PGA Betting

5 PGA Betting Tips to increase your Winnings

rory-mcilroy

When it comes to major sports where you wager on individuals, golf is the most challenging. The reason why is because PGA tournament fields normally feature 130-140 players. And if you make an Outright Winner bet on one player, they have to beat everybody else. Compare this to tennis, where a player only needs to beat six opponents in a row to win the tourney. Offering even less variance is boxing or mixed martial arts, where you're betting on one fighter to beat the other.

So does this mean that you should completely avoid PGA betting? Absolutely not because there are plenty of profitable wagering opportunities in the sport. But it's important to know some tips about the sport first, so let's go over a few useful PGA betting tips.

Tip #1: Expand your Knowledge of Golf Bets

When you first start wagering on PGA tournaments, you'll notice that Outright Winner bets are the most popular at online sportsbooks. But as we mentioned in the introduction, these are very difficult bets to win on a consistent basis.

Now this isn't to say that you should never make an Outright wager. However, it's a good idea to learn about more prop bets and live wagering opportunities so you have options. Many bets like 2-ball (group of two players) and 3-ball (group of three players) cut down on the amount of golfers you have to worry about. Furthermore, they allow you to win more often and limit variance.

Tip #2: Factor in Players' Travel Time

tiger-woods

If you pay attention to team sports like football, basketball and baseball, you're well aware of how travel can influence results. For example, a team on the eastern coast of the United States will be fatigued while on a six-game West Coast road trip.

The same goes for golfers on the PGA Tour. Using Tiger Woods as an example, he lives on the East Coast in Florida. So when most Tour events are held in the eastern part of the US, he does particularly well. Another example would be how many European golfers struggle when traveling to play in an American-based tournament. That said, it's important to factor in travel time whenever you're thinking of wagering on a golfer.

Tip #3: Consider how Golfers' Games relate to the Course

Unlike a football field or basketball court, there is no regulation size for a golf course. So these venues vary greatly from the water hazards to sand bunkers. Because of this, a player's chance of winning greatly hinges on how they do on specific courses.

Bubba Watson ranks about in the middle of many PGA events he plays in. But since Watson is so good at driving the ball, he gains an advantage from courses with long fairways. This is just one instance though so be sure to know the course that you're betting on and find some players whose strengths match the tournament.

Tip #4: Check the Weather Reports

lee-westwood

Golf is an outdoor sport, so it's only natural that tournaments are sometimes affected by inclimate weather. This is especially true when it's windy because high winds can have a dramatic impact on drives. When this is the case, players who frequently hit low drives stand a better chance of success than their opponents.

Certain tournaments on the PGA schedule are more susceptible to bad/windy weather than others. Of the four Majors, the British Open is notorious for wind, rain and nasty weather which makes predicting winners very difficult.

Tip #5: Always monitor Players' Recent Performances

One more very important aspect to consider with PGA betting is how players have been doing recently. Obviously, the better a golfer has been faring in recent tournaments, the more likely they are to experience success at the prospective event you're researching.

But another factor that you want to account for is players who've taken some time off of golfing. Whether due to injury or the need for rest, these golfers are likely to be rusty when they return to the course. So you'd be wise to avoid putting your money on them.

The tips we've listed only represent the beginning of what you need to know about PGA betting. So if you want to collect some nice profits, don't stop studying golf betting strategy and researching the tournaments.