The 2025 PGA Tour season formally teed off yesterday in Kapalua with The Sentry, a $20M purse for a subject consisting solely of winners final 12 months and those that certified for the season-ending Tour Championship.
Will Zalatoris putts in the course of the first spherical of The Sentry PGA Tour golf match on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Kapalua, Hawaii. A bettor risked $9,900 on Zalatoris not profitable, although he stands in second after firing a gap spherical 65. (Picture: PGA Tour)
A brand new 12 months marks a brand new development in what number of golf bettors — particularly these with massive pockets — gamble on the game. Since authorized sports activities betting expanded after the U.S. Supreme Court docket struck down a federal legislation in Might 2018, golf has been a high-performing sport for oddsmakers.
Since most PGA Tour stops usually embody 132, 144, or 156 gamers — this week being an exception with solely 59 contestants — bettors selecting a pre-tournament participant to win outright is a moderately daunting process. Whereas many golf bettors place small wagers, say $1 to $10 on a match outright, these losses have added up for sportsbooks.
Even when a golf bettor does overcome the lengthy odds, their payouts normally aren’t life-changing or worthy of media protection. As an illustration, a $10 pre-tournament wager this week on Justin Thomas at 10/1 odds would web simply $100. Even on a longshot like Max Greyserman, who has by no means gained on Tour, a $10 wager at 40/1 would web solely $400.
Huge Bets, Small Return
Some golf bettors have seemingly had sufficient of constructing small bets in slim hopes of marginal returns. Golf followers with a abdomen for risking a lot cash are doing the alternative in hopes of higher bettering their odds of beating the e book.
Together with providing golf outright odds, prime 10, prime 25, and made cuts, sure sportsbooks and wagering exchanges supply bets on whether or not a participant will miss the weekend, shoot a excessive rating, and never win the match. The latter has develop into a preferred wager, however with lengthy odds, bettors should threat giant quantities to make a worthy return.
For this week in Hawaii, Sporttrade’s “Whale Tracker,” which screens bets over $3K, stories a slew of pricey wagers had been made earlier than Thursday’s first spherical on gamers not to win. They embody a $9,325 wager on Collin Morikawa to web $568, $9,500 on Patrick Cantlay to web $490, and $9,791 on Nick Dunlap to web $106.
Morikawa is T4 after a first-round rating of 66. The Cantlay and Dunlap bets look good after first rounds of +1 and +3.
A scarier wager after 18 holes of play is a $9,900 wager on Will Zalatoris not profitable that will web simply $98. Zalatoris is tied for second after a gap spherical of 65.
Conventional Golf Odds Outlook
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler injured his hand whereas prepping Christmas dinner and will probably be exterior the ropes for “three to 4 weeks.” He expects to be “100%” upon his return.
Following some of the historic PGA Tour seasons the place the 28-year-old gained seven occasions, together with the Masters, Gamers Championship, Memorial, and Tour Championship, Scheffler is the betting favourite for all 4 majors this 12 months. FanDuel has Scottie at +410 for the Masters, +490 for the PGA Championship, +410 for the U.S. Open, and +430 for The Open Championship.
McIlroy is subsequent in all 4 majors ranging between +850 to +1000 in every.
