How to bet on the Ryder Cup: Odds, markets and picks for Marco Simone

The 44th Ryder Cup heads to Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Sept. 29-Oct. 1, with a bevy of betting markets on display. The U.S. Team arrives in Italy as the slight favorite, having won the previous Ryder Cup by a 19-9 margin at Whistling Straits in 2021. However, those odds have been shrinking the last two months. Oddsmakers at BetMGM Sportsbook had the U.S. as high as -190 to lift the trophy back in July. That number is now -150 in the two-way market and -110 in three-way betting (including the tie option). Europe was as high as +200 to lift the trophy and has now come all the way down to +120.

Odds to win the Ryder Cup

-110: U.S.

+120: Europe

+1200: Tie (14-14)

The Ryder Cup format is unique in the sense that the teams can tie 14-14. When looking at a three-way bet for Tournament Winner, the U.S. has slightly higher odds to win the event outright at -110, versus -150 to lift the trophy. That is because if the teams tie, the previous winner will retain the trophy. Europe remains at its +150 number in a three-way bet because they must win outright to lift the trophy. Perhaps the juiciest betting number comes in the event of a 14-14 tie (+1200). The Ryder Cup has only ended in a tie two times in its 43-event history: 1969 and 1989.

Odds to lift the Ryder Cup (U.S. retains in case of a tie)

-150: U.S.

+120: Europe

As the 2023 Ryder Cup gets closer, we’ll dive into the various secondary betting markets available. For now, let’s look at some of the more straightforward odds available at BetMGM.

Top Points Scorer (Overall)

Why have the betting markets shifted towards Europe the past two months? One of the reasons is recent player form.

Scottie Scheffler (+700) leads all 24 players from both sides in odds to lead scoring. Scheffler started 2023 on a serious hot streak, winning two of his first six events. Even after his win at THE PLAYERS, he rattled off 10 consecutive events with no finish worse than T11. That included eight events inside the top five. However, hot streaks don’t last forever, and Scheffler has finished outside the top 20 in two of his last four tournaments.

Rory McIlroy (+900) is the next best favorite to be Overall Top Points Scorer. His 2023 campaign has been a mirror opposite of Scheffler’s. His win at the Genesis Scottish Open in July was part of a 10-event stretch to end the PGA TOUR season where he finished inside the top 10. Five of those were inside the top five, including four of his last five events. The other was a T6 at The Open Championship.

Patrick Cantlay (+1100) and Xander Schauffele (+1200) represent the next best U.S. odds. They have been an iconic duo in recent team formats, including a 2-0 record when paired up at their only other Ryder Cup together in 2021. Cantlay and Schauffele will be hoping the team concept elevates their play, as neither won a PGA TOUR event in 2023. They also combined for only four top-five finishes in the last nine events of the year.

Jon Rahm (+1200) will bring a lot of intrigue on how he performs. Rahm was one of the lone bright spots in the drubbing Europe took in 2021, going 3-1-1. His form on the PGA TOUR was not as sharp in the last half of 2023 (zero wins) as it was in the first half (four wins), but he’s hoping a T2 performance at The Open will help light a fire in his game.

Perhaps the most anticipated performance will come from Viktor Hovland (+1200).His blitz to end the PGA TOUR season has many wondering if he will be the next great European Ryder Cup stalwart. Hovland won the last two events on the TOUR schedule at the BMW Championship and the TOUR Championship to capture the FedExCup title. With all the recent accolades, Hovland still has something to prove in the Ryder Cup. He went 0-3-2 in his debut in 2021.

Many American fans are hoping Collin Morikawa (+1400) represents a new era of U.S. players who revel in team golf. The 2019 PAC-12 Conference Champion, Morikawa excelled in his Ryder Cup debut in 2021 going 3-0-1. He tied Cantlay and Rahm as the second highest overall points scorers that week. The one concern for Morikawa is that he has not won on the PGA TOUR since his Ryder Cup debut, as his last win came back at The Open in 2021.

Other odds for Top Points Scorer:

+1600: Brooks Koepka, Max Homa, Tommy Fleetwood
+2000: Jordan Spieth, Tyrrell Hatton
+2200: Justin Thomas, Matt Fitzpatrick
+2500: Rickie Fowler
+2800: Justin Rose, Ludvig Aberg, Sam Burns, Wyndham Clark
+3300: Shane Lowry
+4500: Sepp Straka
+5000: Brian Harman, Nicolai Hojgaard, Robert MacIntyre

Top Rookie (U.S.)

