Golf Handicapping Articles

PGA Tour Betting: Tiger Woods
by T.O. Whenham - 7/1/2011

Every time you think that the Tiger Woods story is going to return to normal he finds another way to make it odd and hard to look away from. This week we saw Tiger give an interview at the AT&T National — the tournament that he hosts. Tiger showed up for the interview with a ridiculous beard, and that facial hair crime may have been the highlight of the event.

PGA Tour Odds and Predictions: The Travelers Championship Field
by Alan Matthews - 6/22/2011

You won’t find U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy this week – he is planning to not play again until the British Open. Tiger Woods remains sidelined with an injury, as he already has pulled out of his own tournament, the AT&T National, next week. Overall, the field this week includes just six of the Top 25 in the latest world rankings (but none from the Top 10): Bubba Watson, Ian Poulter, Nick Watney, Jim Furyk, Hunter Mahan and Martin Laird.

Is Rory McIlroy the Next Big PGA Tour Star?
by T.O. Whenham - 6/22/2011

The Rory McIlroy era has arrived with a bang. The timing couldn’t have been any better for his dominating win in the U.S. Open. With the obvious mortality of Tiger Woods, the struggles of Phil Mickelson, and the aging of other top players, there is a lack of compelling stars at the top of the golf world. There is no shortage of young talent, but few players have the charisma and ‘it factor’ that is needed to go from a very good player to a megastar.

US Open Predictions: Top American Players Golf Props
by Alan Matthews - 6/15/2011

Yesterday here at Doc’s we previewed the top European players and their chances of winning the US Open that begins Thursday at Congressional Country Club outside of Washington, D.C. Today we look at the top American threats – and, really, shouldn’t an American almost feel obligated to win our National Championship, especially when held near the nation’s capital?

US Open Odds and Free Picks: Top European Players Props
by Alan Matthews - 6/14/2011

In my opinion, this year’s US Open that begins at Congressional outside Washington, D.C., on Thursday has two main storylines: whether Phil Mickelson can finally win America’s national championship after a record number of runner-up finishes and whether a non-American wins a fifth major championship in a row.

US Open Betting Tips and Golf Handicapping Advice
by David Schwab - 6/14/2011

Thursday marks the start of one of the toughest tests in professional golf: the US Open. The USGA prides itself in setting up a US Open course in such a fashion that even par is often considered a successful score, especially if weather conditions favor hard and fast greens. The sport of golf and, more specifically, this event not only offers you the opportunity to sit back and watch how the world’s best players hold up to such demanding conditions, but the opportunity to handicap the tournament in an effort to draw value out of the odds that are posted for all the major participants.

PGA Tour Odds and Predictions: The Memorial Tournament
by Alan Matthews - 6/1/2011

After back-to-back weeks of watered-down fields in the PGA Tour’s mini-Texas swing, almost all of the American and European big-name players are in the field this week for Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio.

PGA Tour Odds and Predictions: Byron Nelson Championship
by Alan Matthews - 5/26/2011

Well, I have to be honest: The European PGA Tour’s BMW Championship has a far superior field this weekend than does the Byron Nelson Championship at TPC Four Seasons Resort outside of Dallas. But, again, the Euro event starts so early in the morning – plus, hey, we do live in America, right? So we shall stick with the PGA Tour again this week.

PGA Tour Odds and Predictions: Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial
by Alan Matthews - 5/18/2011

Remember when the Colonial was a big deal on the PGA Tour? And I’m not at all talking about 2003 when Annika Sorenstam played in the event to big hoopla. Colonial, known as “Hogan’s Alley,” used to draw excellent fields. But because of where the tournament is now on the schedule, the field is incredibly watered-down.

US Open Odds: Golf Futures Betting
by David Schwab - 5/18/2011

This year’s US Open, the second Major of the season, will be contested at the fabled Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside the Nation’s Capital starting with first round action on Thursday, June 16.

