Golf expert Ben Coley has scoured the myriad specials markets ahead of the Ryder Cup and has three selections to consider.
Golf betting tips: Ryder Cup specials
3pts Jon Rahm to tee off first in singles at 3/1 (General)
1pt Rahm and Scottie Scheffler to tee off first in singles at 10/1 (Sky Bet)*
2pts Robert MacIntyre to tee off last in singles at 17/2 (BetVictor)
Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook
*This selection is under Social Media Specials via Sky Bet’s Ryder Cup page
To tee off first in singles
One of the favourites should oblige in both US (Scottie Scheffler, surely) and European markets but I do wonder if JON RAHM, rather than Rory McIlroy, ought to head the betting for the away side and at 3/1 (Betfair, Paddy Power, Sky Bet, bet365) in what is likely a two-horse race, we can take a chance.
Coral, Ladbrokes, BetVictor, William Hill, StarSports and BoyleSports also offer this market and all are bigger than 2/1 on Rahm. That would be the point at which I draw stumps and let the bet go, so hopefully most readers who wish to follow this piece of advice are able to do so.
Perhaps Donald will surprise us all and rip up the Rome plan but Rahm led the way there and halved his match against Scheffler, the second Ryder Cup in succession where they’ve locked horns, and I expect the Spaniard will be banging the door down for a crack at the world number one, who will be expected to lead the way for the US if he’s performing to his usual standards.
McIlroy was pencilled to be third out two years ago but Europe shrewdly decided to double-bluff the US who, in anticipation of McIlroy filling that slot he so enjoys, put Cantlay there in the hope he could get under McIlroy’s skin as his caddie had on Saturday night.
McIlroy did win his point from the top match in 2021 but that was when he’d been poor and Padraig Harrington sensed that the best way to get a response was with that show of faith, after he’d lost in 2016 and 2018.
Crucially, across 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2023, he’s unbeaten with a 3-0-1 return playing from second, third or fourth. I feel that’s where he’ll want to be again and that he’s cooled on the idea of being the front-man for Europe. Might he meet Bryson DeChambeau in one of those matches?
That Rahm doesn’t get many cracks at Scheffler now he’s on the LIV Golf circuit might also be viewed as another reason to send him out first and the sole Spaniard in the team, who was exceptional in Rome and warmed up well at Wentworth last time (best driver in field), simply looks a perfect fit.
Some firms may offer special prices on Scheffler playing against Rahm in the singles. Anything around 10/1 would look worth taking if you can double up on them being out first, which Sky Bet have put up here.
To tee off last in singles
The state of play heading into Sunday could have a big effect on this market, more so than who goes out early. If it’s tight, and everything points towards the final few matches being important, then you can expect to see experience and class. If one side leads by a decent margin, generally they will try to have a safety net whereas the chasers can do nothing else but stack the front.
At Medinah in 2012, Martin Kaymer had struggled so badly that he’d only played one pairs match despite being a major champion, and then went out in the 11th slot. Behind him came Francesco Molinari, who was 0-2-0 for the week. Four years later and in a similar predicament, it was Kaymer and a struggling Matt Fitzpatrick.
This where we could end up with Europe’s favourite, sole rookie Rasmus Hojgaard, proving the right one, but most scenarios I believe would lead towards him teeing off between seventh and ninth, as his brother did. Only if Europe are trailing by a wide margin would it make sense to leave the only debutant in the anchor match and accept that if your team can take it that far, its youngest member will simply have to step up.
WATCH: TEAM EUROPE PLAYER-BY-PLAYER GUIDE
I wonder then whether ROBERT MACINTYRE and even Tommy Fleetwood could stick to their Rome roles, even if Europe are trailing.
MacIntyre’s standing in the game has improved considerably in two years but one of the key aspects of it has been how much he appears to relish being in a battle, so why not give him the 12th match having won from the same slot against a major champion last time?
Anything around the 5/1 mark and bigger is worth chancing and at the time of writing he’s 17/2. Again, for the final time I must reiterate that we’re betting on hunches here. Any or every one of them could be wrong, but what’s certain is that there are no more than six candidates for this slot and MacIntyre is among the best of them.
Fleetwood meanwhile is 25/1 in places, the assumption being that as he too has progressed, keeping him down the order may no longer make sense. This is logical, but it’s not as if he’s totally transformed in two years and having been the 11th man in the last two Ryder Cups, he’d be a fine option for Donald to turn to if this is close.
