While upwards of 90 percent of sports betting involves football, basketball, baseball and soccer, with the occasional gambling foray into boxing, tennis, auto racing and hockey, there remains a group of fearless wagering wonks who find golf betting appealing. Admittedly, choosing an individual event winner from among a field of 130 or more quality golfers is a daunting task, but the rewards as much as 500/1 can justify the risk.
For those sports betting enthusiasts who prefer not to chase 500/1 longshots (let's face it, you could go years without ever cashing) there exists a more realistic expectation of collecting in a series of opening season golf futures called "specials."
The most popular special is a future on which golfer will lead the 2012 PGA Tour in earnings. In a way, it's a chance for a golf betting fan to take a stand as to which player he feels will be most successful over the course of the long campaign.
Interestingly, Tiger Woods, who has battled back from two years of scandal, injury and swing changes, once again is the favorite to top the earnings list. Woods, who won the Chevron World Challenge in December, is listed at odds of 3/1. That may seem like a short price but it was only a couple of years ago, when former No. 1 player in the world was riding high, that Woods was such a sure thing to lead the Tour in earnings that sportsbooks often posted futures on which golfer would finish second.
The re-emergence of the 36-year-old Woods as a potential force on the links has set up a confrontation between him and 13 golfers in their twenties who won a tournament last year. Foremost in that group is 22-year-old Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, who survived a Masters collapse to become the youngest US Open winner since Bobby Jones. McIlroy, who will split time between the US and Europe, is the 8/1 second choice to lead the PGA Tour in money won. Luke Donald, 12/1; Dustin Johnson, 14/1; Webb Simpson, 16/1; Lee Westwood, 18/1; and Jason Day, Nick Watney and Matt Kuchar, each at 20/1, also are in the hunt, as are a pair of 40+ players, Phil Mickelson, 22/1, and Steve Stricker, 25/1.
Beyond the cash grab, most golfing interest, and more importantly, most golfing betting interest, is wrapped around golf's four Major events, The Masters, US Open, British Open and PGA Championship. Some sportsbooks have odds on as many as 30 golfers capturing a Major title this year although, once again, most of the curiosity—and most of the betting action—will involve Woods, the holder of 14 Major championships, and his efforts to surpass Jack Nicklaus' 18 Major titles.
At 1/2 not to win a single Major in 2012, Woods is odds on to fail to make any progress in his chase of Nicklaus. You can take 9/4 that Woods wins exactly one Major, 9/1 that he adds exactly two Major titles to his resume, 25/1 that Woods wins exactly three Major titles this year, and 66/1 that Woods completes the Grand Slam. McIlroy is 4/9 to go with a Major title, 2/1 (shorter odds than Woods) to win exactly one Major, 12/1 to win two, 80/1 to win three, and 200/1 to win all four.
Sergio Garcia is 6/1 to shed the title as "The Best Golfer Never to Win a Major" while Mickelson is 4/1 to win a career fifth Major championship.
The more timid—or just those who like getting three golfers for the price of one can take even money that at least one of the world's top three ranked players, Donald, McIlroy or Westwood, wins a Major in 2012.
Adhering to the assumption that Woods brings gamblers to the betting windows, many sportsbooks also have prices on whether his next Major win comes in this year's Masters (5/1), US Open (9/1), British Open (11/1), PGA Championship (14/1) or occurs after 2012 (1/2). You also can take 6/5 that Woods fails to make the cut in at least one of the four Major events or lay 3/5 that he doesn't miss any Major cuts.
Woods is 1/5 to win at least one PGA Tour event in 2012, something he did not do in 2010 or 2011 (the Chevron World Challenge is not a PGA Tour event), or, if you're feeling devilish, you can take 3/1 that Woods again goes winless.
A handful of sportsbooks also have indexed odds on how many PGA events Woods wins in 2012: 1-2, 1/5; 3-4, 1/5; none, 1/3; 5-6, 11/5; four of more, 9/2. Again, this relatively obscure wager is testament to Woods' appeal both on and off the golf course.
Not all the golf specials are player specific. For example, golf betting fans can lay 4/9 that at least one of the four Major events is decided in a playoff, or take 13/8 that 72 holes will be sufficient to settle the outcomes. Gamblers also can take 12/1 that there is at least one hole-in-one in every Major or lay the bridge-jumping price of 1/66 that one or more of the four Major championships goes ace-free this year.
With so many options, even the most hardened of sports betting purists may want to take a swing at golf betting this year.
This article was written by Luken Karel for http://www.thegreek.com. The Greek Sportsbook & Casino is host to one of the top online sportsbooks offering college football betting and sports betting on NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and all other major sports. The Greek is a must have sports betting and entertainment portal with one of the largest wagering menus available online. Article reproductions must include a link pointing to http://www.thegreek.com
