Hero World Challenge: Betting Tips, Tee Times, How To Watch

Hero World Challenge Preview: Tee Times, TV Times, Betting Odds

The Hero World Challenge takes place at Albany Golf Club this week with four former winners in the field: Defending champion Rickie Fowler, Hideki Matsuyama, Bubba Watson and five-time winner Tiger Woods.

Woods, who claimed the Tour Championship in his last official event, lost the $9million showdown with Phil Mickelson last week but will be teeing up alongside Justin Thomas in search of his second win of the year.

He’s the most experienced player in the 18 man field, which includes six first-time attendees (Woodland, Cantlay, Schauffele, Rahm, DeChambeau and Finau) and Justin Thomas and Alex Noren, who are all making just their second trip to the event.

The tournament, which is hosted by Woods and is a benefit for his foundation, is recognised on the PGA Tour schedule but is not an official money event, although it does offer World ranking points and a prize fund of $3,500,000.

Here’s what you need to know. 

Tee Times

Tee times (all times GMT; players USA unless stated)

1610 Tony Finau (USA), Gary Woodland (USA)
1621 Keegan Bradley (USA), Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn)
1632 Patrick Cantlay (USA), Xander Schauffele (USA)
1643 Justin Rose (Eng), Henrik Stenson (Swe)
1654 Jon Rahm (Esp), Alex Noren (Swe)
1705 Tiger Woods (USA), Justin Thomas (USA)
1716 Rickie Fowler(USA), Dustin Johnson (USA)
1727 Patrick Reed (USA), Bubba Watson (USA)
1738 Jason Day (Aus), Bryson DeChambeau (USA)

How To watch

Thursday: Sky Sports Golf (18:30), Sky Sports Main Event (18:30)
Friday: Sky Sports Golf (18:30)
Saturday: Sky Sports Golf (17:00), Sky Sports Main Event (20:00)
Sunday: Sky Sports Golf (16:00)

Betting Tips on each player in the field

Justin Rose: 7/1
World Ranking: #2
Best Result in this event: T5 (’17)
Last 10 Results: 1-3-8-T4-2-2-MC-T19-T2-T9
Top 10s 2018: 14
Wins: 2

With his most recent victory at the Turkish Airlines, this year’s FedEx Cup champion has made it to the top spot in the World rankings twice this year – so it’s no surprise that Rose is the bookies favourite this week. The Albany resident has a home advantage this week, is the highest ranked player in the field and comes in with six consecutive top 10s.  

Dustin Johnson: 8/1
World Ranking: #3
Best Result in this event: T3 (’16)
Last 10 Results: T30-T2-T24-T7-T11-T27-T3-1-MC-3
Top 10s 2018: 12
Wins: 3

DJ has only played one event since the Tour Championship, but the former World No.1 picked up three titles in 2018 and finished the season ranked No.1 for scoring average, birdie average, SG: Off the tee and SG: Tee to green. Only drawback is that he doesn’t have the most compelling performances in this contest, having gone T13-18-T15-T3-T14 in five visits.

Rickie Fowler: 17/2
World Ranking: #9
Best Result in this event: WIN (’17)
Last 10 Results: T16-T4-T7-T8-T12-T17-T28-T6-12-T17
Top 10s 2018: 7

The defending champion has peformed well in 2018 but is still looking for his first win since last year’s Hero World Challenge. It’s an event he’s consistently performed well at so is definitely worth a bet, having finished 3rd in both 2015 and 2016 and T6 in 2014. He ranks 4th for scoring average and 5th for SG: Total on Tour. 

Justin Thomas: 9/1
World Ranking: #4
Best Result in this event: T11 (’17)
Last 10 Results: T36-T5-T7-T12-T24-T8-T6-1-MC-T8
Top 10s in 2018: 11
Wins: 2

Justin Thomas made his debut here last year to finish T11, and tees up in his third event of the 2018/19 season after a T5-T36 start at the CIMB Classic and The CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges. JT notched up three wins last season and ended the year ranked inside the top 5 on tour for scoring average, birdie average, SG: Tee to green, SG: Approach the green and putting average. He tees up with Tiger on Thursday. 

