The current popularity of fantasy contests and golf wagering mirrors only that of the game itself. With so many amazing new entrants into the golf ecosystem, PGA Professionals all over the country are helping people make golf their thing. As a PGA Member, I relish every opportunity to share with everyone my knowledge about all aspects of the game.
In current pop-culture, betting vernacular is taken completely for granted. As part of the complete PGA Championship experience, increasing your betting acumen is helpful to understand what you hear on the broadcasts and from fellow golfers around the course.
There are two types of golf betting to begin with.
- Fans can place a pre-tournament or future bet.
- During the tournament action, “live” betting is available.
Two years ago, pre-tournament betting took up a large majority of the marketplace. Today as we play the 104th PGA Championship, live betting is by far the leader. To recap Round 1 action of this season’s second major championship, I’m going to compare the leaderboard with the odds symmetry of the betting board. For clarity, the leaderboard is just the player scoring. The odds board reflects a player’s odds (in this case) of winning the tournament at any given moment. Believe it or not, both update in realistic real time.
Tiger Woods began the round today with a moneyline of +6600, Jordan Spieth was listed at +2000 and Rory McIlroy +1600.
The moneyline is a positive or negative figure listed next to the bet. It describes the payout of any given wager based upon a $100 bet. Bets do NOT need to be placed for $100, but it makes the math easier. Here’s a quick example. If a $10 bet is placed on Jordan Spieth (+2000) to win and he does, $200 is won.
It didn’t take very long before the oddsmakers were tested on Thursday. Tiger Woods birdied his first hole and his live odds moved to +4000! Rory started the day at +1600, he birdies four holes in a row and his odds fell to +400. These specific examples show you how the volatility of scoring directly influences the gaming.
Rory’s round was awesome. His odds remained constant the rest of the way and he finished at +300. Tiger on the other hand dipped to his lowest odds after reaching two under par through six holes and +3300. But the bogeys came the rest of the way and he finished at +40000.
As a PGA Coach, I like to educate my students about all aspects of the game of golf. You can find more educational material about Southern Hills and the challenges it provides by clicking here to help guide you on who to watch alongside of the odds the rest of the PGA Championship.
PGA Professional Keith Stewart writes for Read The Line.
The Professional Golfers’ Association of America (“PGA”) is not an online gambling operator, and PGAChampionship.com is not a gambling site of any kind. Odds are provided for information and entertainment purposes only. Odds were sourced from BetMGM and last updated on: [datetime stamp]. PGA makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the information given.
