What Does ‘2/3 Balls’ Mean in Sports Betting?

In golf betting, ‘2/3 Balls’ is a popular market where you bet on which golfer will have the lowest score within their specific playing group for a single round.

You are not betting on the winner of the entire tournament, only on the head-to-head matchup within the official group of two or three players for that day’s 18 holes.

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How it Works

For the first two rounds of a professional tournament (e.g., Thursday and Friday), players are typically sent out in groups of three. For the weekend rounds (Saturday and Sunday), after the cut, they usually play in pairs. This gives rise to two distinct bet types:

🏌️‍♂️ 3-Ball Betting

This applies when three golfers are playing together in a group.

• The Bet: You are betting on which of the three players will shoot the lowest score for that round.
• Example: A group consists of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Jon Rahm. You place a 3-ball bet on Rory McIlroy. You win if McIlroy shoots a 70, Scheffler shoots a 71, and Rahm shoots a 72.
• What if there’s a tie? If two or more players tie for the lowest score in the group, bookmakers apply dead heat rules. This means your original stake is divided by the number of players who tied, and then that amount is paid out at the original odds. You don’t lose the bet, but your winnings are reduced.

🏌️ 2-Ball Betting

This is a straightforward head-to-head bet between two golfers playing in the same pair.

• The Bet: You are betting on which of the two players will have the lower score for the round.
• Example: On a Sunday, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are playing together. You place a 2-ball bet on Tiger Woods. If Woods shoots 68 and Mickelson shoots 70, your bet wins.
• What if there’s a tie? This is the key difference. In 2-ball betting, the tie is often offered as a third betting option. If you bet on a player to win and the round ends in a tie, your bet loses. You must bet specifically on the ‘Tie’ option to win in that scenario. Some bookmakers may void the bet (a “push”) if there’s a tie, but the three-way market (Player A, Player B, Tie) is more common.

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Why is this Bet Popular?

1. Daily Action: It gives you a betting interest on every day of the tournament, not just the final outcome on Sunday.
2. Simplicity: It’s much easier to research and form an opinion on two or three players’ form than on an entire field of over 100 golfers.
3. Finding Value: You can leverage your knowledge about how a player might perform on a specific course or in certain weather conditions against only their immediate playing partners.