Recommended Golf Online Bookies 2024
Golf is one of the world’s truly global sports. It’s as popular in Japan as it is in Sweden, played as much on the rugged courses of Ireland as on the sun-kissed fairways of California. The season runs all year round, with most tournaments taking place Thursday-Sunday. As a consequence, betting on golf is big – bettors frequently cite the big odds as a main draw. In fact, golf betting is said to be rising, especially during the Majors, where punters love to cash in on their favourite players at the big events. Check out the best UK bookies for golf betting online:
Recommended Sites
Best Site for Golf Odds
As with all sports, bookies’ golf odds will vary from player to player. As the field in golf can be so large (up to 156 players can officially contest a tournament), it follows that the odds variation is bigger than other sports. For example, Betway goes 28/1 on Adam Scott to win the 2018 US Open. That’s a hefty 78.5% difference in your betting returns.
Of course, that’s just one example, and it should be noted that Betway does trump for other golfers, including 2017 PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas (16/1 vs 14/1). The table below shows the odds from PlayRight’s recommended golf bookmakers for the world’s top ranked players and selected others:
| Bookmaker | Dustin Johnson | Rory McIlroy | Jordan Spieth | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Betfair | 10/1 | 9/1 | 11/1 |
 | Sky Bet | 10/1 | 11/1 | 10/1 |
 | Betway | 10/1 | 10/1 | 11/1 |
 | Sport Nation | 8/1 | 11/1 | 11/1 |
 | Paddy power | 10/1 | 9/1 | 11/1 |
As you can see, there is a considerable difference between the odds offered by each bookie.
Of course, the US Open is just one example of an important golf tournament. So, for balance, let’s look at the current odds for the 2018 Ryder Cup:
| Bookmaker | USA | Europe | Draw | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Betfair | 5/6 | 6/5 | 10/1 |
| Sky Bet | 4/5 | 6/5 | 12/1 |
| Betway | N/A | N/A | N/A* |
| Sport Nation | 5/6 | 23/20 | 10/1 |
| Paddy Power | 5/6 | 6/5 | 10/1 |
*Odds unavailable at the time of writing
As the Ryder Cup technically only has a field of three (USA, Europe and a draw between the two sides), it follows that the odds margins are a bit tighter here. If you were to back the favourites (USA). However, they do have the lowest odds for a very capable Europe side.
Verdict: tie
Best Site for Golf Promotions and Offers
Golf promotions are an important factor in choosing the right bookmaker. The recommended websites chosen by PlayRight’s experts will all offer a lucrative sign up offer, but most will also offer plenty of incentives to bet on golf, especially in the bigger tournaments.
When it comes to golf promotions, arguably the most important for punters are extra place promotions, i.e. more runners up positions for your each-way bet. The standard each-way allows just 4/5 places for a golf tournament, but promotions (certainly with the Majors) can sometimes be up to 8 or more places. This is important because the big field in golf normally equates to bigger odds, certainly when compared to the average horse race or football tournament. This makes an each-way bet more attractive to punters. Both Sky Bet and Paddy Power sport have been noted for paying up to 8 places for significant golf tournaments.
For example, the promotion for the 2018 US Masters meant that Paddy Power punters could have cashed in each-way on the following players: Patrick Reed (winner, 40/1), Rickie Fowler (16/1), Jordan Spieth (10/1), John Rahm (20/1), Cameron Smith (150/1), Rory McIlroy (10/1), Bubba Watson (16/1) and Henrik Stenson (30/1). Indeed, Paddy Power has even gone as far as giving 10 places before (including the Players Championship 2018), although punters must note that these each-way bets are settled at 1/5 of the odds.
There are, of course, plenty of other promotions for golf wagering, including Price Boosts (Sky Bet, Betway sports), Money Back Specials (Paddy Power) and weekly free bets (various).
However, the most important promotion for golf wagering has to be the extra places mentioned above. For that reason, Paddy Power gets the nod as best golf bookie for promotions.
Verdict: Paddy Power
Best Site for Golf Betting Markets
All the recommended bookmakers chosen by PlayRight will have a varied range of markets across a wide selection of tournaments. Each weekend, all the bookmakers will cover events from the two main men’s tours: PGA Tour and European Tour. With regards to the Majors, you can expect top bookmakers like Paddy Power to have nearly 40 markets offered for the tournament.
However, when it comes to the choice of markets within a tournament and the number of tournaments you can bet on from a long-term perspective, Sky Bet arguably has the best options. Perhaps buoyed by its sister brand’s (Sky Television) dominant market coverage in the UK for live golf, Sky Bet really embraces golf as one of their main sports. They not only cover all the main betting markets for each tournament (described in a later section), but they also offer plenty of specials like Race to Dubai outrights and PGA Tour Money Lists.
