of things like Strokes Gained is very helpful to get the true sense of a player’s value with their given odds.

With our odds page, expert picks, calculators and more, Bookies.com has all the tools you need to find these value odds and start making more profitable golf betting decisions.