Hero World Challenge: PGA Tour Golf Odds and Predictions

Payton Matthews
Last Updated: December 2, 2019

This event has been around in some form since 2000 and benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation and now the newly-formed ONE Bahamas Fund in the wake of the catastrophic Hurricane Dorian in that country.

Hero World Challenge Background

While any money won doesn’t count toward the PGA Tour money list standings and no FedEx Cup points are available, it does offer official world golf rankings points. It’s essentially a well-paid exhibition for Tiger, his friends and some of the top-ranked players in the world.

Players need to be ranked in the top 50 of the world rankings to qualify for the 18-man tournament. A total of 16 players in the field come from the world rankings and the final two are special invitations. This year, those went to Jordan Spieth and Henrik Stenson. Spieth won this event in 2014 at a different course. Stenson was a runner-up in the Bahamas in both 2015 and 2017. With such a small field, there is no cut.

Since 2015, the Hero World Challenge has been held at Albany Golf Club’s Championship Course in New Providence in the Bahamas. It’s a par 72 measuring around 7,300 yards. This year, though, it’s a Wednesday-Saturday 72-hole stroke event instead of the usual Thursday- Sunday. That’s to help facilitate travel to next week’s Presidents Cup in Australia for competitors in this field also playing Down Under. All 12 members of the US Team were set to play in the Bahamas, but Dustin Johnson withdrew as he recovers from knee surgery. DJ, who had been +1100 this week, says he still plans to compete in the Presidents Cup. Chez Reavie takes his spot in the Bahamas.

Hero World Challenge Betting Favourites

Jon Rahm +394
Tiger Woods +675
Justin Thomas +685
Patrick Cantlay +800
Xander Schauffele +1200
Webb Simpson +1300
Justin Rose +1400
Rickie Fowler +1400
Bryson Dechambeau +1500
Tony Finau +1700
Gary Woodland +1900
Patrick Reed +2100
Matt Kuchar +2100
Kevin Kisner +2700
Bubba Watson +3400

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Last year, Spain’s Jon Rahm won by four shots at 20-under and he’s the +641 favourite at Sports Interaction. Rahm comes off a victory in the European Tour’s DP World Tour Championship as well claiming that Tour’s version of the FedEx Cup, the Race to Dubai. It was his Rahm’s fourth worldwide win of 2019 and second European Tour win in a row. He jumped from No. 5 to No. 3 in the world.

Justin Thomas is +673 with Patrick Cantlay and Tiger each at +1000. Woods has won this tournament five times but not since 2011 when it was held in California. Tiger was second-to-last in the Bahamas in 2018. He has played one Tour event this year and won the Zozo Championship in Japan last month.

Cantlay was a runner-up in Las Vegas in his most recent PGA Tour start in early October. He finished T5 here a year ago. Thomas has a win already this season last month in Korea. He was T12 in this tournament last year.