There is no known true origin of golf, with some form of the sport having been traced back to the Ancient Romans and eighth-century China. Scotland is credited as being the place where the modern game was born around the mid-1400s.
There are famous golf courses right across the globe from the hotbed of European venues to the major tracks that yawn across North America. For sports betting, golf provides a tremendous range of different options and the pinnacle of the sport is when one of the Majors tees off.
There are four tournaments classed as Majors in golf. These are the most prestigious events, ones that generally attract a lot more interest when it comes to golf betting. Three of golf’s four Major tournaments are hosted in the USA.
They are the Masters at the famous Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, the PGA Championship and the US Open. The latter of those two tournaments do not have a set venue, they are nomadic events that change venues from year to year, offering exciting new challenges to players.
The one golf Major that sits outside of the USA is The Open Championship, hosted at different British venues. It is the oldest golf tournament in the world with its inaugural edition happening in 1860.
As golf is, by and large, an individual sport, things like international team matches don’t really fall on the radar. The one big exception is the Ryder Cup, arguably one of the most famous golf events that there is.
The Ryder Cup is a team event between the USA v Europe that happens biennially. The tournament was introduced in 1927 and since then the rivalry between the two teams has grown and grown. The Ryder Cup features different formats of golf, foursomes, fourballs and singles matches being played over a three-day event.
It’s a chance for supporters to rally behind their team with some patriotic support in a thrilling spectacle that has produced famous editions like “The War On The Shore”, the Battle of Brookline” and the “Miracle at Medinah.”
Outside of the Majors, the US PGA Tour is seen as the top tier that can be played. Throughout a calendar year, the Tour hosts events not only within its borders but also in other countries.
Throughout a PGA Tour season, individuals play not only for money but for leaderboard points to try and reach the FedEx Cup at the end of the season. Those playoffs are hosted across a series of tournaments before the field of qualifiers is whittled down with everything to play for at one final event, called the Tour Championship.
The European PGA Tour operates in much the same fashion. Not all of the events are within Europe because worldwide events are co-hosted with other Tours.
There is a playoff tournament that players work towards on the European PGA Tour as well. That’s the Race To Dubai, with the performances of players throughout the regular season determining qualification spots for the lucrative playoffs.
Some of the most famous events on the European PGA are the British Masters, European Masters, Open de France, Scottish Open, Irish Open, Alfred Dunhill Links and the Dubai World Championship
There are plenty of sports betting opportunities when it comes to the women’s game as well, which has gained more and more prominence. The LPGA Tour organises the women’s game in America, and there is the Ladies European Tour as well. A set of five Women’s major championship golf events exist which includes the US Women’s Open, the Women’s PGA Championship and the Women’s British Open.
Look at any golf tournament and there is a tremendous amount of markets to be had. That’s from the tournament outright, Top 10 Finish, Top 5 Finish, First Round Leader, Nationality options and much more. A popular approach for golf betting is each-way options in tournament outrights because of big odds.
Each golf hole has a designated “par” score. That indicates how many strokes a golfer is expected to take to complete it from tee to putting out. The aim of the game is to complete the hole in fewer strokes than the “par” score.
Stroke play is the most common form of golf that is seen. That is just tallying up the number of hits that a player takes overall in a tournament to determine a leaderboard position. Matchplay is when two teams (or two players) play the same hole at the same time and whoever gets the lowest score for the hole, wins it.
The Ryder Cup is a biennial tournament and the hosting of it alternates between the USA and Europe.