Learn to Bet: Guide to Betting on PGA Majors

A sport that bettors are finding out there is lots of value in is golf. There are plenty of options each week where sports bettors can find value bets.

The most common golf wager is on a player to win a tournament. Bettors can also wager on matchups placing a bet on one golfer to beat another. There are also various proposition bets such as “Will there be a hole-in-one or will a certain golfer place in the top 10?”

While bettors can wager on most any tournament throughout a season, it is common for golf bettors to flock to the four majors: the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open, the Open Championship, and the Masters.

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Here’s a look at betting each of golf’s major tournaments.

Betting on the PGA Championship

The PGA Championship was typically the fourth and final major of the season normally played over the third weekend in August. That changed in 2019 with the tournament moved to May making it the second major on the schedule.

The PGA is usually played in the eastern half of the United States. New York has played host to the tournament most often (13 times), followed by Ohio (11), and Pennsylvania (9). The tournament has been played in the western U.S. just 11 times since it started in 1916.

With the PGA played at a variety of courses primarily on the East Coast, the tournament favors golfers that have strong games no matter the course. They must be able to handle the pressure of four rounds against the best golfers in the world.

Betting on the U.S. Open

Since 1895, the U.S. Open has been played over the third weekend in June. The tournament has been held at a golf course in New York or Pennsylvania more than any other U.S. states (37 times). The courses selected are chosen because they are difficult.

In most cases, the U.S. Open favors golfers that are more accurate drivers. A U.S. Open course is rarely beaten with the winner usually coming in around even par. Most winners have been from the U.S., but since 1965 five golfers from South Africa have won the title.

Betting on the Open Championship

It is the oldest golf tournament in the world dating back to 1860. With the move of the PGA to May, the Open is now the fourth and final major of the year. Typically, the Open is held over the third weekend in July.

The Open is held at a coastal links golf course. The idea was for the Open to represent the purest form of golf. Courses feature terrain that was shaped by nature rather than man. Since 1973, five courses – three in Scotland and two in England – have hosted the Open on a rotating basis. A course in Northern Ireland joined the rotation in 2019.

Golfers typically have to deal with weather conditions that are less than desirable at the Open. Winners are usually those who can deal with wind, rain, and whatever else is put before them.

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Betting on the PGA Masters

The Masters usually kicks off golf’s majors each year. It is usually played in April and is held at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. The tournament features the smallest field of all four majors.

The key, for most golfers, to winning at Augusta is the par-3 and par-5 holes. There are plenty of slopes and drop-offs on the course and it is usually the players with the best iron play that put themselves in position to win.

Experience at Augusta helps too. Only three players have won the Masters in their first try and if you take out the first two winners of the tournament, that number becomes one.