Tiger Woods: 9/1
World Ranking: #13
Best Result in this event: WIN (’01,’04,’06,’07,’11)
Last 10 Results: 1-T6-T24-T40-2-T31-T6-T4-MC-T23
Top 10s 2018: 7
Wins: 1

Woods loves this golf course, is a five-time winner of the event, and has a lot of confidence after claiming his 80th PGA Tour title at the Tour Championship. He wasn’t firing on all cylinders during ‘The Match’ against Phil Mickelson last week, but if he can make some more putts he’ll definitely be a contender. Ended last season ranked 1st SG: Approach the green, 7th for Scoring average and SG: Tee to green. 

Bryson DeChambeau: 11/1
World Ranking: #5
Best Result in this event: N/A
Last 10 Results: 1-19-T19-1-1-MC-30-T13-T51-WD
Top 10s 2018: 94
Wins: 4

Bryson DeChambeau hit his stride in the second half of 2018, winning four times – including three in his last five thanks to victories in two of the FedEx Cup playoff events and most recently at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open that moved him in to the World’s top 5. First time at this tournament. 

Jon Rahm: 12/1
World Ranking: #8
Best Result in this event: N/A
Last 10 Results: T4-T22-T11-T24-T43-MC-T4-T17-MC-T4
Top 10s 2018: 9
Wins: 2

Rahm is another first-time Hero World Challenge player, and the Spaniard comes in fresh from a T4 finish at the European Tour’s season finale DP World Tour Championship. He notched up wins on both sides of the globe in 2018, and ranked 3rd for birdie average. 

Jason Day: 14/1
World Ranking: #11
Best Result in this event: 5 (’14)
Last 10 Results: T11-T5-18-T24-MC-T20-T19-T10-T17-T12
Top 10s 2018: 6
Wins: 2

Day hasn’t teed up here since he finished 5th in 2014, but will come in looking for a good result after a T11 and T5 in his last two events at the WGC HSBC -Champions and CJ Cup. He ended a winless drought of nearly two years at the Farmers Open earlier this year and added win number two at Wells Fargo. Finished the year ranked 1st SG: Putting, 5th SG: Around the green, 9th for birdie average and 11th for scoring average. 

Tony Finau: 14/1
World Ranking: #14
Best Result in this event: N/A
Last 10 Results: T16-T36-2-T10-T15-T8-2-T42-T10-T37
Top 10s 2018: 11

Finau came close to victory on numerous occasions last season, which included three runner-up finishes and top 10s in the first three majors of the year (even with a post-dislocated ankle at the Masters). It’s his first time in this event, and he ended last season ranked 10th for both scoring average and SG:Total. 

Patrick Reed: 18/1
World Ranking: #15
Best Result in this event: 2nd (’15)
Last 10 Results: T45-T2-T7-T28-T19-T35-T25-MC-T28-T9
Top 10s 2018: 9
Wins: 1

The Masters Champ was in supreme form at the start of the year but faltered slightly following a 4th place at the US Open. He did however prove his worth as a worldwide player after running Danny Willett close for the DP World Tour Championship a couple of weeks ago,  becoming the highest-ever ranked American on the European Tour order of merit. A good record here, finishing T5-10th-2nd-T3 in four starts. Ranked 2nd SG: Around the green last season. 

Xander Schauffele: 20/1
World Ranking: #12
Best Result in this event: N/A
Last 10 Results: T16-1-T48-T25-T7-T3-T49-MC-T35-68
Top 10s 2018: 7
Wins: 1

Schauffele followed his rookie of the year performane in 2017 with a string of top 10s, but still came up short of Ryder Cup qualification. Undeterred, he claimed the WGC HSBC-Champions title a few weeks ago, and followed it with a T16 finish in the European Tour’s finale. First time in this event. 