This is a player who experienced earning the winning point two years ago and who just won the FedExCup. It’s a role I suspect he’d love. However, I can’t quite envisage a scenario where Europe can afford not to play a truly world-class player earlier than they did last time, so will resist the temptation to have him as a saver.
To hit the opening tee shot
This is another market of guesswork and one we’ve had some success with, finding Sergio Garcia at 6/1 in 2021 and then a tad unfortunate (but also mistaken in a key part of the calculation) when siding with Tyrrell Hatton in 2023. He played in the first match but it was his partner, Rahm, who struck the opening shot of the foursomes.
The task here is first to identify who will be in match one, then who will hit the first tee shot. And it can be done logically, by looking at the make-up of the course and trying to establish which tee shots suit which player in any pairing. That’s where I was wrong in Rome: Europe wanted Rahm teeing off on the odd-numbered holes, partly because of the approaches that would leave for Hatton’s supreme iron play.
At Bethpage, Jamie Kennedy’s analysis of the holes suggests there’s very little we can do to separate odds from evens, and it could simply come down to which player feels most comfortable on a certain set. Jamie suggests a draw works best on the even holes, but the trouble there is that Europe’s two natural drawers who are certain to play (McIlroy, Fleetwood) are almost certain to play together, and maybe not in the top match.
ALSO READ: RYDER CUP HISTORICAL STATS AND RECENT TRENDS
Of the two I would lean towards McIlroy (who is a shorter price) because, from a forward tee, asking the Masters champion and top-scorer from Rome to hit the very first shot would be a nice statement of intent from Europe. But it’s important to acknowledge that Donald may not have given this idea any thought whatsoever, and McIlroy hasn’t played in match one since 2012.
By contrast, one potential angle is that Rahm has in fact been in the opening match in all three Ryder Cup appearances so far, even as a rookie in Paris seven years ago. If that continues then odds of 3/1 will look generous, and the fact that he fades it off the tee seems to align nicely with the odd-numbered holes.
Putting Rahm in match one and asking him to drive off would be an immediate indication that Donald is set to stick closely to the plan which worked so well in Rome. But the risk that Hatton hits instead leaves us with about 6/4 that it’s either of them, and I’d want to be getting 2/1 before thinking twice about it.
WATCH: USA RYDER CUP PLAYER PROFILES AND STATISTICSTo hole the winning putt
When bet365 produced their first show, I was very excited about the market concerning which player would secure the winning point or hole the winning putt, the precise wording likely to vary between bookmakers.
Shockingly, they made Scheffler 9/2 favourite, and I would say only McIlroy and Rahm are less likely to win it. There’s nothing complicated about this, either: these are all players we should expect to head out in matches one to three on Sunday, and from there it’s virtually impossible to get your side over the line.
Even in a convincing European win in Rome, the winning moment came from Fleetwood in match 11. The US produced their record victory in 2021 and it was Collin Morikawa, in match five, who sealed it, after they’d started the singles very strongly. There’s some debate as to who officially won it for Europe in their record win back in 2004, but it was either Colin Montgomerie (sixth) or Ian Poulter (10th).
Matches seven and nine produced the winning moments in fairly one-sided wins for USA in 2016 and Europe in 2018 and in anything like a competitive renewal, the top four in the Sunday singles order have next to no chance. Given how I expect this to unfold, I would guess we’re looking at perhaps the ninth or 10th US player, but if not then more likely 11th or 12th than seventh or eighth.
On Monday, bet365 had another look at a market which had been live for a week. Scheffler, their original favourite, is now one of three rank outsiders. As with Sky Bet, Paddy Power and Betfair, the show we’re left with guarantees you a nice price if you land on the right player, but you’ll need a lot of luck to beat a 150% book. My token vote goes to Harris English, but at 16/1 I won’t pay to find out.
Points match bets
I’ll end with a brief note on match bets, with Paddy Power offering 11/10 Viktor Hovland to outscore Cameron Young. Given that Hovland is the better golfer and is likely to play more matches, I find that very hard to comprehend. There seems to be a belief that Young will play four or more sessions according to this and some other markets, but I’m not so sure.
Similarly, Russell Henley to be the top US rookie is worth considering at 13/8. He’s going to begin the week with the world’s best player and it’s quite possible that the other three begin it on the bench. That plus the fact that Henley is the strongest of the four makes him look more like an even-money shot, but success here will depend quite a bit on Scheffler, and I’d rather rely on him alone instead.
Posted at 1800 BST on 22/09/25
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