Generally in the bigger tournaments there are going to be some special, creative odds that present handicappers with the opportunity for some value, and some very interesting challenges.
Let’s offer some perspective for moment. When you are simply making a wager on who is going to win the tournament, you are overloaded with possibilities. When Tiger Woods was a dominant player on tour, he was almost always the favorite in any tournament he entered, and by a wide margin. Such is not really the case anymore, so the odds have tightened up. Nonetheless, when it comes to the PGA Tour, there are some very specific things you can bet on, with fields that are limited.
If you go to America’s Bookie, for example, prior to one of the majors (PGA Championship, Masters, British Open, US Open) or other selected tournaments, like the World Golf Championship events or the Players Championship, you will find that players are often grouped into very specialized categories.
Many of these tournaments have international fields that make it very easy to break it down. So it would not be all that unusual to find wagering categories like the following:
* Top American
* Top European
* Top Asian
* Top South American
* Top UK
They should be self-explanatory; you can bet on who will be the top finisher among American players, Asian players, etc.
You may also, in the majors, have an opportunity to bet on the low amateur, or the senior player who has the best score. Of course, this applies to those occasions in which there are enough players to make up a respectable field (at least four or five). All of this just creates more wagering possibilities for recreational and serious golf bettors alike.
There are also other creative props that may not involve specific players or groups of players. They are somewhat generic in nature. For example, something that is not so uncommon is to see an over/under on what the winners score will be. This obviously applies to the four rounds of the tournament, not a playoff if such a thing is contested, unless the number is expressed not in an overall number of strokes but in terms of a score relative to par. And speaking of playoffs, golf bettors may get a price on whether there will indeed be a playoff in any given major tournament.
Holes-in-one often supply some of the most excitement in a golf tournament, and if the sportsbook wants to add a little twist, they can put a price on that as well. Will an amateur make the cut? This is always a legitimate question, especially in a major, and it rates serious attention. Therefore, it can serve as a viable special proposition. In no way are the special odds limited to what we have just mentioned. The only limit is the creativity of the oddsmaker.
For any and all golf betting propositions, the sportsbook customer can get an awful lot of information from one of the many websites that offer statistics and results. One of the strongest is the PGA Tour website, which includes information on every event, including the complete field, the description of the course, some expert predictions and a complete history of each player, on a tournament-by-tournament basis. It can be an invaluable tool in your battle to win money wagering on this great game!
