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Eight of world's top 15 taking part
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Big hitters can prosper on Albany's generous fairways
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Homa 13/27.50 primed to finish year with another title
Tournament and Course Notes
• With $3.5m to be shared among 20 competitors, this lucrative tournament is hosted by 15-time major winner Tiger Woods and raises money for the former world No 1's charitable foundation;
• This PGA Tour-sanctioned event does not affect the FedEx Cup standings, although the winner will still pocket $1m, while the player finishing 20th and last will collect a bumper pay-day worth £100k. There are, however, World Ranking points at stake;
• Designed by Ernie Els and opened in October 2010, the course has plenty of sand, while combining links and desert features into the same layout;
• Albany's Bermuda grass greens are significantly smaller than the PGA Tour average, while its fairways are reasonably generous and there is minimal rough. Water comes into play on just five holes;
• This will be the eighth time the tournament has been staged at the Albany Resort, which is located close to the south-east coastline of New Providence island There was no event in 2020 due to the pandemic;
• Fifteen of the world's top 25 will compete in this year's Hero World Challenge.
Latest betting for this week's Hero World Challenge
This Week's Field
Norway's Victor Hovland 7/24.50 is chasing a hat-trick of wins, while world No 1 Scottie Scheffler 11/26.50 will be keen to avenge his losses at Albany in 2021 and 2022. The American was runner-up to Hovland on both occasions.
The big issue facing Scheffler will be his competitiveness this coming week.
One of the main complaints levelled at the defeated United States team at this year's Ryder Cup, was that they lacked a competitive edge going into the match - and subsequently only won one of the opening 12 ties.
The same opinion can be applied to a number of players taking part this week, including Scheffler whose most recent 72-hole tournament was the Tour Championship in August.
Maybe best to plump for a pro who has teed-up more recently. Two players who fit this bill are Max Homa 13/27.50 and Justin Thomas 16/117.00.
Homa has competed twice since the Tour Championship, finishing tied-seventh at the Fortinet Championship and winning at Sun City in South Africa.
He was also America's most successful performer at the Ryder Cup.
Thomas also played in those two events, and posted top-five finishes in both. His last three appearances at Albany have each yielded top-5s too.
Two other names to mention are Collin Morikawa 7/18.00 and Rickie Fowler 18/119.00.
Morikawa has won on the PGA Tour since playing in the Ryder Cup, while Fowler - who is a former champion at Albany - returned to the winners' enclosure in early July, thanks to a victory in Detroit.
Betfair Sportsbook
Stroke Averages
All-Time Albany Averages (2015-22)
Average .... (Rounds)
67.75: Viktor Hovland (8)
68.13: Scottie Scheffler (8)
68.25: Rickie Fowler (20)
69.10: Justin Rose (21)
69.13: Collin Morikawa (8)
69.38: Tony Finau (16)
69.40: Justin Thomas (20)
69.88: Sam Burns (8)
70.31: Tiger Woods (16)
70.42: Jordan Spieth (24)
70.63: Matt Fitzpatrick (8)
Min. No. of Rounds = 8
Only those entered this week are included in table