There may still be golf as 2022 draws to a close, but with no real big events taking place as we speak, it’s a bit of a silly season for making golf-betting picks.
The big names are in hibernation, making their preparations for 2023 – leaving the guys trying to establish themselves on the two main tours fighting it out in the lesser events at this time of the year.
So even when an event occurs, the betting market isn’t the most appealing.
But one market that is well worth taking an interest in now is betting to win a Major Championship in 2023.
This is a more than intriguing market as things stand, as it still includes all the LIV players who can still participate in the Majors. This is because the Major championships are independent events that fall outside or the jurisdiction of the PGA and the DP World Tour.
So, as well as being able to bet on favorites like Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, we can also bet on guys like Cameron Smith and Dustin Johnson.
As the Major Championships don’t look set to get involved in the civil war between the main tour bodies and LIV, we are likely to continue seeing big names like Cameron Smith still in the field at Majors, making them much more appealing events to bet on.
So before we take a look at the betting to win a golf major in 2023, let’s briefly explain what the events are and when they are being played.
There are four major golf Championships every year. Three are stateside, with one held in the UK. They are:-
The Masters is always held at Augusta, in Georgia. The US PGA and the US Open are held at different venues each year, as is the Open Championship. The Open Championship is different, though, as it’s always held on Links courses, providing golfers with different challenges.
The Links courses used in the UK for the championships are all coastal, with little to no protection from the weather. Meaning sometimes, the conditions at the Open Championship are a million miles away from the benign conditions generally found on the PGA Tour. This can make calling the winner of the Open Championship a bit of a lottery.
This makes betting on the ‘to win a Major Championship in 2023’ market appealing. It also gives us a better chance of winning, albeit at shorter odds, as instead of selecting a golfer to win on a selected week, we get four chances for our selection to win.
No surprise to see Rory McIlroy lead the way in this market. There’s quite a difference in odds between the Vegas golf odds on McIlroy, with BetOnline pricing the Irishman up at +275 and BetUS at +200.
| Betting to win a Golf Major Championship in 2023 |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rory McIlroy | +275 | +200 | +200 |
| Jon Rahm | +325 | +275 | +325 |
| Cameron Smith | +350 | +300 | +350 |
| Scottie Scheffler | +375 | +300 | +350 |
| Justin Thomas | +375 | +300 | +350 |
| Jordan Spieth | +550 | +450 | +500 |
| Dustin Johnson | +600 | +500 | +600 |
| Patrick Cantlay | +700 | +600 | +600 |
| Xander Schauffele | +700 | +500 | +600 |
| Viktor Hovland | +800 | +700 | +700 |
| Will Zalatoris | +550 | +350 | +500 |
| Tony Finau | +800 | +600 | +700 |
| Collin Morikawa | +700 | +550 | +600 |
| Matthew Fitzpatrick | +550 | +450 | +500 |
| Brooks Koepka | +1200 | +1100 | +1200 |
| Sunjae Im | +1200 | +1800 | +1500 |
| Cameron Young | +600 | +500 | +600 |
| Bryson Dechambeau | +1200 | +1200 | +1000 |
| Shane Lowry | +800 | +700 | +800 |
Elsewhere, Jon Rahm is second at +325, with Cameron Smith (+350), Scottie Scheffler (+375), and Justin Thomas (+375), all close behind. BetOnline seems to be leading the way with the odds on this market. You can read more about them here at our BetOnline sportsbook review.
As Jon Rahm showed in 2022, having a successful previous 12 months doesn’t guarantee anything the following year. Rahm finished 2021 as the world number one and won the 2021 US Open.
As a result, Rahm started 2022 as the favorite to win all four Majors. He ended up winning none of them. And that’s almost the same position Rory McIlroy finds himself in 12 months later, except for one notable difference.
McIlroy will start 2023 as world number one. He is also favorite or joint favorite to win all four Major Championships with the best online golf betting sites. The difference between Rahm and McIlroy is that Rahm won a Major in the previous year, whereas Rory didn’t.
And this is a reason why I think McIlroy will end his run without a Major Championship win in 2023. McIlroy has become the poster boy of world golf in 2022. He’s the guy who speaks up against LIV, the unofficial spokesperson of the players on the conventional tours.
He now has an aura similar to that of Tiger Woods. However, nothing like as big an aura as Woods had – that wouldn’t be possible. But as golf’s main man, McIlroy needs to win a Major Championship, and I think he will in 2023.
Zalatoris is an up-and-coming guy who looks to be one of those players destined to win a Major Championship at some point in his career. At Augusta in 2022, Zalatoris finished T6, seven shots behind winner Scottie Scheffler.
In fairness to Zalatoris, that was a good effort. McIlroy finished second on -7, which was three shots behind Scheffler, who at the time was playing golf from another planet.
Will Zalatoris has proved he has the pedigree. And I think that makes him an excellent second pick to win any Major Championship in 2023.
