Betting on Golf Finishing Position Odds in 2025: What Do You Need to Know?
Written by: Eddie Griffin
Published: Thu Mar 13, 2025, 01:45 AM
Read Time: 12 minutes
While many golf bettors focus exclusively on picking outright tournament winners, savvy golf enthusiasts have discovered the value and excitement of betting on finishing position odds.
These wagers allow you to bet on a player’s performance without requiring them to win the entire tournament. Instead of needing your golfer to outlast the entire field, finishing position bets give you a wider target, whether that is placing in the top 5, top 10, or top 20.
For newcomers to golf betting, these options provide more forgiving alternatives to outright winner markets while still offering substantial returns. Finishing position bets can dramatically enhance your viewing experience throughout all four rounds of a tournament. Even when your selected player or players have fallen out contention for the trophy, you may remain engaged with finishing position bets still in play.
This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about golf finishing position betting. It will help you understand the basic mechanics and then dive into implementing basic and advanced strategies that can help you identify value and maximize your chances of success.
Bet on Golf Finishing Position Odds at the Best Online Sportsbooks
Understanding Finishing Position Betting in Golf
Finishing position bets are exactly what they sound like—wagers on where a golfer will finish in the final tournament standings.
Unlike outright winner bets that only pay if your selected player wins the tournament, finishing position betting odds are based on a player finishing within a specified range.
Sportsbooks largely offer finishing position betting only on events involving PGA Tour golfers. That includes PGA Tour events (including all four majors), select DP World Tour (European Tour) events, and events like the Olympic golf tournament. However, some books do offer finishing position odds on other golf tours, such as LIV Golf and the LPGA Tour.
These bets recognize the incredible difficulty of picking outright winners in golf tournaments. The most common finishing position bets include top 5, top 10, and top 20 finishes, though some sportsbooks may offer additional options like top 40 for majors.
The appeal of betting on golf finishing position odds is straightforward. They have a higher likelihood of success than outright tournament winner odds, but they still offer attractive odds and excellent value.
This type of betting acknowledges golf’s inherent volatility. There are parallels with tennis and NASCAR, two other individual sports that feature sizable fields for each event. Even the world’s best golfers win only a small percentage of the tournaments that they enter. For example, in Scottie Scheffler’s outstanding 2024 season, he won seven times in 19 tournaments, a winning percentage of 36.8%.
Each finishing position bet comes with its own odds that reflect the likelihood of the outcome. Naturally, a top 5 finish will offer higher odds (and thus larger potential payouts) than a top 20 finish for the same player. The odds structure follows basic probability—the smaller the target range, the higher the potential reward.
Types of Finishing Position Bets
As mentioned above, golf betting sites typically offer three types of finishing position odds on most tournaments on the PGA Tour: top 5, top 10, and top 20.
Top 5 Finish Bets
Top 5 finish bets are among the most popular finishing position wagers in golf. With this bet, you are wagering that your selected golfer will finish the tournament in fifth place or better. These bets typically offer attractive odds because finishing in the top 5 of a PGA Tour event is still quite challenging.
The odds for top 5 bets generally range from around +200 for top-ranked players to +2000 or higher for longshots. The pricing generally reflects a player’s current form, course history, and overall skill level. One key advantage of top 5 bets is that they remain viable throughout much of the tournament. Even if your player has a poor opening round, they can often recover to achieve a top 5 finish with strong play over the remaining days.
Top 10 Finish Bets
Top 10 finishing position bets represent a middle ground in terms of risk and reward in golf betting. With these wagers, you are betting that your selected player will finish among the top 10 on the final leaderboard.
Top 10 bets are particularly popular because they offer a reasonable chance of success while still providing worthwhile returns. They strike a balance between the higher odds of top 5 bets and the safer but lower-paying top 20 options.
The odds for top 10 bets typically range from around +100 (even money) for tournament favorites to +1000 or higher for longshots. These bets work well for players who display consistency without necessarily winning tournaments. Some players have a knack for finishing in the top 10 regularly, making them valuable targets for this bet type even if they rarely win outright.
Many bettors use top 10 bets as part of a broader tournament strategy, backing several players to finish in the top 10 rather than trying to pick the outright winner.
Top 20 Finish Bets
Top 20 finish bets represent the most conservative option for golf finishing position betting. With these bets, you predict that your selected golfer will finish the tournament in 20th place or better. These bets offer the highest probability of success but come with correspondingly lower odds. For top players, the odds might be as low as -200 or worse (meaning you’d need to bet $200 to win $100), while mid-tier players might offer +150 to +300, and longshots could still pay +500 or more.
Top 20 bets are ideal for backing solid players who might not have the firepower to contend for victory but consistently make cuts and finish respectably. They are also good options for backing talented but inconsistent players at courses that suit their games. The wider margin for error makes top 20 finishing position bets forgiving of a single poor round, which can be crucial in the volatile world of golf betting.
