With a year-round schedule, multiple professional tours and some of the sporting calendar’s biggest events, bettors have a wealth of options for placing golf wagers.
The game of golf inherently lends itself to data and analytics but it’s also a sport that consistently throws up long-shot winners that emerge from sizable fields. That means finding an edge and value in the golf betting markets can yield healthy profits.
The emergence of LIV with its new formats has disrupted the ancient sport and brought unprecedented controversy but that can work in your favor if you understand how to bet on golf.
One of the top two sportsbooks in the US, DraftKings surpasses every other player in the field for its golf betting coverage. All of the PGA tour events are available alongside the majors on the fantasy giant’s betting menus. There’s also extensive in-play options offered on the DraftKings live event center.
Tons of props feature alongside tournament lines and season specials. There are also extensive matchup markets that drill down into hole-by-hole winner bets. DraftKings is also one of the only NY sportsbooks to dip into the NCAA Championship for fans of collegiate golf.
Regular golf bettors will know that the biggest sportsbooks are incredibly keen when it comes to setting odds for favorites. There’s often very little variance between the odds to be found at the top golf betting sites.
Caesars is very much a market leader for golf odds with pricing that often trumps its rivals, particularly for winner markets for golf’s majors. For a sport with so much variance, it’s often worth scouring the odds on offer at Caesars for players just outside the favored big names as you’ll often find they’re higher than at other betting sites.
FanDuel’s sleek betting apps are notable for how easy they are to use and of the standout reasons for choosing it as your go-to golf betting site is how quickly the odds on offer refresh. Speedy price updates matter when placing live golf wagers because almost every shot played by every player impacts the final outcome.
FanDuel’s live odds refresh quicker than almost every other golf betting site and you can quickly monitor how play has impacted them. Handy ‘up’ and ‘down’ arrows identify how FanDuel’s oddsmakers view the current on-course situation enabling savvy bettors to spot value as play happens.
All of the top betting sites for golf can stake a claim for being the best for live golf betting but BetMGM has one of the most interactive offerings out there. If you’re unable to watch a tournament live on TV then it’s worth following the action on BetMGM’s media center.
Hole-by-hole and shot-by-shot graphics display the latest play for each threesome or pairing. Live text commentary tells you just what each player is doing out there on the course and you can toggle between the leaderboard and the current status of each group. It’s the next best thing to streaming.
For golf betting fans in New York, ESPN BET offers a standout experience by providing access to detailed tournament insights and expert commentary from ESPN’s coverage of major events like The Masters, PGA Championship, and Ryder Cup.
Bettors can enjoy real-time updates, in-depth player statistics, and exclusive promotions tailored to each tournament. This makes ESPN BET the ideal platform for those looking to enhance their golf betting strategy with comprehensive coverage and timely information, and the perfect companion app as you watch games unfold live.
Fanatics launched its bolstered golf betting strategy in the spring of 2024 with the addition of Justin Thomas as the first athlete to be an official partner of the sportsbook. Golf is a highlight of the Fanatics sports betting offering and is already strong in all areas. With that in mind, earning rewards - namely FanCash - by placing bets with Fanatics instead of others is a big draw. There have also already been additional golf betting promos, particularly running during the majors not to mention the Fanatics welcome offer which will boost your available funds. That could be useful ahead of four days' play.
The golf suite of content on the Fanatics app has been refreshed with new visualizations including shot-by-shot tracking and course maps, live event centers for tour events and the majors, player tracking and up-to-date leaderboards.
There’s a huge amount of props, specials and quirky golf betting types to be found at BetRivers. They include winning margins, whether a tournament will be decided by a playoff and how many players will feature in it. You can also bet on whether a competitor will lead all four rounds for most events.
There are some huge odds to be found on plenty of the bet types available at BetRivers, so successfully predicting an unlikely outcome could result in big profits. The BetRivers apps also do a solid job and the operator is strong on incorporating social aspects into its online presence.
