Golf Betting Explained: Markets, each-way terms, dead heat rules and more

Learn everything you need to know about golf betting, including the different markets, each-way terms and dead heat rules.

With more than 150 players competing in tournaments from week to week, it's rare a favourite finds themselves in the winners' circle come Sunday evening, and while that can make golf betting challenging, it can also be hugely rewarding, with big-price winners not at all uncommon.

One of the more exciting aspects of golf betting is that a tournament is never over until the last putt drops, and no lead is too big to overcome -- or surrender.

Of course, there are easier ways of betting on golf and than looking for a winner in a 150-player tournament, with a variety of markets available to bet on.

Below we look at some of the rules and markets to be aware of when betting on golf.

Dead heat rules explained

Another unique aspect of golf betting is that you can find you've backed a player who's landed themselves in a tie for a place, meaning you're due a return, but that it's perhaps not as much as you were expecting.

If you back a player each-way in a tournament, you'll essentially place two bets: one on them winning and one on them placing. The second part of the bet depends on the place terms. For example, if you have a £10 each-way bet on a player at 20/1 at 1/4 the odds for five places and they finish third, you will lose the first £10 on them winning, but will receive £60 for the place part of the bet (1/4 (each-way terms) x 20 (odds) x £10 (stake) + £10 (stake)).

Where it gets more complicated is if multiple players tie for several places.

Consider the below leaderboard at the end of a tournament:

1st Player A
2nd Player B
3rd Player C
3rd Player D
5th Player E
5th Player F
5th Player G

Players B, C and D all receive full each-way pay-outs for finishing in the top five, but players E, F and G will split the remaining place by three due to three players sharing the final place. A £10 each-way bet on Player E at 20/1 at 1/4 odds returns £20 (1/4 x 20 x (£10/3 (stake divided by number of ties)) + £10/3)

Where matters can be even more complicated is where several players share several places. Consider the below leaderboard at the end of a tournament:

1st Player A
2nd Player B
2nd Player C
3rd Player D
3rd Player E
3rd Player F

Players B and C secure full place returns, but with only five places being paid out, and three players sharing the remaining two places, the bettor's stake would be 2/3 (two remaining places divided by the three tied players) and returns would be £40.

The formula used for calculating a dead heat in golf is as follows:

(Stake multiplied by (places available divided by players tied)) multiplied by odds multiplied by place terms plus (stake multiplied by (places available divided by players tied))

To make/miss cut

While it's hard to predict the winner of any golf tournament, it's easier to predict whether or not they'll make the cut. The cut is typically the top 65 players and tied (though that varies by tournament and tour), and you can back a player to make the cut, potentially securing a return two days before the tournament finishes.

Finishing position

While you might fancy a player's chances in a given tournament, you can take a lot of the luck out of golf betting by backing a player's finishing position. Offered for select players in tournaments, you can bet on whether a player will finish higher or lower than a certain position.

Betting by nation/continent

A truly global game, golf is played by players from all over the globe. While the PGA Tour is dominated by Americans, there are still players from Europe, South America and Asia who compete at the top level of the game.

Each week, you can back players in the Top Golfer by Category market, where you can back the top Asian, top Continental European, the top Englishman, the top Scandinavian and many more.

Top finishes

To win any golf tournament requires a bit of luck. Sometimes the putts just don't drop and what could have been a winning week turns into a top-five or top-10 finish. Luckily, these markets are available if you'd rather take a bit of variance out of the equation.

You can back players to finish in the top five, 10, 20, 30 or 40 of a tournament, as well as backing them to finish in those positions with ties included, meaning if you back a player to finish in the top five, and they share fifth place with other golfers, you still get a full pay-out.

2/3/4/5 v the field

Perhaps you like the look of the favourites in the market and aren't sure which way to go. You can back either two, three, four or five v the field on a given week, where the favourites are put together against the rest of the field, giving you more chances to win.

Match betting

Picking one player to beat 150+ other players on any given week is extremely challenging. Match betting greatly reduces the field meaning you're often backing one player to beat just one or two others.

72-hole match-ups typically pit similarly rated golfers together and you can back one to beat the other across the week, or you can pick a player to beat their playing partners in a given round.

Under the umbrella of match betting is group betting, where five or six players are grouped together. Perhaps you like a player's chances but don't think they can win the tournament. You might want to back them to beat players they're rated similar to in the betting via group betting.

Betting Without

While the nature of golf means even favourites win rarely, certain events do have short-priced favourites that look too good to ignore but too short to back. Bettors have the option of looking at the 'Without Player' market, where the rest of the field's odds are reduced slightly, but with certain players removed.

Round betting

For a quicker result than having to wait the standard four days of a golf tournament, bettors have the option of betting on individual rounds.

First-round leader

A popular market, bettors can select who will lead after the first round of a tournament. While the best player over four days usually wins the tournament, anybody can have one good round, making the market even more wide open than outright betting.

Three-balls

While two-ball betting is offered across a whole tournament, three-ball betting is available for individual rounds where three players are playing alongside each other. In this market, you're just backing a player to beat their two playing partners.

Forecast betting

Fancy making golf betting that bit more difficult? Instead of just backing a player to win, you can back a player to win and another to come second with the forecast market. Of course, with the difficulty ramped up, the prices are juiced up too, and you can expect to see prices in the three figures for the two favourites to come home first and second.

To dial the difficulty down a touch, you can select players to come first and second in any order.