Henrik Stenson: 22/1
World Ranking: #28
Best Result in this event: 2nd (’14,’16)
Last 10 Results: T12-T29-T69-T20-MC-T39-T35-T6-T26-T13
Top 10s 2018: 6

Stenson has struggled with an elbow injury for a large part of the season, and teed up for the first time since the BMW Championship at the DP World Tour Championship – where he finished T12. He faltered to 17th in this event last year but otherwise has been consistently a contender, finishing 2nd in his two other starts. Ranked 1st for GIR and driving accuracy on the PGA Tour last year. 

Hideki Matsuyama: 22/1
World Ranking: #25
Best Result in this event: WIN (’16)
Last 10 Results: T44-T46-T30-T18-T4-15-T4-T15-T11-T35
Top 10s 2018: 3

Matsuyama claimed the title here in 2016 but is searching for his first win since the 2017 WGC Bridgestone Invitational. He also has suffered with injury problems this year and hasn’t had any stand-out scores in the past month, but with a T5-1 record here in his last two starts it’s hard to completely rule him out.  

Patrick Cantlay: 22/1
World Ranking: #20
Best Result in this event: N/A
Last 10 Results: 2-T7-T17-T21-T55-T24-T8-T27-T6-T12
Top 10s in 2018: 7

Cantlay lost out to DeChambeau at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, but the positive was back-to-back top-7s on Tour. A win feels just around the corner for Cantlay, who was ranked 8th for GIR, 9th for SG: Off the tee and 10th SG: Tee to green last year. Debut in the Hero World Challenge

Alex Noren: 25/1
World Ranking: #18
Best Result in this event: T12 (’17)
Last 10 Results: T9-T18-T18-T24-T43-MC-MC-T31-T17-1
Top 10s 2018: 6
Wins: 1

Noren flew under the radar a little last season, even though he triumphed at the European Tour’s Rolex Series HNA Open de France, played in the Ryder Cup and managed six top 10s – including at the DP World Tour Championship. He made his debut here in 2017, and ranked 5th for SG:Putting last year.

Gary Woodland: 25/1
World Ranking: #32
Best Result in this event: N/A
Last 10 Results: T41-T10-2-T5-T11-T12-T24-T48-T6-T17
Top 10s 2018: 6
Wins: 1

Woodland ended a long wait for a win at the Waste Management Phoenix Open earlier this year, but what followed in the months after were multiple MC’s before a T6 at the PGA Championship. Woodland has been far more consistent in his last few events, but winning his second event of the year might be a bit of stretch given he is another first-timer at the Hero World Challenge. Ranked 4th SG: Off the Tee, 7th for driving distance and 10th for GIR last season.

Bubba Watson: 30/1
World Ranking: #17
Best Result in this event: WIN (’15)
Last 10 Results: 29-T16-T7-T34-MC-T21-MC-MC-T13-1
Top 10s 2018: 6
Wins: 3

A resurgance in form saw Bubba return as a serious contender in 2018, with wins at the Genesis Open, WGC Match Play and Travelers Championship. This is his first time teeing up since a disappointing T29 at the Tour Championship, but he is another player with a solid record in this event. He didn’t play in 2017, but went T6-1-T11-T3-T9-T6-T14 in the seven years previous. Ranked 5th SG: off the tee last season. 

Keegan Bradley: 33/1
World Ranking: #29
Best Result in this event: T3 (’14)
Last 10 Results: T17-6-T19-T26-1-T49-T34-T42-4-79
Top 10s 2018: 5
Wins: 1

In four appearances in this event Bradley has gone T3-T13-2-17, and with the highest odds of the entire field, the recent BMW Championship title winner is actually a good bet. He hasn’t finished worse than T26 in his last five starts, and ranked 2nd last season for SG: Approach the green.