The US is preferred to enter the 45th Ryder Cup, and the Sportsbook gives the Americans a slight edge over the talented European team thanks to its infamous, wild Ryder Cup gallery.
According to the ESPN BET line, USA holds -150 odds to +150 in Europe, showing +1200 at the winner line of the 3-way tournament. The US maintains the same odds in the two-way “trophy lifting” market, while Europe is +120 thanks to tie.
Unlike the others, the Rider Cup is a golf betting event. Every other year tournament only offers three possible outcomes, as opposed to a regular golf tournament. “These prices need to be managed accordingly,” Adam Randaka, assistant company for sportsbook strategy and growth at ESPN BET, said in an email. These two major markets make up a large portion of the handle of the event, he adds.
Like any golf event, bookmakers begin their regular handicap on the course. In this case, we’ll launch the infamous Bethpage Black, which last held the PGA Championship professional tournament in 2019. You also need to consider rare team aspects, such as the true rarity of golf, such as the chemistry of each team and the advantages of the home course.
“I say the New York crowd will be a bit loud, so that should be an advantage for the American side,” Johnny Abelo, director of Draftkings Sportsbook, told ESPN.
Books also take action from the bettors normally. At ESPN BET, patrons generally support home teams, with US teams holding 57.5% of bets and 50.9% of three-way lines, while Europe has notably won a positive bet ratio with 37.9% of bets and 45.8% of money. At BETMGM, Europe actually wins the majority of bets (65%) and handles (72%) on two-way lines.
Avello points out that tie options are generally not popular with patrons of his book, and ESPN BET reports only 4.6% of BETs that support it.
Anthony Salleroli, lead golf trader at Caesars Sportsbook, means that he and the other books have made the previous competition conclusions “quickly” and “quickly after.” In other words, these lines have lived for almost two years. Bookmakers also note that, like most sports betting events, bets recover before the tee-off and hours before the bet.
The most popular markets outside of the mainline are both in Europe and the US and overall for top point scorers. Scottie Scheffler is the odds leader for the latter two in both BETMGM and ESPN BET. John Lahm (+350) is popular among top European scorers, while Rory McIlroy (+375) and Tommy Fleetwood (+550) both make more money.
“It’s not a traditional tournament, so we’ll lose all the niche shop markets you can’t actually attribute to matching play events,” Saleroli told ESPN. “But we’re going to compensate by thinking outside the box and seeing other things that are compliant and groovy, providing our customers with the best catalogue they can.”
When Friday’s match is announced on Thursday afternoon, the bookmakers will quickly turn the odds of a direct showdown.
“That’s not true, but we know the players very well,” Avero said. “We’re always match-ups, so this isn’t difficult or unusual for us.”
It’s not hard to say that the Ryder Cup can stack up with other major golf events in terms of handles, but it’s far from the Master, the most betting golf event of the year, but the Sportsbook will be able to bring more action to the 2025 edition, returning to the US soil and competitive balance between teams. Bookmakers also hope that as competition progresses, especially if the scores are approaching throughout the weekend, they will become popular.
“If the team is within a few points on Sunday, we hope that the tournament will attract more attention with casual patrons chasing the storyline,” Landeka said.
