About golf
Golf is a popular sport to watch and to play for many people. This probably comes down to the competition and recreational value it gives as well as being low exertion sport. You need to be fit enough to walk long distances, but there is no running involved like a lot of other sports. Golf is one of the only ball games that does not have a set size playing area.
Golf betting is popular like with a lot of other sports and betting on golf has grown in the last few years. If you would like some golf betting tips there are some at the end of the article.
History of golf
There are vague resemblances between golf and a Roman game called paganica, however the modern game evolved from a 12th century shepherds game in Scotland where they knocked stones into rabbit holes.
PaddyPower
PaddyPower are famous for money-back specials. They are also great for golf betting. Take advantage of their £10 get £20 offer when you join to place your golf bets
Golf Tours
Most professional golfers work as instructors and only compete in local competitions. Only the best compete in international competitions.
There are about 20 professional golf tours, all run by the Professional Golfers Association (PGA). The most popular of the tours is the PGA Tour which is mostly contested in the United States.
The PGA Tours include:
- PGA Tour
- PGA European Tour
- Japan Golf Tour
- Asian Tour
- PGA Tour of Australasia
- Sunshine Tour
- Canadian Tour
- Tour de las Américas
- China Golf Association
- Korea Professional Golfers’ Association
- Professional Golf Tour of India
Within each tour there are tournaments that take place throughout the season.
The Majors
In addition to these there are 4 major championships referred to as “The Majors”.
The Majors are competitions for the best golfers in the world and reputations are built on winning these tournaments.
These 4 Majors competitions are:
- U.S. Masters Tournament – April
- U.S. Open – June
- The Open Championship (British Open) – July
- PGA Championship – August
Tiger Woods is ranked one of the most successful golfers of all time, having won 14 Major titles. He is also the closest player to get the grand slam of all for majors in 1 year, having managed all 4 titles over a 2 year period.
Below are the winners of “The Majors” over the last 10 years:
| Year | US Masters | US Open | The Open Championship | PGA Championship |
| 2011 | Charl Schwartzel | Rory McIlroy | Darren Clarke | Keegan Bradley |
| 2010 | Phil Mickelson | Graeme McDowell | Louis Oosthuizen | Martin Kaymer |
| 2009 | Ángel Cabrera | Lucas Glover | Stewart Cink | Yang Yong-eun |
| 2008 | Trevor Immelman | Tiger Woods | Pádraig Harrington | Pádraig Harrington |
| 2007 | Zach Johnson | Ángel Cabrera | Pádraig Harrington | Tiger Woods |
| 2006 | Phil Mickelson | Geoff Ogilvy | Tiger Woods | Tiger Woods |
| 2005 | Tiger Woods | Michael Campbell | Tiger Woods | Phil Mickelson |
| 2004 | Phil Mickelson | Retief Goosen | Todd Hamilton | Vijay Singh |
| 2003 | Mike Weir | Jim Furyk | Ben Curtis | Shaun Micheel |
| 2002 | Tiger Woods | Tiger Woods | Ernie Els | Rich Beem |
| 2001 | Tiger Woods | Retief Goosen | David Duval | David Toms |
| 2000 | Vijay Singh | Tiger Woods | Tiger Woods | Tiger Woods |
The table is dominated by Tiger woods with his 14 times. A good golf betting tip would be to never forget about Tiger when placing your bets!
William Hill
William Hill is great for golf betting. They are one of the biggest highstreet bookies and are just as big on the Internet. New customers are rewarded with a £25 free bet.
Golf cups
Golf also has a couple of team competitions. The most famous of these are:
- The Ryder Cup
- Presidents Cup
The Ryder Cup happens every 2 years and is contested between teams from Europe and the US. The venue alternates between the US and Europe. The Ryder Cup is currently held in even number years.
The Presidents Cup happens every 2 years and is contested between a team from the US and teams from the rest of the world. The event is hosted either by the US or countries representing the other teams. The Presidents Cup is currently held in odd number years.
Golf betting tips
Because golf is an individual sport (with exception of the Cups), it is more important to look at a player’s current form. Any golf bets you make should be after careful analysis of current form and past performances of that player in a particular competition.
Golf betting has a lot of markets available to bet on and as always, outrights are very popular. Betting on a particular player to win a particular tournament is quite a long shot, but this market always takes a lot of bets. If you are using a betting exchange like Betfair a good tip is to ask the odds you want for you bet a few days before the competition starts and see if you can get any layers to back them.
To increase your chances of winning outrights it is advisable not to just bet on the winner. One option for you is each-way betting. Although you will get lower odds, the bookie will usually pay out if the golfer you backed comes 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th. However, a better option is to find a bookie that offers place betting. The disadvantage of each way betting is that half your stake is put on winning and the other half put on the places. With a place bet, all your stake is on coming in the top 4 (or 5). You are likely to get lower odds than betting on a particular player to win, but you are likely to win more than placing an each way bet.