Group betting is a popular option for golf fans. It simply involves predicting who will score best among either the two or three players who set off on the course together for each round.
You’ll find excellent group betting options at BallyBet’s intuitive betting platforms that make it supremely easy to place this type of wager.
There’s not a lot to the Resorts World Bet platforms but that stripped-back vibe makes them super easy to use. That’s especially appealing for those new to golf betting.
There’s no need to wade through lots of menus to find the wager you want and place it quickly. Plus, for anyone who prefers to bet in person or is simply enjoying some downtime, the Resorts World entertainment complex at Catskills caters for golf fans with swing simulators that are reputedly used by a host of professionals.
All of the top betting operators have golf as one of their staple sports. If you’re new to betting on golf or looking for a great alternative to your current sportsbook, there are a few key factors to consider before making a choice.
You should always use a legal and licendsed sportsbook to bet on golf. Unlicensed or “offshore” betting sites are unreliable and you can’t be assured of the same levels of safety and security that you’ll find at the operators regulated by the State Gaming Commission.
Aside from a fairly standard approach to how they lay out menus, each of the best golf sportsbooks handles slightly differently. Choose a betting site that you feel you’ll be able to use easily and quickly with intuitive navigation and scrolling is important, as are bet slips that are straightforward to understand.
Also consider whether you’d benefit from using a sportsbook that’s loaded with graphics, stats and data to inform your golf picks or whether you’d simply prefer to get straight in on the action with a clutter-free book. It’s often worth checking out a few reviews too to see what other bettors think.
With a large number of players in every tournament and being a sport with a huge number of variables, picking the outright winner of most golf events is notoriously difficult. That often means being able to choose from a range of bet types is advantageous to enhance your chances of a win by selecting from a wide range of wagering options. Also, betting odds for golf typically vary between sportsbooks so do some line shopping at a few sites before placing a wager.
Although the best betting sites don’t offer as many promotions for golf as they do for the ‘big’ sports like football and baseball, there are still bonuses to be found. This is particularly true for the majors but you’ll often find golf odds boosts for many tour stops. The value of such odds uplifts varies markedly but it’s not unusual to find boosts of between 15% and 20%.
Betting promos and bonuses tend to be ramped up around the majors and other top events like the FedEx Cup playoffs, so keep an eye on NYSafeBets to find all the latest details.
Sportsbook | Betting Promo |
Caesars | Whether your first wager (minimum $10) wins or loses, get up to $1,250 in bonus credit. |
| BetMGM | Up to $1,500 returned in bonus bets if your first bet loses. |
FanDuel | Bet $5, get $150 in Bonus Bets |
DraftKings | Bonus worth up to 20% of your first deposit (minimum $5) to a maximum of $1,000. Site credits are awarded subject to playthrough requirements. |
BetRivers | Up to $100 in bonus bets equal to the value of your first wager if it loses. |
Alongside bet types that can be found for most sports, such as wagering on who will win a golf tournament, some are unique to the game.
A future or a to-win bet involves making a call on the player you think will be the victor in a tournament. Tour events tend to see winner odds a week or two ahead of the event starting so you can get in early. For golf’s majors, futures markets are usually available as soon as the season tees off - and often a year in advance.
For example, as soon as Jon Rahm won the 2023 Masters, then you could bet on the Spaniard as favorite to win at Augusta again the following year. This market opened at healthy odds of around +900. Considering Rahm had been offered at odds of just +125 for the 2023 event, that lengthy futures wager for 2024 could theoretically be very rewarding.
Each-way betting in golf involves a wager on whether a player will finish in the top three, top five or top 10 of a tournament. With the reduced risk compared with betting on the winner come reduced odds. Opting for the each-way bet in golf can be lucrative if you’re able to identify players who consistently post good finishes but rarely win events outright.
