The 2021 PGA Tour season is underway following a 2020 campaign which saw phenomenal golf betting interest.

• Best Golf Betting Sites Real Money
• Best Golf Betting Sites 2020

The PGA Tour was the first of the major North American sporting organizations to return to play last year. The added attention from sports fans and bettors led to the rapid addition of betting markets at most major sportsbooks.

2 Ball Betting: Later in tournaments, players hit the course in groups of two. This wager challenges the bettor to choose which group member will finish with the better score. Advice for Betting on Golf. Before you start your career in golf betting, be sure to spend some time learning the ropes. Free Golf Betting Tips Bookies.com features a wealth of top golf betting tips, and many of them revolve around one central fact: go beyond betting simply on one player to win one tournament, which rarely wins and typically doesn’t offer much in the way of a return. See full list on gamblingsites.org.

Free Golf Betting Tips Bookies.com features a wealth of top golf betting tips, and many of them revolve around one central fact: go beyond betting simply on one player to win one tournament, which rarely wins and typically doesn’t offer much in the way of a return. Mobile Golf Betting. Golf betting online used to mean being chained to your computer but with developments in mobile technology, those days are long gone. In 2021 all the best golf betting sites are available using your smartphone or tablet.

This page will look at the various ways to bet on golf, which can be done for roughly 50 of 52 weeks in a given calendar year. We’ll highlight weekly golf betting odds and the top sites, and break down the many available betting markets. Finally, we discuss various strategies and areas of research when betting on a golf tournament, and spotlight 2021’s four scheduled majors.

Due to the nature of golf – including the impact of Mother Nature, extensive traveling, and course history – it’s a sport in which research can be used heavily to find the right player on the right week.

Golf betting odds this week

Best golf betting sites

How to bet on golf

Outrights and futures bets

Outright betting in golf is simply wagering on a specific player to win the tournament. Because of the difficulty of a player winning a tournament in fields that are often around 150, outright odds are much higher than someone betting on team sports is used to.

Strategy: Because the return on investment can be so high, you can bet on numerous players and still make a nice profit if one of your players wins. Betting on a couple players in each “tier” can be effective. For example, favorites (+2500 or lower), contenders (+2500 – +5000), longshots (+5000 or higher). Betting $10 on six players in that scenario would be just $60 invested. Even if you bet on a heavy favorite at +1000, he would win back $100 for a strong profit.

Top 5, 10, 20

A less risky version of outright betting is wagering on a player to finish in the top 5, 10 or 20 in a tournament, depending on what your sportsbook offers. While it doesn’t offer the high odds that outright betting does, it is much less volatile and rewards steady performances from your golfers.

Strategy: If you prefer betting on placement instead of outright, you’ll likely need a slightly larger bankroll to see decent profit. The market for placement betting is completely different than outright. You’re looking for more consistent golfers who may not have the firepower to win most weeks but provide steady results with a high percentage of made cuts.

Matchups

There are many forms of matchup betting on golf depending on your sportsbook.

Head-to-head: These can be week-long or single-round bets that put two players against each other with odds on who will post the better score. This provides a unique market where you can bet against a player you may be down on for the week compared to his pricing.

Nationality: Many sportsbooks will provide lines on which countryman will perform the best for the tournament. If you’re high on a certain player but don’t want to jump into an outright or top 5 bet, you can get decent value on a nationality bet depending on who is in the field.

3-Ball: An increasingly popular way to bet on golf because it provides a way to gamble on each round. 3-Ball betting typically uses the pairings in the tournament and gives odds on which player in the group will perform the best in the round. This can provide for entertaining viewing if you bet on a player in a featured group on TV.

First-round leader

Betting on the first-round leader is a niche market but seems to be growing. It is still not available on every sportsbook.

Strategy: It’s much easier to lead a single round than win an entire golf tournament, but odds for first-round leader mostly remains the same as outright odds. Keeping an eye on weather conditions is key to pick a player who tees off in calm conditions.

Live golf betting

Golf has live betting like most sports, except it allows you to put in much more research with ample time between rounds.