For beginners, top 20 bets provide an excellent entry point into golf betting. They allow you to familiarize yourself with how tournaments unfold and how odds respond to performance without facing the high probability of losses that come with more ambitious bets. Many experienced bettors use top 20 bets as the foundation of their golf betting strategy, supplementing with more aggressive plays on players they feel strongly about.
Tips and Strategies for Golf Finishing Position Betting
Time Your Bets
Knowing when to place your bets can be as important as knowing who to bet on. Pre-tournament markets, which are typically available the Monday before a tournament, offer the fullest range of options and typically the best odds.
However, line movement can come into play, especially if the weather forecast shifts over the course of the week. If you use a sportsbook that offers live finishing position odds during a tournament, you can incorporate information about how the course is playing and how a player appears to be striking the ball to hedge your bets or make new bets.
If a pre-tournament favorite starts poorly but you observe that they’re striking the ball well (suggesting potential improvement), their top 10 or top 20 odds may offer value. Conversely, if a player starts well but appears to be riding unsustainable putting or luck, you might avoid betting on them despite their good position.
Wednesday afternoon often represents a sweet spot for pre-tournament bets. By this time, practice rounds have been completed, weather forecasts are more reliable, and player withdrawals have typically been announced. But for major championships, betting even earlier might be advantageous as odds tend to tighten as the event approaches.
Correlate Different Types of Finishing Position Bets
Combining different types of finishing position bets can create a cohesive betting strategy for a tournament.
For instance, you might back a favorite for a top 5 finish, several solid contenders for top 10s, and a few longshots for top 20s. This approach spreads your risk while still allowing for significant returns if your assessments prove accurate. Avoid simply betting on the same players across different finishing position markets unless the odds specifically warrant it.
Don’t place multiple finishing position bets on the same player unless the value is there, but if you do, ensure that they complement each other. If you strongly believe in a longshot, betting them for a top 20 finish provides a safer option alongside a potential outright or top 5 bet.
Similarly, if you believe the tournament will see many of the favorites perform well, focusing on top 5 bets for elite players might make more sense than spreading bets across longer shots for top 20 finishes.
Finishing position bets can also work well alongside matchup betting. If you believe Player A will outperform Player B in a head-to-head matchup, you might also consider a finishing position bet on Player A.
Manage Your Bankroll Carefully
Proper bankroll management is essential for long-term success in betting on golf or any other sport.
That said, bankroll management is even more crucial with golf betting, given the volatility of the sport. Even the most knowledgeable and successful bettors experience losing streaks. Sometimes all of the players you expect to do well completely fall flat or fall just short of landing inside your needed targets.
A good rule of thumb is to risk no more than 1-3% of your total bankroll on any single bet. This conservative approach ensures you can weather the inevitable downswings while capitalizing on your good reads when they occur.
Consider creating a structured unit system where each “unit” represents a standard bet size based on your bankroll. For example, if your bankroll is $1,000, one unit might be $10-30. You might then bet one unit on standard plays, 0.5 units on more speculative bets, and occasionally 2 units on your strongest convictions. This systematic approach helps remove emotion from your betting decisions and provides a framework for measuring long-term results.
Diligently track your bets to identify patterns in your success and failure. You might discover that you’re particularly successful with top 20 bets but struggle with top 5 wagers, or that you excel at betting on certain player types or tournament styles. This information allows you to refine your approach over time to focus more on the bet types and situations where you have the most consistent results.
Conclusion
Finishing position betting offers a compelling alternative to traditional outright winner markets in golf. By allowing you to profit from solid performances rather than tournament victories, these bets dramatically increase your chances of success while still providing attractive returns.
Whether you are backing a favorite to finish in the top 5, trying to identify consistent performers for top 10 bets, or finding value in longshots for top 20 finishes, these markets offer flexibility and opportunities not available with tournament winner betting.
As with any form of sports betting, success in golf finishing position betting requires discipline, research, and a methodical approach.
Take time to analyze course history, current form, statistical profiles, and tournament dynamics before placing your bets. Develop your own assessment of probabilities, compare them to the odds offered, and bet only when you identify some level of genuine value. Practice proper bankroll management to ensure you can sustain the inevitable variance that comes with betting on such a volatile sport.
By applying the strategies and insights outlined in this guide, you will be able to take a swing at golf finishing position betting with confidence. When you do so, always remember that successful betting is a marathon, not a sprint. Focus on making quality decisions based on solid information, and the results will follow over time.
Learn More About Sports Betting
This guide covers a lot of information that will serve sports betting beginners well, but it is just one of many guides we have for both new and experienced bettors.
Whether you want to learn about over/under bets, prop bets, and other types of bets, sportsbook bonuses, notable sports betting terms and phrases, or sports betting strategies such as hedging and middling, we have you covered.
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