A dead heat in golf is when two or more players finish with the exact same score and, therefore, in the exact same position. This is significant for bettors as if your player is on the edge of where you need them to finish; it impacts your payout.
What is a the Dead Heat?
A dead heat happens when two or more golfers get the same score in a round or competition. If you have backed a player to finish in a particular position or to win a matchup and the result is tied, your payout will change. How much your payout changes depends on how many players are tied for the same position.
What are the Dead Heat Rules in Golf Betting?
The dead heat rules will vary between bookmakers for golf, so always read the terms and conditions before betting. For the most part, betting sites will cut your stake in the event based on how many places are involved in the dead heat and how many players. You won’t get your cut stake back and will just be left with your remaining stake and profit.
Dead Heat Golf Betting Examples
The best way to learn is by practicing. Here are some examples of how dead heat rules with different bet types apply:
Top 5 Dead Heat Example
With top 5 betting, you predict which players will finish in the top 5 of a particular competition. Here’s an example of a potential competition leaderboard:
| Place | Player | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colin Morikawa | +1000 |
| 2 | Phil Mickelson | +3300 |
| T3 | Justin Rose | +1500 |
| T3 | Jon Rahm | +800 |
| T3 | Rory McIlroy | +900 |
| T3 | Justin Thomas | +2000 |
In this case, if you bet $100 on Justin Thomas to finish in the top 5, you now effectively have a $75 wager on that finish. So rather than making $2,000 in profit, you make a $1,500 profit.
Top 10 Dead Heat Example
Top 10 betting works the same as top 5 betting, except you’re trying to predict which players will finish in the top 10. To show how dead heat rules in other scenarios, let’s look at a different leaderboard:
| Place | Golfer | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scottie Scheffler | +300 |
| 2 | Patrick Cantlay | +500 |
| 3 | Bryan DeChambeau | +400 |
| 4 | Rickie Fowler | +600 |
| 5 | Viktor Hovland | +350 |
| 6 | Rory McIlroy | +300 |
| 7 | Hideki Matsuyama | +800 |
| 8 | Gary Woodland | +1500 |
| 9 | Cameron Smith | +900 |
| T10 | Tommy Fleetwood | +1000 |
| T10 | Billy Horschel | +1500 |
| T10 | Max Homa | +2000 |
| T10 | Sam Burns | +2000 |
| T10 | Adam Svensson | +2000 |
In this example, there are more players in the dead heat, with five golfers sharing If you’ve bet $10 on Tommy Fleetwood, you only get to use $2 of this stake in your bet. So effectively, you’ve bet $2 on odds of +1000, and your profit will be $20 rather than $100.
3 Ball Example
Here’s an example:
| Player | Score | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Fitzpatrick | -9 | +800 |
| Will Zalatoris | -9 | +1600 |
| Tom Kim | -4 | +2000 |
That $5 wager on Fitzpatrick will net you $40 in profit rather than $80. Likewise, the dead heat $5 bet on Zalatoris would score you a $80 profit rather than $160.
First Round Leader Example
For example, at the 2023 US Open, the first-round score was tied between Xander Schauffele and Ricky Fowler. The odds for Schauffele were +1800 and effectively paid out at +900. The odds for Fowler were +5000 and effectively paid out at +2500.