As an example, Kevin Kisner had never troubled the top of the leaderboard in his previous eight outings at the US Open prior to the 2022 edition. However, the South Carolina native had been in smoking hot form at the start of the season. That said, few would have backed Kisner to actually win at The Country Club (at odds of +25000). The wise bet then, was to take Kisner at +1800 for a top 10 finish. That was a feat he achieved, tying for eighth place and netting a neat profit for those who had followed his form before the event.
Keen golfers know all about handicaps as they apply to their own game and similar principles apply to this type of bet. The sportsbook applies a theoretical handicap to each golfer based on their perceived strength and sets their odds accordingly.
Golf handicap bets are quite rare at New York’s sportsbooks but you can still find some with a little hunting. As an example, for the 2023 European Open, Jordan Smith was one of the favorites at +2000. You could have opted to enhance his chances by taking up the option to apply a handicap of -1 shot and receive shorter odds of +900 but with lower risk.
Over/under betting in golf generally applies to a player's total score after 72 holes or their shot tally for a single round. You might occasionally see other over/under bets though such as whether a golfer will hit a certain number of bogeys.
For example, you could bet on Tiger Woods to score over or under 72.5 shots during the first round at the 2023 Genesis Invitational. At even money (+100) that was a good bet as Tiger shot 69 for his first 18 holes played.
Margin of victory golf bets are just as they sound. You simply predict by how many shots the winner will finish ahead of the field. Most sportsbooks only offer odds on the exact winning margin - so by 1 shot, 2 shots, and not usually extended beyond 4 shots. Betting sites will also advertise odds for a tournament being won in a playoff.
As a sport, golf lends itself to a host of prop bets given how many factors influence the performance of every contestant over the course of 72 holes. NY sportsbooks vary widely in the type and how many prop bets they offer.
Examples of golf prop bets include the nationality of the champion, who will be the first-round leader, whether a player will make a hole-in-one, or if there’ll be a wire-to-wire winner.
Golf group betting brings a mass of markets into play beyond the usual outright winner and round leader bets. With up to 156 golfers making up the initial field at the majors such bet types offer 52 individual three-ball contests for the first two rounds and 35 for the final two following the cut. The golfer pairings or threesomes that are to be out on the course are then pitted against each other.
Sportsbooks will also make markets available for theoretical head to heads where they match up two golfers from the entire field and take bets on which one will achieve the lowest score.
Versus the field golf betting can make the latter stages of a tournament that little bit more exciting. The bookmaker will offer odds on whether the leader will prevail or whether any other player will topple him or her. You might even find more than one golfer grouped up to beat the field. This happened at the 2017 US Open where Garcia, Rose and Stenson were offered at +800 against the rest of the field. The bet ultimately flunked though when Brooks Koepka won.
Almost all of the bet types described above are now also available in the live betting sections of the top NY sportsbooks. In-play betting takes place as the action unfolds with odds that refresh after almost every shot played by every golfer. Some betting sites add extra wager types too such as how players will score on individual holes.
The four major golf tournaments are considered to be the pinnacle of the sport and are its most prestigious events. Each of golf’s majors is unique with its own distinct history, traditions and nuances.
No golfer can claim their place in golf’s hall of fame without at least one career major title. Those with multiple wins are elevated into the legendary bracket.
The only major played on the same course every year, the Masters is the epitome of golf for many. Augusta National is the venue, a breathtakingly beautiful course with azaleas blooming during tournament week, set against a backdrop of lush greens and deep blue water features.
Tiger Woods dominated the Masters during the ‘00s with four wins in nine years. Woods then shocked the golfing world by adding another title in 2019 but the Masters has been anyone’s in recent years with 13 different winners since 2010.
“Amen Corner”, the notorious stretch of holes (11th, 12th & 13th), often plays a significant part in the final outcomes. Players ranked in the top 20 in the world consistently do well at the Masters and recent form has been a good indicator of recent champions.
Played on the May weekend before Labor Day, the PGA Championship is perhaps the most varied of the majors, with no two years anywhere near alike. Played on courses that aren’t always a regular on the tour, the PGA Championship also probably features the strongest fields in elite golf because of its policy of limiting entrants to just those in the world’s top 100.