Strategy: Most live betting odds on the outright winner stay true to the leaderboard, but the market often still favors the well-known and highly ranked players. Taking a look at statistics and jumping on a player that is in contention but underperforming in a category he or she usually excels in can be a good strategy in live betting on golf.

Golf betting strategies

Bankroll management

Bankroll management can be tricky in golf due to the alarming potential of profit when outright betting. It’s important to stay reasonable and stick to a weekly limit on how much you bet on a tournament. Picking an outright winner is hard and you will often go weeks without getting a winner. But the profit of just one winner will typically make up for multiple weeks and more, especially if it wasn’t a heavy favorite. Pairing your outright bets with top 10 or top 20 bets is a good way to get some return on investment instead of going all-in on outright winners.

Injury reports

Injuries aren’t as common in golf as most sports, so there’s typically not much news on injuries most weeks. But there can be some withdrawals on Wednesday evenings or Thursday mornings, so it’s good to stay up-to-date on any lingering injuries that could come into play and ruin your bet.

Course form and recent form

Form will be talked about endlessly when taking in any content from golf betting experts. Not only is recent form important like it is in most sports, but the unique-to-golf course form is also a key factor. Finding players who perform well at a course in the past is an element that should always be considered when betting. Augusta National is a course that strongly favors course history due to its tricky nature, but an easier, simpler course like TPC Deere Run shouldn’t weigh course history as strongly.

Schedules

Golf requires a lot of traveling at times and has a very exhausting schedule at some points in the year. Keeping an eye on players traveling on short rest from overseas or someone who has played multiple weeks in a row can be a simple way to fade players who might be getting too much love from the casual eye.

Line movement

Most normal golf tournaments don’t have much line movement throughout the week leading up to the tournament, but some sportsbooks will have more favorable odds than others. If you see someone early in the week that might get a push to lower odds because of talk from the media or a storyline, it’s smart to jump on it quickly. Otherwise, it’s usually fine to take your time.

Situational betting

Golf has a lot of external factors to keep in mind each week. Weather is something you should always look at before betting. There are players who excel in easy conditions and there are those who do better when the wind is blowing and good scores are harder to come by. Getting ahead of the curve by checking the forecast and taking players who fit it is important. Motivating factors from week-to-week can also play a role – FedExCup points needed, a win to get a Masters invitation, local support etc.

Golf betting stats: Which ones matter?

Thanks to websites and podcasts specializing in golf betting content, knowing the golf stats that matter each week has gotten increasingly easier for bettors. But there’s still plenty of individual research to be done that can help you get ahead of the market on a player that might be peaking at the right time. Generally, the strokes gained statistics are the golden measure in golf. But certain courses will favor “strokes gained: off-the-tee,” certain courses will favor “strokes gained: approach” and certain courses will favor “strokes gained: putting.” Most courses will favor that statistic year-to-year, but it can change depending on weather and how the course is set up.

It is generally smarter to favor players who excel in ball striking statistics – driving and approach shots – due to their ability to run away with a tournament if they have a good putting week.

Golf majors: odds and trends

Masters Tournament

The 2021 Masters takes place April 8-11, returning to its regular position on the PGA Tour schedule. It is always held at Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia, and is one of the most famous courses in the world.

Recent winners’ odds: Dustin Johnson (2020): +800, Tiger Woods (2019): +1400, Patrick Reed (2018): +5000, Sergio Garcia (2017): +3000

The Masters favors course history more than any other event on the PGA Tour based on Data Golf’s course history tool. Creative ball-strikers excel, as evidenced by recent winners like Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson and Phil Mickelson.

PGA Championship

The PGA Championship will run May 20-23 at Kiawah Golf Resort (South Course) on Kiawah Island, S.C.

Recent winners’ odds: Collin Morikawa 2020: +3000, Brooks Koepka (2019, 2018): +1100, +2000, Justin Thomas (2017): +3000.

The PGA Championship is typically the easiest setup of the four majors and the most similar to a regular PGA Tour setup. That means if conditions allow, the tournament favors long and high hitters. Rory McIlroy won the 2012 PGA Championship here at 13-under par.

