Some of the best golfers in the world will make the trip to the Bahamas this week for the Hero World Challenge from the Ernie Els-designed Albany course. The limited invitation means this will be a high-class field consisting of just 18 players with Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth headlining this year’s competitors. There will be $3.5 million in prize money up for grabs and in addition to the elite level of competition there is a certain former world No. 1 that is sure to steal some headlines in his return to the course.
Event
Event Details: Hero World Challenge
Category: PGA
Date: Dec. 2-4
Location: Albany, The Bahamas, New Providence
Tiger Woods will make his highly anticipated first start since he finished 10th in the Wyndham Championship in August of 2015. It has been an incredibly long layoff for the former No. 1 player in the world. Although bettors and fantasy nuts are going to be expecting big things from Tiger, the only thing that should be expected is a ton of rust. And remember, he wasn’t even playing particularly well before that either. He was struggling mightily.
Woods is now the 898th ranked player in the world but that won’t keep him out of the spotlight as the golf world waits to see how he will perform after such a long layoff since his last start. It’s best to take a wait-and-see approach with him to determine whether he’s worth betting in the future.
Past Five Winners
2015: Bubba Watson -25
2014: Jordan Spieth -26
2013: Zach Johnson -13 (Playoff)
2012: Graeme McDowell -17
2011: Tiger Woods -10
What To Know About The Course
The Albany course hosted this tournament a year ago as the first professional event held here since it opened in 2010. It’s an exposed flat links-style course with multiple par-five and par-four holes so Driving Distance will probably be a major factor once again this year. Bubba Watson won this event a year ago at this course but his success had as much to do with his stellar short game as it did with his ability to drive the ball. Scrambling should also be an important statistic to keep an eye on as the first four home last year each finished inside the top-four in that category.
The Field
Woods will be arguably the most intriguing player to watch at this year’s tournament but considering his competition and the fact that he hasn’t played professionally in so long it’s no surprise that he is listed at +4000 to win outright. Dustin Johnson will be the favorite at +600 with Jordan Spieth at +650 and Hideki Matsuyama at +800. Brooks Koepka, Henrik Stenson, Patrick Reed and Rickie Fowler are all expected to contend for the outright win while last year’s winner Watson is listed at +1600 to repeat with another victory at the Hero World Challenge.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Jordan Spieth over Dustin Johnson
It makes sense that Johnson is the betting favorite based on his dominance last season but his production did tail off towards the end of last year and we can’t fault him for a bit of a letdown. Meanwhile, Spieth should be trending in the opposite direction after he won the Australian Open for a second time two weeks ago as he is definitely looking to bounce back following a sub-par 2015 performance. Spieth finished fourth at this tournament a year ago and we like him to have the edge over Johnson at this year’s event with his stock primed to bounce back in 2017.
Best Bet To Win Outright: Hideki Matsuyama
There is some decent value betting on the defending champion Watson at +1600 but in terms of the best bet overall we really like Matsuyama. He is in excellent form with figures that read 5-1-2-1-1 over his last few individual events and while he wasn’t great at this tournament last year he did post a 66 in the final round. Another year of experience and improved confidence should pay off as Matsuyama has all of the tools to win the Hero World Challenge straight up this weekend.
Odds To Win The Hero World Challenge
Dustin Johnson +525
Jordan Spieth +615
Hideki Matsuyama +750
Brooks Koepka +812
Henrik Stenson +1015
Patrick Reed +1050
Bubba Watson +1250
Justin Rose +1550
Rickie Fowler +1550
Matt Kuchar +1850
Russell Knox +2250
Emiliano Grillo +2550
Brandt Snedeker +2550
Louis Oosthuizen +2250
Jimmy Walker +2850
Tiger Woods +2850
Zach Johnson +3250
JB Holmes +3550