With course setups that aren’t meant to punish - more to be played and attacked - the PGA Championship is often an exciting contest and low scores are not uncommon. Brooks Koepka had been the US PGA’s standout performer in recent years with three wins since 2018.
American golfers typically dominate the PGA Championship’s leaderboard and those with impressive tour showings in the buildup tend to post healthy finishes. This is also the major that regularly throws up maiden winners so monitoring form and potential is crucial in the buildup.
The US Open is the third major in the calendar year and unashamedly sets itself the target of being the toughest. Traditionally posting the highest overall winner’s score of all the majors, the US Open features long courses, thick rough and punishing greens.
The venue for the US Open changes every year and it is seen as the ultimate test of golfing endurance and mental fortitude, particularly for American players who have historically performed well. That said, Matt Fitzpatrick won the 2022 US Open to become the first Englishman to do so since Justin Rose in 2013.
Again, recent form is a good indicator of players who will perform well at the US Open and six champions in the last decade have been ranked inside the world’s top 10. The PGA Championship held a month earlier, can also be a useful barometer for picking likely US Open winners.
The Open Championship stands alone among the majors for many reasons. Chiefly, they are that the British Open is the only one held outside of the USA and that it’s always played on coastal “links” courses. It is the oldest of the majors and is played on layouts on which the game of golf as we know it originated.
Weather is often a factor with driving wind and horizontal rain hardly uncommon. That combined with devilish pot bunkers and thick fescue-like grass in the rough can play havoc with the scoring.
Multiple winners of the Open Championship are rare and unlike the other majors, this is a tournament not dominated by US players. Seven different nationalities have been represented at the last 10 editions of the British Open. During that period, no player from outside the world’s top 40 has won. Interestingly, performance at the US PGA can also be a telling factor for the Open. Since 2000, four winners of the PGA Championship have also won the British Open in the same year.
The Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup are two golf tournaments that follow a similar format. Each competition features a pair of teams that compete for points over three days and four days respectively with play in a variety of different contest types.
The Ryder Cup pits Europe against America while the Presidents Cup features players from the USA against a team from the rest of the world. Combined, the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup are often seen as a battle for the US to gain golfing bragging rights over the rest of the planet.
Both the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup are classed as match play tournaments. Match play golf involves players competing against each other to win holes by completing them in the lowest number of shots.
Each competition is split into three distinct competitions, the scoring system works the same for each. The winner of a hole goes ‘one up’ but if they lose the next one, the score is reset to zero:
Foursomes: Players are paired together and the teams play against each other over one round of 18 holes. Players from each team take turns hitting the same ball towards the hole with the aim of achieving the lowest amount of shots.
Four-balls: Players feature in couples to face another couple. Each player has their own ball and whoever putts the ball first wins the hole for their team.
Singles: On the last day, the two teams split into 12 singles in a one-on-one situation bidding to beat their direct opponent.
The most common bet types for both the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup include:
Match and tournament bets: Which pairing or single will win an individual match or the overall championship.
Correct score: A wager on what the final score will be in an individual match or the number of points each team will achieve at the end of all play.
Highest point scorer: Predicting which player will earn the most points for their team.
Over/under: Whether the number of points accumulated by teams or players is above or below the figure set by the sportsbook.
Parlays: Grouping results bets from a combination of fourballs, foursomes, and singles matches can seriously boost the odds you’ll receive from parlay betting, though at greater risk.
The PGA Tour is an annual series of 44 golf events held in North America every year plus a further three competitions that make up the end-of-season FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Still billed as the biggest organizer of golf tournaments in the world, the PGA Tour has been shaken up since the launch of the LIV Golf invitational series in 2022.
In response, the PGA Tour has undergone a programme of restructuring in the face of this fresh competition and to prevent it losing any more of its top stars to LIV. Notable changes for golf bettors include the chopping down of field sizes and doing away with the midpoint cut in some PGA Tour events.