There are four choices for Top U.S. Rookie: Max Homa (+160), Sam Burns (+275), Wyndham Clark (+275) and Brian Harman (+450).

Recent history on the road suggests it could be difficult to pinpoint who the top rookie will be based on name recognition alone. Scott Hoch took home top rookie honors in 1997 at Valderrama, going 2-0-1. Tiger Woods went 1-3-1 that year, while Jim Furyk went 1-2. In 2010, Jeff Overton was the top rookie (2-2) at Celtic Manor ahead of a bevy of U.S. stars.

On the other side of the coin, popular names like Jordan Spieth (2014) and Justin Thomas (2018) each earned top rookie honors in the last two road Ryder Cups. In fact, despite losing six straight Ryder Cups on European soil, the U.S. Team has seen some rookies have success. The overall U.S. points leader was a rookie in four of those six matches, while a rookie never led in scoring for the Europeans in that span.

Top Rookie (Europe)

The European team also has four rookies: Ludvig Aberg (+160), Nicolai Hojgaard (+275), Sepp Straka (+300) and Robert Macintyre (+400). The two most recent European victories on home soil involved a massive rookie success story.

Jamie Donaldson posted a 3-1 record and the second-most points on the team in 2014 en route to a 16.5-11.5 victory at Gleneagles. Tommy Fleetwood posted a 4-1 record in Paris in 2018 and famously earned the nickname “Moliwood” with Francesco Molinari as the duo went 4-0 as a pairing. Europe won that year by a 17.5-10.5 score.

Aberg currently leads the odds list here thanks to his strong play the past month. He broke through for his first DP World Tour win at the Omega European Masters. That was sandwiched between two other top-10 finishes. Aberg began 2023 ranked 3,064th in the Official World Golf Rankings. He’ll enter the Ryder Cup as the 80th-ranked player in the world.

Straka has been a winner on the PGA TOUR each of the past two seasons, most recently at the 2023 John Deere Classic. His T2 finish at The Open two weeks later also makes him an interesting candidate for Top European Rookie.

Top Captain’s Pick (U.S.)

A strong argument could be made that the heart of any Ryder Cup team comes from the captain’s picks. Looking back, it’s hard to believe Scottie Scheffler was considered a controversial pick in 2021. He went 2-0-1 and took down Jon Rahm in the Sunday Singles.

Justin Thomas (+475) fits the mold of a “heart and soul” captain's pick. His recent form is what made him a controversial pick, with five missed cuts in his last nine events and only one top 10 from March through August. A fifth-place finish at the Fortinet Championship coupled with his knack for the Ryder Cup could make him an enticing selection in this market. He has a 6-2-1 career Ryder Cup record.

Two more U.S. Ryder Cup regulars could also be intriguing options. Jordan Spieth (+450) didn’t have the success he’s used to this season, with one runner-up and five top-fives, but his Ryder Cup history cannot be ignored. He’s 8-7-3 overall.

Rickie Fowler (+450) played his way into the Ryder Cup conversation with a comeback season that included a win, a runner-up and eight top-10s. Fowler didn’t make the 2021 Ryder Cup team but played on four of the previous five teams. His overall record of 3-7-5 mirrored the success that most of those American teams had, lifting the trophy only once in that span.

Other odds for Top Captain’s Pick (U.S.):

+333: Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa
+650: Sam Burns

Top Captain’s Pick (Europe)

The captain’s picks are where Team Europe often does its most damage. In the 2018 European landslide, the four captain’s picks went a combined 9-4-1.

This year Europe has six captain’s picks. Tommy Fleetwood (+225) is the favorite and the highest-ranked pick at 23rd in the OWGR. Though his results in 2023 have been scattered, Fleetwood’s 4-1 performance at the 2018 Ryder Cup is still fresh on the mind. He’s also shown some signs of life with six of his last eight PGA TOUR events being T3, T5, T6, T6, T10 and a playoff runner-up at the RBC Canadian Open.

Aside from Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose (+350) brings the most Ryder Cup experience of any player. Making his sixth appearance, he boasts a 13-8-2 overall record, including 7-2-1 in foursomes, the European team’s bread and butter format.

Other odds for Top Captain’s Pick (Europe):

+350: Ludvig Aberg
+550: Shane Lowry
+700: Nicolai Hojgaard
+800: Sepp Straka

Check back later this week as we’ll detail additional prop bets and secondary markets available for those looking to bet on the Ryder Cup as the first tee shot draws near!

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