US Open

The US Open is scheduled to return to its standard spot on the golf schedule from June 17-20. Torrey Pines (South) hosts the major for the first time since 2008, when Woods at minus-1 in a playoff.

Recent winners’ odds: Bryson DeChambeau (2020): +2500, Gary Woodland (2019): +7000, Brooks Koepka (2018, 2017): +2000, +4000.

The US Open is typically the toughest test of golf in the world each year. The USGA sets it up to ideally be a challenge to break par, which is often the case when looking at the winning score. Length and accuracy off the tee have been a key statistic in recent years as the courses have gotten longer.

The Open Championship

The Open Championship was canceled for 2020 but returns to the schedule for July 15-18. Royal St. George’s Golf Club in England will remain the host the 2021 Open Championship after losing the 2020 Open.

Recent winners’ odds: Shane Lowry (2019): +6600, Francesco Molinari (2018): +2500, Jordan Spieth (2017): +1400.

The Open Championship is always held at a classic links-style golf course that often has windy and tough conditions. If the weather is calm, players can go low and any style of player can win. Windy conditions favor solid ball strikers who can keep the ball low. It’s one of the few golf tournaments where long hitters don’t have much of an advantage.

Golf fans are a different breed than most fans of other sports. When we aren’t playing golf, we’re usually reading about golf, watching golf, or just day dreaming about golf. As a sport that captivates our minds so much, it shouldn’t be surprising that there is an enormous betting market on the sport. Not just fans, but sharp sports bettors looking to make a profit love to bet on the game’s top professionals.

If you’re new to golf betting or are a seasoned bettor looking to make the transition to the online realm, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve put together this page to serve as your yardage book for everything you need to know about betting on golf online and how to get started. More importantly, we’re going to give you the tips and tricks you need to make sure that you’re doing it safely while still having fun and hopefully making some money.

I’ve Got a Hot Tip! Get Me Betting NOW!

We guarantee that some of you are here because you have a strong prediction or a hot tip about an upcoming tournament. For those of you that are ready to get started and are just looking to get pointed in the right direction, we’ve got you covered. Below we’ve listed our highest recommended online sports betting sites offering extensive action on golf.

Here is our list of our most trusted sites offering golf sports betting online:

If you’re curious how we came to these recommendations, we’ve broken that down in full further down this page. But if you’re just ready to get rolling and get those picks in, here’s the abridged version. This list is an up to date collection of the very best sites offering golf betting action. The sites have been thoroughly vetted by our team for a whole host of factors with the most important being safety and reliability.

Sites CANNOT pay to be on this list. They can’t send us free rounds of golf or bake us cookies to be on this list. The only way that a site can get itself onto our recommended list is by offering and delivering a top notch product to their customers. We want this list of our recommendations to be one that you can trust and can take to the bank. Unlike most other “review” sites, we refuse to waver on this.

Golf Betting Sites by Event

What’s Important in a Golf Betting Site

Selecting a new online betting site is a lot like selecting a brand new golf course to play at. How many times have you looked at the brochure or website for a course and showed up only to find that things were not what you had hoped for? The course looks beautiful online and is pushed that it has every amenity under the sun, but when you show up, it looks like a dead grass collection site.

Unfortunately, online betting sites are the same. They have a tendency to project that they are the best thing since sliced bread and then fail to live up to that image. Just like golf courses, though, they are not all bad. There are sites out there that have their act together and deliver a reliable and top notch golf betting experience.

In order to find one of these sites, you have two options. The first option is to check out one of the sites we recommended. Those sites as we stated have been thoroughly vetted against hundreds of other options and have been hand-picked to make our list. Your second option is to go it alone and scour the corners of the web.

To help with both of these options, we have outlined the important criteria for selecting a great golf betting site. If you’re taking our recommendations, you can see how we arrived at these conclusions. If you’re going it alone, you can see what you need to be on the lookout for.