Both initiatives make it a little easier to identify winners and take the lottery of the cut out of betting markets. It’s also important to note that not all tour stops are created equally. Some are considered more prestigious than others and purse sizes vary meaning the best PGA Tour players don’t appear at certain events each year.
The top PGA Tour competitions include The Players Championship at the tough TPC Sawgrass course, the ever-unpredictable Arnold Palmer Invitational, the WGC-Cadillac Championship (the first World Golf Championship event of the year), the Wells Fargo Classic (an invitational that consistently attracts the best), and the Farmers Insurance Classic at the stunning Torrey Pines complex.
When betting on golf in the United States, odds are presented in a plus (+) or minus (-) format. The lower the number, the better the chances oddsmakers view a particular bet of winning.
There’s no hard and fast rule as to the range of odds that will be offered for any golf tournament but it’s not unusual to see the favorites starting in the range of +1000 to +1200. For limited-field events with strongly backed players, pre-event markets might be as low as +200.
Here’s an example of the to-win odds for the top five favorites to win the 2023 Masters the day before the battle for the famous green jacket began:
Odds for rank outsiders, including the veterans Jose Maria Olazabal and Sandy Lyle could be found at huge prices of +250000 and +500000 respectively.
Once golf markets open, the lines move regularly to reflect the latest pre-tourney info and how trends in public money have affected pricing.
As the tournament progresses, the lines alter even more. For example, after a great first-round score of 7-under par at Augusta, the odds on Jon Rahm had dropped to +300 while Scottie Scheffler’s 68 saw his fall to +450.
Every sport is unique and so your strategy for betting on golf needs to be tailored to the subtleties, distinctions and nature of the game. Consider the following tips for making intelligent, informed golf picks.
As a largely individual sport, aside from consulting their caddies, golfers spend entire tournaments inside their own heads. Golf is very much a confidence sport. Players can easily flip between hot streaks and serious slumps.
While occasionally a golfer will defy the odds to come from nowhere and post a surprising result, most often performances can be predicted to some extent. Be sure to check out a player’s recent form but also consider their season record to date.
Certain players perform consistently well at both individual courses and tournaments but also on certain course types. Others simply never get to grips with particular layouts.
There are various definitions of golf course categories but it’s common to see them described as links, parkland, desert, heathland and sandbelt.
Jon Rahm continues to build his reputation as the world’s best links player while Australian golfer Geoff Ogilvy is little known in the US but is renowned for his mastery of sandbelt courses. Take a look at what type of course suits a player’s natural style of play.
If you’re starting out in betting on golf it’s worth sticking to the biggest tournaments to begin with. The top golf monthlies, websites and columnists will provide ample analysis of the majors and other premier events, meaning you don’t have to do the hard yards.
Also, don’t be lured in by the huge odds on offer for outsiders. Even the very best golfers have to beat a field of up to 155 other players. That’s a feat in itself for the elite and so it’s unlikely a little heard of journeyman pro will manage it.
As you’ll have gathered, it’s difficult to predict the winner of any golf tournament. Consistently dominant forces like Tiger Woods only come around once in a generation. You can hedge your action by taking the top 5, top 10 and top 20 markets. Placing lower-risk bets also allows you to pick a few options in this type of betting to lower your overall exposure.
There are hundreds of golf courses in the State of New York and some of the most famous have staged multiple majors. Inexplicably for a state with so many renowned courses, there is currently no PGA Tour competition held in New York.
One of the longest-established links courses in the United States, Shinnecock Hills hosted the 2018 US Open and the competition will return to the Long Island enclave for its 2026 edition.
Northeast of New York City, in the suburb of Mamaroneck, Winged Foot is a rolling course of contours, open fairways and tight greens. Considered to be one of the best golf clubs in the country, Winged Foot has staged the US Open six times and the PGA Championship once.
