How to Bet on Golf Online with Betfred

Golf is one of our most popular sports here at Betfred and rightly so. It's a fantastic mix of power, skill and mental fortitude and as well as being a thrilling spectacle, it also offers up dozens of betting markets to get stuck into.

Here at Betfred Insights, we try to go a step further and provide you with some real insight into the professional game on both the men's and women's tours, courtesy of our ace golf tipster Jamie Worsley, who has been making proven regular profit for the last four seasons on Twitter/X and writes long-read, comprehensive previews into all the tournaments on the PGA, LPGA, DP World Tour and Major Championship golf.

As well as that, here at the Education team, we have also written a detailed guide into how to bet on golf online with Betfred and a look at some of the many markets we cover. 

What golf events can I bet on?

There are dozens of tours in the professional golf world but the major tours we cover here at Betfred are the men's PGA Tour and DP World Tour (formerly European Tour), as well as the Women's LPGA Tour.

We also occasionally cover the rebel Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf tour, as well as big events from the Ladies European Tour(LET), Senior's Champions Tour and feeder tour to the PGA, the Korn Ferry Tour.

On top of that there are four Major Championships held each year (in chronological order The Masters, The PGA Championship, The US Open and The Open Championship), as well as some regular international team events such as the Ryder Cup (men's Europe vs USA), Solheim Cup (women's Europe vs USA) and the Presidents Cup (men's USA vs Rest of the World).

How long does a golf event last?

Generally speaking a golf tournament is played over 72 holes of stroke-play, which consists of four rounds of 18 holes, each played over a separate day. These normally run from Thursday through to Sunday but this can change dependant on location, weather and format.

Some women's and senior's tournaments can be played over 54 holes (three days) and there are also a number of match-play events which pit player vs player over a larger number of rounds.

What golf markets can I bet on?

There are a huge amount of markets to bet on in golf but I will attempt to cover the more popular ones in some more detail here:

• To win - Exactly what it sounds like. You are backing the outright winner of the tournament, either win only or each-way (I cover that in more detail in the next section)
• First Round Leader - This is betting on a player to be leading after the first round of play is complete. Again, this can be win only or each-way. Quite often one side of the draw will have a bias due to changing weather conditions, so it's always worth checking before placing.
• Top 5/10/20 betting - You are placing a bet on your chosen player to finish with the top five, 10 or 20 places in the final standings. These markets can be subject to dead-heat rules, as there is often multiple ties in golf placings. I cover that scenario below.
• Top Nationality/Class betting - Similar to the above market, this is betting on the top finishing player of a certain nationality. So for instance this could be Top English, Top Japanese, Top Asian or Top European etc. It could also be grouped by class such as Top Debutant, Top Amateur or Top Senior.
• Make the Cut/Miss the Cut - The cut is usually made at the 36-hole stage and involves roughly the bottom half of the field being removed from the tournament, with the remaining players playing the final two rounds. You can bet on whether a certain player will make the cut (play the full 72 holes) or miss the cut (be removed from the field after 36 holes).
• Hole in one - Yes/No - A hole in one in golf is where a player hits their first shot on a hole (also called their tee shot) straight into the hole. You can place a bet whether this will happen in the entire tournament. They are more frequent than you would think  in professional tournaments and the odds on this are usually odds-on.
• Two-ball/Three-ball betting - This is similar to your match odds betting in football or other sports. Players are generally grouped into three-ball or two-ball pairings for an entire round and you can bet on which player will shoot the lowest score of the three/two players.

How does each-way betting work in golf?

Each-way betting in golf is fairly complex and terms often depends on the quality of the competition, the size of the competing field and promotions differing by bookmaker.

For instance, for a standard field in LPGA golf, you may receive an offering of 1/4 the odds with five places offered each way. This would mean if your player won at 100/1 from a £1 each-way stake (£2 total stake), you would win £100 on the win and then 1/4 those odds on the place (£25) for a total profit of £125. If she was to place in the first five, you would just receive the place returns.

However, on some larger events such as the bigger PGA events you would be offered 1/5 the odds, with eight places each-way. Your total return on the win would only be £120 but you would also be paid out the place returns if they finish in the top eight.

For Major Championships this can be even larger, with some bookmakers known to offer up to 12 places!

How do dead-heat rules work in golf?

Dead-heat rules in golf can be one of the more confusing situations when placing a bet.

So for instance, imagine you place a £10 bet at 10/1 on a player to finish in the Top 5. If they finish in the positions 1-5 you would be paid out in full. However if they finish tied fifth with three other players, you would receive just 25% of your full returns as three other players have also finished in the Top 5 and need paying out. This can sometimes be 10+ players tying for a spot so often what looks like a good win can be a really small return.

This can get even more confusing when there is a dead-heat on an each-way bet. Say for instance, you have £10 each-way on a player at 100/1 with the terms of 1/4 odds and five places and they finish T5th with nine other players. You would receive 1/4 the 100/1 win odds (25/1) x 10% as your player had only 1/10th of fifth place. So your overall place returns would be £10 x 25/1 x 0.1 = £25

You can check out all our latest Golf Betting Odds on the market page at betfred.com and read our expert tipster Jamie Worsley's Golf Betting Tips here at Betfred Insights