Betting and golf go hand-in-hand better than most sports. Wagers between friends on the links are quite common. The sport is often the subject of wild proposition bets among professional gamblers.
So, naturally, it’s important that Michigan sports bettors know about their betting options for “a good walk spoiled.” With online and retail sportsbooks live in the state, numerous options abound to put a bet on a game played in long pants and, occasionally, genuinely ridiculous clothing.
The primary avenue for betting on golf will be with PGA Tour tournaments. The PGA is the most prestigious league for golfers in the world and offers the highest level of competition. Furthermore, it hosts a tournament on roughly half the weekends out of the year. So, there are going to be ways to bet on golf in Michigan quite often.
Read on to find out everything you need to know about how to bet on golf in Michigan, from all the different ways you can bet on PGA Tour events, to a look at the revised PGA season schedule, and exactly where you can place golf bets.
Golf is unique in the world of sports betting because it offers more betting opportunities than most other sports. The reason is that most PGA Tour events start with around 100 golfers and play out over four rounds from Thursday through Sunday. You can imagine all the betting possibilities that presents.
That said, betting on golf is as easy as pie because state retail sportsbooks, and Michigan mobile betting apps, offer a massive variety of simple and easy ways you can bet on every PGA Tour event.
The basic PGA golf bets available in Michigan include:
Live golf betting provides you the opportunity to bet on a PGA Tour event in the middle of a round at odds that are constantly changing with the action on the course. The betting options available are generally the same as the basic bets listed above, except the golf betting odds are continually adjusted.
Live golf betting also gives you the chance to wager hole by hole, and even shot by shot, adding literally thousands of betting opportunities during competitions. As you can imagine, these markets move quickly, making them only truly possible with Michigan online and mobile sportsbooks.
The PGA Tour season generally surrounds golf’s four majors, the FedExCup Playoffs and the Tour Championship. That’s why golf futures markets at Michigan sportsbooks also focus on these events.
That means you can make moneyline odds bets on any golfer to win The Masters, PGA Championship, Open Championship, US Open, and the Tour Championship all year long at Michigan sportsbooks.
You’ll find that the odds are adjusted throughout the year alongside each golfer’s chances. Of course, it is worth noting that the further from an event it is, the better the golf betting odds usually are for true favorites. That means it’s a good idea to book golf futures early and take advantage of these prices.
You can bet on all kinds of things happening inside a golf tournament outside of the actual results at Michigan sportsbooks.
These golf props are side bets on many things that may or may not happen involving one golfer or the entire field. Will there be a hole in one? Will Tiger Woods have a bogey-free round? Will there be more or less than 30 birdies on the ninth hole?
Think of any question like this surrounding a PGA Tour event and you’ll probably find a prop bet on it available at a Michigan sportsbook, so check them out and see what is available.
Golf’s four majors attract bigger viewing audiences and more betting than any other PGA Tour events. It’s no wonder, since the majors are all about the best golfers competing for historic titles on the most challenging and beautiful courses on the planet.
Golf futures surround these events and most sportsbooks also increase the number of basic bets, props, and live golf betting options they offer for majors.
Here’s a detailed look at golf’s four majors.
Below find the current odds on the Top 20 golfers listed at MI online sportsbooks for the 2021 Masters. Use the drop-down menu to select “Masters – To Win Tournament”
The Masters is usually the first major of the season and the PGA Tour’s most iconic event. The 2020 Masters was scheduled for April 9–12 but was postponed during the pandemic. The tournament ran Nov. 12–15, 2020, as part of the 2020-21 PGA Tour season. The 2021 Masters is back to its usual early Spring dates.
Tiger Woods is now one of the older players on tour, but he managed to win his fifth green jacket in 2019 and is now just one short of Jack Nicklaus‘ record sixth. However, 15-years Woods’ junior, Brooks Koepka tied for runner-up in 2019 and is dominating the PGA Tour these days, making him the favorite to win everything. Reigning champ Dustin Johnson is likewise.
The PGA Championship was moved to a month after The Masters a few years ago. However, the 2020 PGA Championship was moved from May 14-17, 2020, to Aug. 3-9, 2020, because of the global COVID-19 pandemic. It’s back to its original slot in May for 2021 with surprise winner Collin Morikawa back to defend his title.
While Morikawa claimed his first major, Brooks Koepka won his second-straight PGA Championship in 2019 and will likely be a betting favorite to win the 2021 PGA Championship as well. Other top-five ranked golfers in Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, and Justin Thomas are always competitive at the PGA.
The US Open is held annually on the toughest course in the country and is considered the hardest major to win. The 2020 US Open Golf Championship was scheduled for June 18-21, 2020, but was postponed because of COVID-19. The tournament ran Sept. 17-20, 2020 as part of the 2020-21 PGA Tour season. In 2021 it’s back to its usual June time slot
DeChambeau drove his way to his first US Open title in 2020, denying Koepka, McIlroy, Rahm, Johnson, and Thomas. He could prove even tougher this year.
The Open Championship, also known as the British Open, is held annually in the United Kingdom on a tough course with overgrown rough, deep traps, unkempt fairways and tough greens.
The 2020 Open Championship was scheduled for July 16-19, 2020, at Royal St George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England. However, it was canceled in the wake of the pandemic. The 2021 Open Championship is now set for July 15-18, 2021, at Royal St George’s instead.
Lowry will still be the defending champion when The Open Championship returns after a year off. Of course, Rory McIlroy will be the betting favorite, as he most often is on the other side of the Atlantic.
