In golf, there are a number of ways to wager. The most common bet is to make a selection on a player to win the tournament. You can also bet on matchups, meaning you are betting on one player to score better than another player in a round or tournament, or you can make the same wager on a three-ball (three player) situation.
The list goes on and on.
Another mainstream way to bet on golf is to make a bet on a player to finish in a certain position among the field. There are a number of positions you can bet on the player to make, including finishing in the top 5, top 10 or top 20.
This means that for your bet to cash, a player must break the position that you set for them. If you wagered on a player to make the top 5, a top-5 finish is required to win the bet. Simple enough.
There are also books where you can bet on golfers to miss a finishing position. If you wager on a player to miss the top 5, they must finish in solo sixth place or worse for you to cash the bet.
Dead Heat Explanation
An important caveat with golf finishing-position betting is that dead heat rules often apply. Unlike outright winner betting, where there can only be one winner, finishing-position markets can include ties. That means more than five players may technically finish inside the top 5, more than 10 inside the top 10, and so on.
At most sportsbooks, payouts are reduced proportionally when ties occur at the cutoff position. However, some sportsbooks handle ties differently. For example, BetMGM currently pays top 5/10/20 golf wagers in full without applying dead heat reductions, although dead heat rules still apply to certain other golf markets.
For example, imagine you made a $100 wager on Justin Thomas to make the top 5 of The Masters at +400. If Thomas finished in a T-5 position with 2 other players, dead heat rules would be different based on cutting the stake or odds.
A stake-cutting situation (most common) would provide the following outcome:
| Bet stake | Odds | Total Return (Including Stake) |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-tournament: $100 | +400 | $500 |
| Post-tournament: $33 | +400 | $167 |
An odds-cutting situation would provide the following outcome:
| Bet stake | Odds | Total Return (Including Stake) |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-tournament: $100 | +400 | $500 |
| Post-tournament: $100 | +133 | $233 |
Finishing Position Betting Examples and Statistics
This type of wagering on golf can be much more appealing to some bettors as the chances of winning your bet are much higher. Of course, the odds will not be as long, and they are subject to dead heat rules in many scenarios, but a player finishing in worse positions than first and cashing has attraction to many bettors.
In the 2021 PGA season, Jon Rahm led the tour in top 10 finishes with 10, while Bryson Dechambeau, Abraham Ancer, Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth all had nine. The players combined for six wins on the season.
For the 2021 PGA Championship, the odds for top 10 payouts versus winning position payouts on a $100 wager are listed below. A bet on Mickelson at 300-1 would have been nice, but a payout at 18-1 wouldn't have been bad, and is far more common to experience.
In this scenario, 16 players qualified for top-10 betting scoring, which is a high number caused by the log jam in the eighth position. The highest payout on a top 10 bet would have been Padraig Harrington while only Jon Rahm would have provided a net loss.
