– Last Updated on November 20, 2022 10:10 pm
2016 PGA Hero World Challenge Preview and Picks
Ready to bet this week on the 2016 Hero World Challenge Odds? The 2016 Challenge comes our way this week from Albany Resort in New Providence, Bahamas – it marks the return of Tiger Woods to competitive golf – his first pro start since the Wyndham Championship in August 2015. A field of 18 will tee it up this week – all of which except for Woods are in the top 26 in the World Golf Rankings.
2016 Hero World Challenge
Date: December 1st – 4th, 2016
Location: Albany Resort – New Providence, Bahamas
Defending Champion: Bubba Watson
Updated Sportsbook Bonuses For Today
The Hero World Challenge is a four-round, 72-hole stroke play event with a $3.5 million purse, a $1 million winner’s prize and Official World Golf Ranking points awarded.
Albany Resort is a challenging par-72, 7,302-yard track that favors big hitters – Bubba Watson won with a 25 under score in which he dominated the five par 5s.
Ball striking is the name of the game here as two of the five par 4s are drivable – putting doesn’t hurt either.
So other than Tiger Woods who should we be keeping an eye on this week?
2016 Hero World Challenge Favorites:
Dustin Johnson +450
Reigning Player of the Year is back to better a 15th place finish here last year. He is definitely one of those guys with the length off the tee and touch around the greens.
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Johnson is an automatic weekly threat – he gets a crack at a track that should suit every aspect of his game!
Jordan Spieth +600
Arrives off a good win in the Australian Open two weeks ago. The last time he won that tournament he followed it with a 10 stroke win in this tournament!
He finished fourth here last year and is another with the all around game to make things interesting this week.
Hideki Matsuyama +750
How good has Hideki been lately? How about a win, two seconds, a third and a fourth place finish in his last five stroke play events? He finished 17th out of 18 players her last year however.
That said Matsuyama is on a different level right now – there are no holes in his game which should suit him well this week.
2016 Hero World Challenge Contenders:
Brooks Koepka +1000
Koepka is yet another guy who has been playing well as winter approaches. He finished second at the Shriners and won the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan two weeks ago.
He’s not under the radar anymore and is a decent bet to better his seventh place finish here last year.
Henrik Stenson +1100
This is the type of track that Stenson should eat up – driving distance and accuracy are essential here – Stenson may be the best in the world at combining both.
If Henrik can get his flat stick going there is no reason he doesn’t contend this week.
Patrick Reed +1200
Finished second here last year hasn’t been great since the Ryder Cup. But the better the competition, the better he seems to play. Adding to the intrigue of Reed this week is the fact that he is paired with Tiger the first two rounds!
Bubba Watson +1600
We haven’t heard a ton from Bubba lately but he sure showed up on this track last year when he won going away. He chewed up the par 5s and dominated the reachable par 4s.
Bubba is a bit of a Wild Card however – his game doesn’t quite look like where it needs to be in order to defend.
Justin Rose +1600
Resident of Albany has the terrific all-around game to make some noise here, especially in what is essentially a home game. He was 13th here last year and he does own the course record on this track.
Something tells me that Rose is due – expect to hear from him this week.
Rickie Fowler +1600
Fowler had been relatively quiet but is ramping up again – a T6 at the WGC-HSBC and T2 at the World Cup are proof that his game is rounding into form right now.
He finished third in this event last year and as one of the streakier guys on TOUR you have to like the state of his game right now.
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Tiger Woods +2500
Don’t expect much in this quality field – he has a much better chance of withdrawing with a back injury than actually seriously contending against this top field.
Brandt Snedeker +2800
Sneds plays this track for the first time this week and enters in decent form. He recently won in Fiji and arrives as one of the best putters in the game.
If he can find some greens, expect his flat stick to allow him to remain in the hunt – Brandt may be the best value on the board.
2016 Hero World Challenge Picks:
My pick this week is Hideki Matsuyama at +750. His current form is just too hard to ignore.
Since there are no real “sleepers” in the field I am going to give you a value pick instead – Brandt Snedeker at +2800 fits the bill.
He is a consistent striker of the golf ball and if his putter can live up to expectation he will be in the mix.
Golf handicapper DAVE B weighs in each week with his top selections. Including top picks and sleepers!
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