Joe Champion
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The PGA Tour’s Fall Series has come to an end but there is still elite golf action taking place in the Bahamas this week with all eyes on Tiger Woods as he makes his return to competitive golf in the Hero World Challenge.
Last seen when withdrawing from the Masters in April, Woods is the host of this event at Albany Golf Course but the sportsbooks aren’t expecting a Lazarus-like revival and most making him the outsider of the 20-man field.
He has +9000 odds at FanDuel Sportsbook, which has Viktor Hovland as the +400 favorite ahead of Scottie Scheffler at +450. Woods is +1000 odds for a top-5 finish at DraftKings Sportsbook and +280 to make the top 10.
Hero World Challenge best bet
Viktor Hovland (+400 at FanDuel, DraftKings & BetMGM)
Part of the PGA Tour schedule but not a part of the FedEx Cup, the Hero World Challenge has a distinct end-of-term feel to it but an elite field, all with some sort of chance bar perhaps the returning Tiger Woods, makes for a decent betting conundrum. It could, however, pay to keep things simple and side with reigning champion and favorite Viktor Hovland, who is chasing an Albany treble having won this title in 2021 and 2022.
Hovland has a superb record on coastal courses, winning his first PGA Tour title in Puerto Rico in 2020 and claiming a Mayakoba double in 2020 and 2021, and the Norwegian has taken his game to a new level this year with wins at the Memorial Tournament, the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship.
Following a superb Ryder Cup for the European team, Hovland returned from a 6-week break to finish 2nd to Nicolai Hojgaard at the DP World Tour Championship and that performance should have left him in perfect shape for a tilt at a third World Challenge victory.
Hero World Challenge next best bet
Collin Morikawa (+800 at FanDuel & DraftKings)
Second-favourite Scottie Scheffler is sure to be rusty having not played a strokeplay event since August, while Max Homa struggled to get to grips with the Albany course in his debut last year, so Zozo champion Collin Morikawa could prove to be the chief threat to Hovland.
His triumph in Japan was the Californian’s first win since the 2021 British Open, and there could be more to come at Albany, a course he showed a liking for when leading through 3 rounds of this tournament in 2021 before finishing 5th behind Hovland.