Trust and Integrity

This is number one on our list and is ALWAYS number one on our list. There is no room for error here, and we refuse to ever waiver on this (and you shouldn’t either). Many people have fears and concerns about betting online versus in a brick and mortar setting. This is completely understandable as anything new is always scary, and there is an adjustment period to get you to be able to trust it.

The fact is, though, there are sites out there that have their processes and operations dialed in and provide an experience just as safe as walking into your local casino or sportsbook to bet. The key is making sure that you are placing your bets at one of these sites. To find these sites, we look at a whole host of different factors to reach our determination.

We look at their company history, industry reputation, history of complaints, payment processors, licensing and regulation, corporate staff, and anything else we can find to help us reach our conclusion. If anything raises even the hint of a red flag, they are a no-go from us.

Betting Options

Golf is a great sport in that there are a ton of different prop bets that are sometimes available. These can be fun bets like how many holes in ones in a tournament or bets that require skill to pick like where the cut line will be. The point is that you have a lot of options, but not all of these options are going to be offered on every site. Some sites will only offer you the ability to pick winners, and some sites will offer you this extended betting flexibility. This will be covered in-depth in the Different “Levels” of Golf Betting Sites section below.

Betting and Transaction Limits (Professional Bettors Only)

If you’re a big money bettor or someone who bets a ton for a living, you may want to make sure that the site you’re on has the right limits that you need. 99% of you reading this (including some that bet for a living) will never be affected by this. The current limits on the sites we’ve recommended are already high and should be plenty.

In the rare chance that you want to bet bigger, though, there are options. Most sites will allow you to raise the limits they have posted if you contact them. They are always accommodating of bigger players so don’t run just because the posted limits are lower than you want. Again, though, the limits are already very high on most sites, so this will probably not affect anyone reading this.

Website and User Interface

We all know that the course layout is one of the most important factors of a golf course. The holes need to be easy to find and getting from 1 to 2 and so on through 18 should follow a logical path that doesn’t require a fold out map and GPS to get to.

The same is true for online sports betting sites. You need to be at a website that has all of the betting options laid out well, the odds easy to find, and the process to place a bet simple. It should not feel like a chore to get a bet placed. Not only would a poor user interface give you a bad experience, but it could also set you up to make mistakes and accidentally bet on the wrong golfer or wrong side of a prop bet.

Bonus Programs

Some sites are going to offer bonus programs, deposit bonuses, and VIP programs to try and entice you to bet with them. While these are great (everyone loves free money and free stuff), they should never be a big factor in deciding where to bet. The above factors are light years more important to finding a good betting home. What good is a killer bonus program if you can’t trust the site?

Best Golf Betting Sites Real Money

What we recommend is that you definitely look at bonus programs so that you can take advantage of them, but only after you have joined a site based on the other criteria above. If you are stuck between two sites, then you should look at bonuses to help split the tie. Otherwise, just treat a bonus as an extra bonus like a cherry on top.

Different “Levels” of Golf Betting Sites

As we mentioned a bit earlier, there are tons of different bet types available on professional golf. There are different leagues besides the PGA and LPGA as well as a myriad of options of bet types within the different leagues. However, all sites that offer golf sports betting aren’t going to offer you all of these options.

There are different levels of action offered at different sports betting sites. Some sites are only going to offer you bets on the biggest tournaments and most likely only from the PGA Tour and maybe the Ryder Cup. These sites may also only offer you the ability to bet on the winners and none of the prop bets.

The next level up of site will offer you bets on most of the tour stops on the PGA as well as probably some of the lesser known tours but again, just winners picks. The ultimate golf betting sites online (much like the ones we recommended) are going to offer you action on all the tournaments from all the different leagues. They’re going to offer you winner bets as well as all the fun and skill-based prop bets available.

Best Golf Betting Sites 2020

With some sports, we tell casual bettors to avoid the all inclusive unless they think they can handle it because it may overwhelm them. With golf, though, we think the all inclusive sites are the way to go. Now, sites aren’t labeled with “All inclusive golf!” on the front page or anything like that. The only way to locate them is to use one of our recommendations or to look through the actual betting section of the site and see what they offer. Remember, they may not show much if there isn’t much going on so make sure to check back.