Verdict: Sky Bet
Best Site for In-Play Betting
Betway, Sky Bet and Paddy Power are three of the most regularly cited bookmakers for top live in-play golf betting. In-play betting is not all about odds and markets, it is also crucial to have a slick, real-time experience to allow you to make the most of your betting while watching the action. These bookies regularly deliver on that.
Typical examples of in-play betting markets include: betting on 3 balls or 2 balls on a hole by hole basis, betting on an individual player’s hole score and betting on whether the lead will change after the hole has been completed.
Once again, Sky Bet has shown to be an excellent choice when it comes to wagering on golf in-play. They marry an excellent real-time feed of the latest odds with a good choice of markets. However, Betway and Paddy Power are also highly recommended for live betting.
Verdict: Sky Bet
Golf Betting Markets Explained:
There are, of course, lots of different markets to bet on with golf. Some of the popular betting markets are explained below:
| Betting Market | Description |
|---|---|
| Outright betting | The most basic market for golf betting – backing the winner of a tournament |
| Golf futures betting | Betting on future golf tournaments, such as next year’s US Masters or Race to Dubai |
| Top 5/10/20 Betting | A bet on a player finishing in the top 5, 10 or 20 places after the final round has been completed |
| Prop Bets | Betting on a market that does not impact the winner, like the cut-line |
| Matchups | Sometimes called mythical 2 balls, matchups are theoretical contests between two players |
| Group Play/3 Ball | A 3 ball bet is a wager on which player in a group of three (playing together) will have the best score |
| 2 Ball | The 2 balls bet works in the same manner as 3 balls, but you are simply choosing between two players |
| First Round Leader | This market covers betting on who will be leading after the first round has finished |
| Nationality Betting | Betting on who the top English, American player etc. will be, or picking the nationality of the winner |
Golf Tips and Betting Systems
As in all major sports, golf has plenty of online tipsters who claim to give you the ‘best golf betting systems’. Indeed, some of these tipsters require a subscription fee to receive the tips by email. The upshot is that they will publish the results and profit margins, with the downside being you have to pay for the privilege. Some of the popular tipsters, such as The Golf Betting Expert, currently claim to average £268.90 profit per month.
The main question you will have to weigh up is whether you wish to bet on golf each and every week to keep up your profit margins. If, like many punters, your golf betting is limited to the Majors, then it might be better to swerve the tipsters that require you to be placing bets each week.
Most golf betting systems will use current statistics and historical data to make predictions on how a player will perform on a specific golf course. For example, golfers who have demonstrated excellent driving accuracy (Henrik Stenson, Matthew Fitzpatrick) might thrive on links courses, which are characterised by tight fairways. On the other hand, big hitters, i.e. those who can cover great distance on a drive (Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson) will often succeed on courses with wider fairways, although these two skills are, obviously, not mutually exclusive.
Systems are, of course, never fool proof. No amount of statistics can ever predict a player having a ‘blow-up’, such as occurred when Greg Norman (1996), Rory McIlroy (2011) and Jordan Spieth (2016) were leading The Masters on the final day of play. However, checking out systems that use real data, pairing it with course conditions, is never a bad idea. Don’t forget though, that since golf arguably throws up more surprise winners than any other sport, having a flutter on a longshot to succeed is never a bad idea. Darren Clarke (The Open, 2011) and Danny Willett (The Masters, 2016) are two examples of the form book being thrown out the window when it comes to winning the Majors.
Golf Majors
Other Important Golf Events
Other popular events that see plenty of golf wagering include: the Ryder Cup, a USA vs Europe team event held biannually. The Players’ Championship, a prestigious event held at Sawgrass which is unofficially termed the ‘fifth Major’. Golf was also reinstated as an Olympic sport for Rio 2016.
Conclusion
As should be clear, there is plenty of value to be found in shopping around to find the best ways to bet on golf. The large field of players mean it is not uncommon to find your selection at double the odds elsewhere, something that cannot be said for sports like horse racing or football.
Indeed, compared to most major sports, golf seems to have the biggest fluctuations in terms of odds. Golf promo offers also vary from bookmaker to bookmaker, so it is always worth checking out to see which bookie is offering the best terms on the next tournament.
It is difficult to say if there is a best bookmaker for golf, but all of those on PlayRight’s recommended list of golf betting sites have demonstrated that they offer punters value in specific areas. Choose any from the list and you’ll be ahead of the game, but it might be worth switching it up when the next big event comes around to get even more value.