PGA Tour Odds: Money List Futures Predictions
by David Schwab - 5/12/2011

The PGA’s Players Championship from TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Florida, gets underway today in what is often thought of as the fifth Major in professional golf. The player that comes away with this week’s title will get the lion’s share of a $9.5 million purse, which is the highest of the Tour, and take a major leap in the current PGA money list.

PGA Tour Odds and Predictions: The Players Championship
by Alan Matthews - 5/11/2011

To most casual golf bettors, the Players Championship marks the halfway point between the Masters and the U.S. Open – and most books unveil about as many props for this tournament, golf’s unofficial fifth major, as you would find for a Grand Slam tournament.

PGA Tour Odds and Predictions: Wells Fargo Championship
by Alan Matthews - 5/4/2011

The PGA Tour stops in Charlotte this week for the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club and it usually draws a nice field because it’s a top-rated course (will host the 2017 PGA Championship) and the purse is one of the highest on Tour among non-majors/WGC events/or FedEx Cup tournaments.

PGA Tour Odds and Free Pick: Zurich Classic of New Orleans
by Alan Matthews - 4/28/2011

This week’s PGA Tour stop, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, is overshadowed a bit by the news of the latest knee injury suffered by Tiger Woods. Certainly Jack Nicklaus’ major championship record of 18 titles looks a little safer now. Tiger announced Tuesday that he will miss next week's Wells Fargo Championship because he hurt his left leg while hitting his second shot from underneath a tree on the 17th fairway in the third round of the Masters. This bears watching.

PGA Tour Odds and Golf Predictions: The Heritage
by Alan Matthews - 4/20/2011

If you are a pretty devoted golf fan, you probably remember that The Heritage at Hilton Head Island, S.C., used to be the tournament immediately following the Masters. It used to draw a pretty solid field because the players liked the course and this event was treated almost more as a fun diversion from the pressure of the previous week than an intense tournament. Between 1983 and last year the event was played the week after the Masters; this year it is two weeks after Augusta. And as you can tell it doesn’t have a sponsor – without one yet signed for 2012 this event could be in some trouble if one isn’t found.

PGA Tour Odds and Golf Predictions: Valero Texas Open
by Alan Matthews - 4/13/2011

There’s really no sugarcoating this week’s Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio: the field is rather lame. But you can bet on the tournament, so who cares, right? This is usually the case after major championships in that most of the big names take the week off or head back overseas. Maybe the only worse field comes after the British Open because most of the top Americans don’t want to fly all the way back and then go play in Canada (some fields in tournaments that go opposite WGC events are even worse off).

Masters Predictions: Golf Betting Free Picks
by Alan Matthews - 4/6/2011

It’s the best four days of the year to most golf fans and certainly bettors of the sport: The Masters is here and there are about a Super Bowl-level of prop options on golf’s most prestigious tournament (it actually doesn’t even have the best field compared to other majors many times because of its unique qualification requirements).

Masters Odds: Tiger Woods Golf Props Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 4/6/2011

It’s almost daunting how many prop options you have at your betting disposal for golf’s Super Bowl this week, the Masters. Let’s start our previews of the tournament with the guy who is still the biggest story whenever he plays despite not having won an official event since September 2009. And that of course is Tiger Woods.

Masters Predictions and Free Picks: Group Betting Props
by Alan Matthews - 4/5/2011

We continue our preview of this week’s Masters with a look at five group betting options offered by WagerWeb and your best bet, according to my Masters predictions, for each. For these group betting props, you pick the player you think will tally the best finish amongst the group members.

2011 Masters Odds for Golf Futures Betting
by T.O. Whenham - 3/30/2011

Time is ticking away like I can’t believe -- we are already just one week away from the opening of the Masters. Augusta’s finest offering always feels like it falls in the heart of the spring -- practically summer -- and it just doesn’t seem like we are there yet. Regardless, though, it’s almost time to tee off, and that means that it’s time to look at the futures odds to see what’s interesting and what’s ridiculous. (all Masters odds are from Bodog):