Historically, most of us wagering types did all of our betting ON the golf course.
Now, all you’ve got to do (if you reside in a gaming state) is grab your phone or crank up your laptop and you can win some dough without having to sweat your balls off and drain miraculous 20 footers for par just to beat a fellow hacker.
Golf Betting online or at a sportsbook site is here to stay and you can opt to get on the bus or get run over by it.
The PGA TOUR has embraced sports betting and has gone to great lengths to protect the integrity of their competitions.
I’ve compiled a short primer for beginners and those who wonder what the heck is going on with golf betting.
1. PGA TOUR Is Bullish on Betting
The PGA TOUR is in love with fan engagement on social media and they seem to be taking the same approach with sports betting. You know, engagement with a few bucks on the line. The PGA TOUR has designated DraftKings as “The Official Betting Tour Operator of the PGA TOUR”. In addition, DraftKings is the first “Official Daily Fantasy Game of the PGA TOUR”.
After the Supreme Court’s repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act three years ago, the TOUR developed an integrity program in collaboration with Genius Sports to guard against competition corruption. The TOUR also has a global partnership with IMG ARENA to license its official, live scoring data to betting operators all over the world.
Get ready for some on-site betting, too. The PGA Tour and DraftKings is partnering to open a sportsbook on-site at TPC Scottsdale—site of the annual Waste Management Phoenix Open. Uh, yeah, I’ll have two large Bud Lights and a C-Note on Jordan Spieth to birdie No. 16. This is going to make this wild tournament even wilder.
2. Most Common Ways To Bet
To Win
Who do you think will win the entire event? Typically, this bet is made as a futures wager before the start of the tournament.
First Round Leader
If you want to get jacked at the beginning of an event, betting on the first-round leader can get your juices flowing and make the first day of the tournament more exciting.
Versus the Field
You’re wagering on a particular golfer and how they will perform against another group of players. Most of the time, the bet centers around one of the tourney favorites.
Head-to-Head
You select who will post a lower score between golfers. Many sportsbooks offer multiple head-to-head matchups for the tour’s best and most well known players.
Group Matchups
This is similar to head-to-head bets, but with group matchups you can bet on groups of three or four golfers of similar career performance.
Each Way
Much like betting on someone to win an event, in each-way betting you can wager on a golfer to place in the top three, five, or 10.
3. Prop Bets
Golf is tailor made to make lots of different prop bets. (A prop bet is a wager on an individual player or specific event.) One very popular prop bet is selecting the best golfer (the one who will finish the highest) from each nationality in a specific tournament. Prop bets can get pretty wacky too, like: Will the winner of the tournament be over or under 35? How many majors will a player win? etc. The Masters always has some great prop bets such as: Who will be the top lefty finisher? Will there be a double eagle? What will be the winning margin? Will there be a bogey free round in the tournament?
4. Betting Sites
You might know golf, but before you blindly start throwing your Ben Franklins around, you need to find a reliable, highly rated site with good odds on a wide variety of tournaments and events. Sports Betting Dime has compiled an exceptional list of the best golf betting sites and provided some extremely valuable insider tips on betting. If you’re a beginner, definitely hit up this post. Click: Sports Betting Dime-Golf Betting Sites for 2021.
5. States Where You Can Bet
Betting on golf online is easy if you live in one of the states that offers legal sports betting. Presently, about two dozen offer some form of legal sports betting and a couple of others will launch soon. Some of the bigger states include New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Check out the Action Network, which has a comprehensive list of states that allow sports betting as well as projected legalization for other states.
Good luck, winner, winner, chicken dinner!
