Golf Bettors Risk Big Wagers for Small Returns, as PGA Tour Season Tees Off

The 2025 PGA Tour season formally teed off yesterday in Kapalua with The Sentry, a $20M purse for a field consisting only of winners last year and those who qualified for the season-ending Tour Championship.

Will Zalatoris putts during the first round of The Sentry PGA Tour golf tournament on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Kapalua, Hawaii. A bettor risked $9,900 on Zalatoris not winning, though he stands in second after firing an opening round 65. (Image: PGA Tour)

A new year marks a new trend in how many golf bettors especially those with big pockets gamble on the sport. Since legal sports betting expanded after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law in May 2018, golf has been a high-performing sport for oddsmakers.

Since most PGA Tour stops typically include 132, 144, or 156 players this week being an exception with only 59 contestants bettors picking a pre-tournament player to win outright is a rather daunting task. While many golf bettors place small wagers, say $1 to $10 on a tournament outright, those losses have added up for sportsbooks.

Even when a golf bettor does overcome the long odds, their payouts usually aren t life-changing or worthy of media coverage. For instance, a $10 pre-tournament bet this week on Justin Thomas at 10/1 odds would net just $100. Even on a longshot like Max Greyserman, who has never won on Tour, a $10 bet at 40/1 would net only $400.

Big Bets, Small Return 

Some golf bettors have seemingly had enough of making small bets in slim hopes of marginal returns. with a stomach for risking much money are doing the opposite in hopes of better improving their odds of beating the book.

Along with offering golf outright odds, top 10, top 25, and made cuts, certain and wagering exchanges offer bets on whether a player will miss the weekend, shoot a high score, and not win the tournament. The latter has become a popular bet, but with long odds, bettors must risk large amounts to make a worthy return.

For this week in Hawaii, Sporttrade s Whale Tracker, which monitors bets over $3K, reports a slew of costly wagers were made before Thursday s first round on players not to win. They include a $9,325 bet on Collin Morikawa to net $568, $9,500 on Patrick Cantlay to net $490, and $9,791 on Nick Dunlap to net $106.

Morikawa is T4 after a first-round score of 66. The Cantlay and Dunlap bets look good after first rounds of +1 and +3.

A scarier bet after 18 holes of play is a $9,900 wager on Will Zalatoris not winning that would net just $98. Zalatoris is tied for second after an opening round of 65.

Traditional Golf Odds Outlook

World No. 1 injured his hand while prepping Christmas dinner and will be outside the ropes for three to four weeks. He expects to be 100% upon his return.

Following one of the most historic seasons where the 28-year-old won seven times, including the Masters, Players Championship, Memorial, and Tour Championship, Scheffler is the betting favorite for all four majors this year. FanDuel has Scottie at +410 for the Masters, +490 for the , +410 for the U.S. Open, and +430 for The Open Championship.

McIlroy is next in all four majors ranging between +850 to +1000 in each.