Boasting a reputation as a fair but challenging test, the East course at Oak Hill Country Club has played host to the US Open, the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup. Brooks Koepka won the most recent major to be held at Oak Hill, the 2023 PGA Championship, with the course significantly remodeled ahead of the tournament.
With a fearsome notoriety for its length and frequent elevation changes, Bethpage Black has enjoyed a renaissance in recent years, staging the 2002 U.S. Open, 2009 U.S. Open, and 2019 PGA Championship. Bethpage is famed for the sign at the first tee that reads “WARNING The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers”.
Whether you prefer to bet in person at a licensed venue, or simply want a bit of atmosphere and some refreshments while you follow the day's action, New York has a range of first class retail sportsbooks as well as some great sports bars to choose from.
Del Lago Casino Resort
1133 New York 414, Waterloo, NY 13165, United State
+1 315-946-1777
Resorts World Catskills
888 Resorts World Drive, Monticello, NY 12701
+1 833-586-9358
Rivers Casino & Resort
1 Rush St, Schenectady, NY 12305
+1 518-579-8800
Tioga Downs Casino
2384 W River Rd, Nichols, NY 13812, United States
+1 607-414-1129
Point Place Casino
450 452, NY-31, Bridgeport, NY 13030
315-366-9610
Turning Stone Resort & Casino
5218 Patrick Rd, Verona, NY 13478
800-771-7711
Yellow Brick Road Casino
800 W Genesee St, Chittenango, NY 13037
315-366-9400
Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort
873 NY-37, Hogansburg, NY 13655
518-358-2222
Seneca Allegany Casino
777 Seneca Allegany Blvd, Salamanca, NY 14779
888-913-3377
Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino
1 Fulton St, Buffalo, NY 14204
877-873-6322
Seneca Niagara Casino
310 4th St, Niagara Falls, NY 14303
877-873-6322
The Grisly Pear, Greenwich Village
Doubling as a pub and a comedy club, the Grisly Pear serves beer and burgers to sports fans and is noted for showing the majors as well as PGA and LIV Tour events on the various screens dotted around its bar. The Grisly Pear opens at 11 am and closes at 4 am so you could even watch worldwide events like the British Open.
Five Iron Golf, Herald Square and Fifth Avenue, NYC
Five Iron is a one-stop shop for New York golf fans. With the latest golf simulators and coaches on hand to provide lessons in perfecting your swing, Five Iron also has a restaurant and bar with widescreen TVs for watching - you guessed it - live golf.
The Back Nine, Cortlandt Manor, NY
Around an hour’s drive north of Manhattan, the Back Nine is an indoor golf club and sports bar in Westchester County. Snacks such as wings and sandwiches are on the menu alongside an extensive selection of drinks. Live golf is beamed on the Back Nine’s TVs.
Yes you can bet on golf at any of New York’s legal sportsbooks.
Golf produces fewer sure bets than other sports. That might result in fewer winners but has potential for higher profits off a handful of wagers. If you aim to build positive returns over a season rather than just a weekend then golf can be a good sport to bet on.
At most PGA Tour events and the majors, players go off as threesomes for the first and second rounds. 3-ball betting involves predicting which of the trio will post the best score.
Yes. Live betting is one of the most popular ways to bet on golf.
To bet on the Masters, you’ll need to be aged 21 or over and sign up to a legal sportsbook. Once your account is approved you can find Masters betting from your chosen betting site’s golf menu.
Golf is a great sport to bet on. Tournaments take place around the world for around 50 weeks a year and golf is one of the best sports for a wagering strategy based on finding value from long shots.
Not all golf bets will have a cash-out option but plenty do. If available, you can opt to cash out a bet before an event has finished and take the sportsbook’s dollar offer at that particular time.
Dead-heat rules apply to golf bets when two or more participants tie for a position. Different sportsbooks apply dead heat rules in different ways. Some will pay out in full for a tie while others will only partially settle a bet.
