Pro Golfers Welcome Legal Sports Betting, Even if They Don't Peek at Their Odds

Golf and gambling have gone together forever, and the favorites in Las Vegas this week say they welcome the attention the boom in legal sports betting brings to the game.

LAS VEGAS — Legal sports betting is experiencing a boom unlike any other time in history and Las Vegas, as always, is an epicenter. With that in mind, the CJ Cup being played at the exclusive Summit in Las Vegas—the second straight week of PGA Tour golf in the city that glitters—seemed like the perfect time to secure some insights from players about sports betting, golf specifically.

The answers from Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa and Jason Kokrak came a bit hesitantly. The consensus was that none of them spent any time looking at the odds prior to a tournament, but that legalized wagering on golf would bring more fans to the sport.

Their hesitancy to openly discuss the issue probably stemmed from the long-standing feelings of PGA Tour executives — and other major sports league leaders — of not wanting anything to do with gambling. Habits are difficult to break sometimes.

In 2021, each major sports league has agreements with featured betting partners, including the PGA Tour with FanDuel, BetMGM and PointsBet. Kokrak even showed up to his press conference wearing a hat with the BetMGM logo on the front.

What are the odds of that?

Regarding the players not paying attention to the betting odds, I have to assume that with all of the social media and other news available, they must see the numbers. And they must have an opinion on the odds when they do catch a glimpse, even if they keep those opinions to themselves.

As I wrote this, Golf Today hosts Damon Hack and Shane Bacon were discussing CJ Cup odds during an extended segment. Most likely there will come a day when players discuss the odds more openly, but we are still in the infancy of this new era.

As of Thursday morning, Dustin Johnson (+1000) is the favorite at the SI SportsBook, followed by Collin Morikawa at +1100 and Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele at +1400. 

Jason Kokrak, the defending champ, is +5000 and my guess is that if he saw those odds, he would feel a bit disrespected. 

Sports and golf betting is everywhere and it is here to stay. And that is OK.

“I think that (golf betting) is driving a different market and I think you'll see a different group of people coming out to the golf course to either cheer or not cheer or root against people, so it's interesting,” Kokrak said. “I think you'll see more and more of that going on as more states open up and allow online betting or whatever. It's going to be interesting going down this road, but I think it's good for golf.”

Johnson agreed with Kokrak and also said he doesn’t follow the golf odds.

“Obviously, I don't really follow golf betting, but other sports, maybe,” Johnson said. “Obviously, I think it’s good for the game, just because it brings a lot more people who are going to be interested in it. I don't see anything wrong with it.”

Morikawa is a Summit Club member and has been a Las Vegas resident for about three years, so he has a first-hand view of the sports-betting evolution.

“I don't think we care about our odds at all and I think if you ask any athlete, they don't care about their odds, either,” Morikawa said. “But is sports betting good for the world? Absolutely. I think it brings a different type of audience, a different type of people into golf and that's what we need. We need golf to be on a bigger worldwide stage every single day because that is how we want to grow our sport.

“I think it's great for the game as long as it's respectful. We play in a different type of arena, per se. We're not in a stadium where you can make as much noise. I mean, we're still playing a respectful game and you have to respect us when we're hitting, so we'll see how that kind of plays out. But I think for the most part, it's going to be great because you're going to see a different crowd of fans. And that's what we've seen. When we go to new locations, you see a different kind of population and people, which is great for the game itself.”