The retail sports betting experience can be a really good time, especially when there’s a big golf tournament going on. Here are a few places with the latest odds that you’ll want to check out here in Michigan.
The Sportsbook at Greektown Casino-Hotel is located in the upper level of the casino near Trappers Bar. Soon to be rebranded with the Barstool Sports name, there are five betting windows and 40 self-serve kiosks throughout the property.
Onyx Sportsbook by William Hill is a good time. There are complimentary games, a full-service bar, and an outdoor patio to enjoy as you watch the games. Betting windows and self-serve kiosks will be on standby for wagers as needed.
The River Rock Sportsbook & Grill has betting windows located right inside of the restaurant and self-serve kiosks elsewhere. Featuring a full menu and a sports bar atmosphere with plenty of screens, this is a great place to watch all of the latest golf action.
There are several other terrific options to consider when you want to head out to watch and wager on golf. Included on that list is the FanDuel Sportsbook at MotorCity Casino Hotel in Detroit, and the 131 Sportsbook & Lounge at Gun Lake Casino in Wayland.
Despite a lot of changes to the season schedule, the PGA Tour is still coming to Michigan in 2020:
Originally set to take place on May 25-31, 2020 at the Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, Michigan, the 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic was part of the revamped 2019-20 PGA Tour season schedule and was rescheduled for July 2-5, 2020.
US golfer Nate Lashley won the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2019 by six strokes over Doc Redman.
In March 2020, the PGA Tour inked a new broadcast rights deal ensuring its events will air on CBS, NBC, and over the internet on ESPN Plus for the next decade.
CBS and NBC retained the TV rights and ESPN the digital broadcast rights to PGA Tour events through 2030.
CBS Sports and NBC Sports will continue to show FedExCup tournaments on TV and NBC’s Golf Channel will remain the PGA Tour’s cable partner. However, the subscription-video service PGA Tour Live currently offered by NBC Sports Gold is moving over to ESPN Plus in 2021 and expanding to four livestreaming channels during events.
The PGA says the ESPN Plus deal should make more event coverage available. The tour has been working on expanding the PGA Tour Live product and plans to make every shot at majors available for viewing on the platform. NBC and CBS will begin broadcasting all three FedExCup Playoff events in alternating years starting with NBC in 2022. FedExCup Playoff tournaments currently alternate by event on the networks.
In March 2020, The PGA Tour canceled The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, after just one round due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also canceled the next three events on the PGA Tour schedule.
Further postponements and cancellations would follow, including the rescheduling of three out of four majors and the canceling of the 2020 Open Championship. Then, in April 2020, the tour announced it would be coming back in June 2020 with a revamped schedule for the remainder of the 2019-20 season and the start of the 2020-21 season in the fall.
The PGA Tour returned with a rescheduled Charles Schwab Challenge starting June 8, 2020. The remainder of the season was rescheduled and will wrap up with the Tour Championship ending on Labor Day Monday, Sept. 7.
Events are closed to the public but the PGA Tour is monitoring the situation and may allow fans as the season continues.
The 2020-21 PGA Tour season schedule has been revamped and now features 13 FedExCup events, including a rescheduled 2020 U.S. Open and 2020 Masters. It will begin with the Safeway Open in Napa, California, in September.
Here’s a look at the revised 2019-20 PGA Tour schedule:
Here’s a look at the planned Fall Portion of the 2020-21 PGA Tour schedule:
There are such a huge variety of golf betting options available at Michigan online sportsbooks it can be hard to know where to start.
Employ some basic tenets of proper bankroll management, use real-life PGA Tour data to help inform your picks, and try the following beginner golf betting tips:
You need to shop around to find the best betting lines for PGA Tour events.
However, you will be able to find the best PGA Tour betting lines from the privacy of your own home when online and mobile sports betting launches across Michigan. That could happen as soon as November 2020.
Most PGA Tour events use a scoring system based on stroke play. Every shot counts as one stroke. Then, a player’s total strokes are compared to par for the course up to the hole they are on and expressed in terms of the number of strokes under, even with, or over par.
Let’s say a golfer who shoots a 65 on a par-72 course in the first round. He is then seven under par, or minus-seven, heading into Round 2. If that same golfer birdies the first hole and bogeys the second to start the second round, he is still seven under par, or minus-seven.
The lowest score through four rounds wins most PGA Tour events.
Jack Nicklaus has won a record 18 majors, including six Masters, five PGA Championship, four US Open, and three Open Championship wins.
However, Nicklaus’ last win in a major came in the 1986 Masters and Tiger Woods won the 2019 Masters to pull within three major titles of Nicklaus’ record.
With so many golfers in the field for PGA Tour events, it can be harder to pick winners in golf than it is in any other sport. Plus, there are many more options for what you can bet on, which may confuse you at first.
That said, it’s as easy to bet on golf as any other sport and most of the bets are fairly straightforward. In other words, there may be more ways to bet on golf, but it isn’t any more more complicated or harder to bet on than anything else, particularly if you take a little time to research all the golf betting markets Michigan sportsbooks make available.
Woods has amassed 109 wins, including 15 majors, throughout his professional career. At first glance, a statistic like that makes him look like a good bet to win every week. The problem is he’s 44, past his prime, and 10 to 15 years older than the top-ranked golfers in today’s PGA Tour.
Successful golf bettors don’t bet on Woods or any other golfer exclusively. Instead, they look for data that will tell them who’s playing the best heading into next week’s PGA Tour event and which golfers have performed well on that particular course in the past.
Woods’ popularity means Michigan sportsbooks will offer more bets and props surrounding him than anyone else, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to bet on him or against him.