This article is part of our FanDuel PGA DFS Picks series.
Hero World Challenge
Course: Albany Golf Course (7,449 yards, par 72)
Purse: $5,000,000
Winner: $1,000,000
Tournament Preview
If you've been sick of hearing about the FedExCup race all year, this week you won't have to worry about that. There are no FedExCup points awarded. Just 20 of the top golfers in the world teeing it up in the Bahamas looking to end 2024 on the highest of notes. There will not be a 36-hole cut and players will receive OWGR points based on their finish at Albany Golf Course.
The Hero World Challenge has been a staple of December golf for nearly 25 years now. The event is put on to benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation. Unfortunately, another back surgery will keep the tournament host out of the 2024 edition, but Woods is expected to be on site and in the booth at some point throughout in the week. This will be the ninth straight Hero World Challenge that will take place at Albany. Sherwood Country Club was the primary host of the event prior to it going to the Bahamas.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will be in the field looking to defend his title from last year. Scheffler could become the sixth man to win the Hero World Challenge on multiple occasions. 2024 has been the year of Scheffler and it would certainly be fitting for him to close it down win another win. Of course there are 19 other players very capable of taking down Scheffler in the field. Sepp Straka is the lowest ranked player in the field at 39th, and he finished runner-up a year ago.
With temperatures dipping around much of the U.S., it will be beautiful at Albany with temperatures in the high-70s and plenty of sunshine. This course is very exposed and wind is always the primary defense. Breezes should be pretty light for the opening two rounds, before the players meet a little more resistance on the weekend. Between 16 and 20-under-par has won at Albany in the last seven editions, and that's likely to be where it falls again in 2024.
Recent Champions
2023 - Scottie Scheffler (-20)
2022 - Viktor Hovland (-16)
2021 - Viktor Hovland (-18)
2020 - No Tournament
2019 - Henrik Stenson (-18)
2018 - Jon Rahm (-20)
2017 - Rickie Fowler (-18)
2016 - Hideki Matsuyama (-18)
2015 - Bubba Watson (-25)
2014 - Jordan Spieth (-26) *played at Isleworth
Key Stats to Victory
- SG: Approach/Proximity
- SG: Off-the-Tee/Driving Distance
- SG: Putting/Putts per GIR
- SG: Around-the-Green/Scrambling
Champion's Profile
Albany GC is mostly flat with wide fairways and large greens. You can get in trouble with the sandy areas and water coming into play on a few tee shots, but mostly the long hitters can let it fly. From there it's all about controlling the flight of the ball in the breezes. If you miss your spots on approach, it's not hard to find your ball rolling off the green into a collection area. The bermudagrass can make straightforward pitch shots pretty challenging, especially with many in the field not having played in awhile. At the end of the day, however, players need to make a lot of birdies to contend and that means the putter will need to be clicking. Albany is far from your stock par-72 with five par-3s and five par-5s. It also has a pair of drivable par-4s to create even more excitement. It typically doesn't take long to see who is there to try to win and who is there to chill and cash an easy check.
FanDuel Value Picks
The Chalk
Justin Thomas ($10,800)
Thomas is coming off a T2 finish in Japan, and he finished top-5 in the last four editions of this event. He is coming off what many called a poor season, but he was still an excellent ball striker, ranking fifth in SG: Tee-to-Green. Thomas has had plenty of time to practice on bermudagrass greens to dial in the putter. I expect him to kick off a big bounceback season in 2025 strong with a high finish this week.
Sam Burns ($10,200)
If you want to go to the other side of things, Burns is arguably the best putter in the field, and he's fully capable of running the table on these familiar bermudagrass greens. Burns also closed last season by gaining strokes on approach in his last five starts. The 28-year-old was top-10 on the PGA Tour in both birdie and eagle average, and he finished T3 at Albany in 2021.
The Middle Tier
Sungjae Im ($9,900)
Im is in the most complete golfer in the $9K range. He has gained off the tee in 17-of-19, on approach in 8-of-10, around the green in 7-of-9 and on the greens in his last nine. That all adds up to 13 top-15 finishes over his last 17 starts. Im can put up birdies with the best of them and finished T8 in his only prior Hero World Challenge start.
Sahith Theegala ($9,100)
This will be Theegala's first start at Albany, but this is the type of course he will be able to go on the gas and rack up birdies in bunches. Theegala ranked top-50 on the PGA Tour last season in SG: Off-the-Tee, SG: Approach and SG: Putting. He also has gained strokes around the greens in 9-of-11 starts. Theegala's 11 top-12 finishes point toward his ability to get hot and find his way into contention on the weekend.
The Long Shots
Robert MacIntyre ($8,800)
MacIntyre comes into this week as in-form as anyone, having played five events on the DP World Tour since the TOUR Championship. He finished top-25 in all of them. MacIntyre fits the profile in theory as someone who can move it off the tee and can fill it up on the greens. The Scot has steadily improved on approach throughout 2024 and has led to a lot more consistent results.
Nick Dunlap ($8,200)
Dunlap only played one event in the fall, so he's had some time to finally be able to sit back and reflect on how his life has changed this year after winning as an amateur, turning pro and struggling and then breaking through again for another win later in the season. One thing Dunlap knows how to do is eat up par-5s (T3 in par-5 scoring average) and that will be required at Albany with five of them on the card. He has also gained strokes on approach in seven of his last nine starts.
Strategy Tips This Week
Based on a Standard $60K Salary Cap
With only 20 players in the field, ownership rates across the board are going to be higher than your standard PGA Tour event. Scottie Scheffler is the top option at $12,300, which is $1,200 clear of Ludvig Aberg in second, but with only five players about the $10K threshold, rostering Scheffler is going to be pretty easy if you want to. That said, I'm inclined to fade his surely ridiculous ownership to get a larger stake in the rest of the field. Everyone is going to get 72 holes and there will be plenty of birdies to go around. In all honesty, unless Scheffler wins, which very well could happen, there really is no value there in GPP contests.
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