Opinion & Analysis

5 questions with a Masters oddsmaker

Published

11 years ago

Apr 8, 2015

The Masters is both the most widely watched and widely wagered PGA Tour event of the season. As such, I wanted to know a little bit more about what’s going on behind the scenes at a major sportsbook.

Bovada.lv Sportsbook Manager, Kevin Bradley was kind enough to answer a few questions for me about golf oddsmaking in general and Masters odds in particular.

I’m always interested in what exactly goes into setting odds. Can you tell me a little about the process of odds-making for golf in general?

We normally offer every player for every event. Depending on the field, the top players are normally at the top such as Rory, Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth. We also monitor how the betting comes in on certain players early and adjust while taking into consideration how certain players play certain courses. It is very comparable to doing an outright market for any other sport such as Super Bowl Odds or World Series Odds, just over a few days rather than a few months.

Is that process different for the Masters in particular?

Not much difference except we take a ton more money, so we may have bigger liabilities than usual. We also offer so many more markets and props that it is much more time consuming.

How much more wagering is there on the Masters than a standard PGA Tour event? What’s the second most widely bet golf tournament?

It is not even close. It is the Super Bowl of Golf, and especially since Tiger is in it, the handle will be exponentially more. The second most would be the U.S. Open.

Next to the Super Bowl, the Masters has some of the best prop bets. Can you tell me a bit about prop betting and share a couple of the more interesting prop bets currently offered on Bovada?

Prop betting is something we have grown over the years to the point it impacts how we do overall each year more and more. The Super Bowl Prop bets accounted for one third of all Super Bowl bets, which is very significant. The Masters is not that high, but maybe one fifth.

We offer so many props daily for each game in each sport and have diversified that to such things as U.S. Election betting, Dancing With the Stars, even today we are posting odds on George Clooney filing for divorce.

What interesting trends are you seeing in Masters betting?

Well, no matter what odds we have him at, Tiger Woods is always heavily bet, especially this year when he was as high as 40-1. He’s now down to 25-1 and is by far our biggest liability. As expected, no doubt, we are cheering against him. He has taken in more money than any other player, three times more than Rory and four times more than Dustin, who are next two in terms of action.

Opinion & Analysis

AVL: My U.S. Amateur local qualifying experience

Published

6 days ago

Jun 5, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This past Monday, I played in the U.S. Amateur local qualifier at Rock Creek Country Club in Portland, Oregon. A full tee sheet from 7:30 a.m. to 1:55 p.m., the top 11 scores would make it to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying.

I teed off at 10:48 a.m.. With the 7:30 am tee time, you can get a feel for the leaders’ pace, and they were off and running on the challenging setup at Rock Creek.

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Getting to the highlight of the round on the par five 17th, a drive up the left side and 212 yards left to the front hole location. I took out a 5-iron with plans of middle of the green. The ball ended up 8 feet left of the hole, pin high. A slight downhill putt dropped in for an eagle 3 on the 17th. With the cut line looking to be anywhere from -2 to even par. This was the boost I had been waiting for all day.

With making par from the trees on 18, it was time to wait for a potential playoff with a posted score of one under par 71.

Three hours later, it was playoff time. 8 players for 6 spots. I made par on the playoff hole, which was good enough to advance to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying in July. USGA qualifiers sure deliver on all of the emotions in golf!

Club Junkie

Building my 2026 gamer WITB: Ranking the contenders and new putter projects – Club Junkie Podcast

Published

1 week ago

Jun 4, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

The annual What’s In The Bag build is underway, and on this episode of Club Junkie, Brian breaks down the clubs currently leading the race for a spot in his 2026 gamer setup. From drivers and fairway woods to irons, wedges, and shafts, he ranks the equipment that’s performing best and explains what’s separating the front runners from the rest of the field.

Brian also heads into the workshop to discuss several putter projects currently on the bench. From head options and shaft choices to build ideas and testing plans, he shares what he’s working on and which putters could become serious contenders for the bag this season.

If you’re a gear junkie who loves equipment testing, club building, and the never-ending pursuit of the perfect setup, this episode is for you.

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Club Junkie

Tour Edge Exotics mini driver review + TaylorMade Spider ZT Max first look – Club Junkie

Published

2 weeks ago

May 28, 2026

Brian Knudson

On this episode of Club Junkie, I put the new Tour Edge Exotics Mini Driver to the test and break down the performance, forgiveness, distance, and where it fits compared to a traditional driver or strong fairway wood. If you have been curious about adding a mini driver to the bag, this one is worth a look.

I also dive into the new TaylorMade Spider ZT Max putter that was recently spotted and discuss the growing zero torque putter trend. Plus, there is a closer look at the new Project X Titan Yellow shaft showing up on the PGA Tour and what makes it different from other profiles currently out there.