Five Golf Betting Tips For Picking Winners

Long hitters like Dustin Johnson have an advantage at tournaments held on lengthier courses. (Photo credit: TourProGolfClubs / Foter / CC BY)


Since tournament fields usually feature more than 100 players, deciding who to choose for your golf betting picks can be a daunting task.

An effective golf betting strategy is to come up with a short list of players to bet on, based on a few different criteria.

Here are the things we suggest looking for when making your golf betting picks:

1. Players in good form

Confidence plays a role in all sports, but it is especially crucial in golf. If a player has been playing well recently, he won’t second-guess himself or over-analyze things as much as if he’s been struggling. Recent scoring average can give you a sense of how players are playing, but don’t forget to look at PGA Tour stats like fairways hit, greens hit in regulation and putts per round.

2. Players whose game fits the course

Rather than handicap the players, why not handicap the golf course. All courses are different, and some place an emphasis on different skills than others. Some might be long and favour the long hitters. Others might have tight fairways and long rough, putting a premium on accuracy. Once you determine what the course demands, look for the top players in the field in those categories.

3. Players’ previous results at that course

Just like certain courses can favour certain players, certain players might tend to score well at certain courses. Maybe it’s that the course fits their game, maybe it’s the confidence from having played well there before, or maybe there’s a really good hooker in that city that helps the player ‘relax’. Whatever the reason, players who have scored well at courses in the past are likely to do it again.

4. Players’ previous results at similar tournaments

Some players — like Tiger Woods in his prime — thrive when the spotlight is the brightest, while others wilt under the heat. Certain tournaments are bigger than others, particularly the majors — the Masters, British Open, US Open and PGA Championship. So if a player just won the Shell Houston Open, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be a contender at the Masters the following week.

5. Players paying inflated odds

Since golf tournaments take three or four days to complete, live betting is a big part of golf betting. Players who struggled in the opening round could see their odds inflated to the point where a pre-tournament favourite now pays an underdog price. Due to the amount of luck involved in golf, it’s not unusual for someone who stinks in Round 1 to catch fire in Round 2 and play their way back into the tournament. It’s a great opportunity to buy low and sell high.

 

When making your golf betting picks, don’t forget to shop around for the best golf betting odds. Pinnacle Sports, Bodog, Sports Interaction and William Hill are all sportsbooks we recommend you have an account at in order to take advantage of the best odds on each bet.