As one of the oldest sports in the world, golf has only grown in popularity since the first official 18-hole game was played in Scotland back in 1764. Since then, young players all over the world have been picking up clubs and trying to emulate their favorite pros at the driving range or the putting green.
But the last couple of years have seen some pretty huge changes in the world of golf, not only for professional tours, but also in the media and through sports betting. But when we really break it down, there are only two real factors that have pushed golf to be one of the most wagered on sports in the entire USA and world – LIV Golf and Netflix.
Even if you’re not a dedicated golf fan, it would have been nearly impossible not to hear something about the Saudi backed LIV Golf tour at some point, whether it came from the human rights controversies or the billion dollars LIV offered Tiger Woods to leave the PGA Tour in their effort to pull players away.
Either way, LIV Golf is structured in a totally different way to the PGA, and has led to some pretty interesting changes to the overall structure of individual golf tournaments, and the season as a whole.
So it would make sense that betting sites would jump on the chance to feature another well publicized golf tour, right? Well not exactly.
Most prominent betting sites in the US have actually doubled down against LIV and refuse to feature the tour at all, while at the same time massively pushing the more traditional PGA and European Tour events, and creating impressive golf betting promotions aimed at PGA Tour events and majors like The Masters.
Good luck finding a way to bet on LIV events in the US, most sportsbooks and states have taken a strong stance against the Saudi backed tour at the moment, choosing to focus on PGA events and players shown on ‘Full Swing“
But this isn’t actually a bad thing, and is helping feature the well known four-day events very prominently next to big events like the Six-Nations or March Madness. Additionally, experienced bettors and newcomers alike are being treated to an expanded selection of ways to bet on the sport, and enticing ways to squeeze a little extra profit out of wagers with special promotions ranging from players making the cut to a hole-in-one happening during the tournament.
The Masters was already a huge event in the US for sports betting, ranking just behind the Super Bowl, but now that certain players have become fan favorites after their time behind the Netflix camera, there has been a pretty significant shift in online sportsbooks to feature these players regardless of how they’re actually expected to do in the various tournaments.
All things considered, the new ways to look at and bet on golf for people who may have previously considered it a dull game, or not even a sport at all, couldn’t have come at a better time with the Masters right around the corner, and the Ryder Cup coming later on in the year. If Formula 1 is anything to go by, we can certainly expect a big new crop of fans to rush out and place bets or pick up a set of clubs in the coming months, making golf this year’s betting craze.
