Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions – 2021 Hero World Challenge

Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions for the Hero World Challenge 

Hero World Challenge Fantasy Preview

Here we go then: the last ‘real’ golf of 2021.

There’s still the QBE Shootout to come, but that’s even more of a jolly up than this week’s Hero World Challenge – a chance for 20 golfing stars, many of them good friends, to buddy up under the Bahamas sun for one last jaunt this year.

It feels like an eternity ago since Talor Gooch finally broke his PGA TOUR title duck at the RSM Classic, and he did it in fine style – pretty much leading from wire to wire amid some horrendous weather conditions. His -22 winning score was outstanding given the breeze, and Gooch is a player to have on your shortlists in 2022.

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Meanwhile, Collin Morikawa was off pillaging the European Tour for riches, winning their DP World Tour Championship by three shots. The kid is an absolute winning machine….

Morikawa will have the chance to add yet another trophy to his collection at the Hero World Challenge, but he’ll be surrounded by a pretty classy bunch of opponents to overcome.

Last Week’s Fantasy Results

With no PGA TOUR event last week our last picks segment was for the RSM Classic. 

Our top pick that week was Webb Simpson, who although finishing T8, still managed to fire up some solid fantasy points with his four sub-70 rounds.
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Hero World Challenge Field

There will be good times aplenty on New Providence Island for some old buddies.

He likes of Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler and Daniel Berger might be getting a little older these days, but there will still be a frat pack feel to the event in this corner of the Bahamas.

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You could probably add someone like Viktor Hovland into that company too, although with a point to prove Rory McIlroy might prefer to keep himself to himself.

Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka will renew their rivalry from The Match, while the likes of Morikawa, Sam Burns and Abraham Ancer might sense an opportunity to add to their growing trophy cabinets.

This Week’s Course Preview

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If you’re going to convince the best in the business to tee it up one last time before Christmas, you’d better make the conditions as amenable as possible.

And that was the mission of designer Greg Letsche when he set to work on the Albany course on New Providence Island, and the history books suggest it’s one he’s accomplished with winning marks regularly in the twenties or late teens under par.

Helpful on that front is the fact that the Albany layout features five Par 5s – that will always help to keep the scoring nice and low, although to counteract that somewhat there is a quintet of Par 3s too. 

Otherwise, this is your classic resort Par 72, with a Links-style feel and little in the way of tree cover. But even so, the scoring here suggests that the exposure to the ocean breeze is little more than an annoyance, rather than having any impact upon the outcome of the event.

The layout has been influenced by the sandbelt courses of Australia, and so there are plenty of bunkers and even sand dunes to consider, but with no rain and little moisture in the air its unlikely these will succumb to plugged lies and the like. 

All in all, this is a pretty nice way to spend your week in the sun while many of your peers shiver as the winter weather takes hold.

Weather Forecast for New Providence, BAH

If you had to draw up the textbook week in the Bahamas in November, you’d probably come up with something like this.

Lots of sunshine, little chance of rain and standard humidity make for a very pleasant week on New Providence, with a top temperature of 78˚F more than agreeable.

Other than Friday, when it could reach 12mph, the wind should provide little trouble either at around the 9 mph mark. 

NEW PROVIDENCE WEATHER

Last Year’s Results from the Hero World Challenge 

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The pandemic put paid to the 2020 edition of this event, and so we roll back to 2019 to find a rather surprising name on the winner’s trophy.

It’s been a tough couple of years for Henrik Stenson, the former major champion who looks a shadow of his former self. But it all came together for the Swede at Albany back in 2019.

Stenson overcame Jon Rahm by one shot, and that secured his first win on the PGA TOUR since 2017’s Wyndham Championship.

It was a trademark three-wood that sealed the deal, the former British Open champion blasting his version of the big stick 259 yards to eight inches on the Par 5 fifteenth, and that ultimately proved to be the difference maker on a stacked leaderboard in an unpredictable final round.

Where to Play Fantasy Golf for the Hero World Challenge this Week

With just 20 players in the field, you don’t need us to tell you that it’s a tough old week for DFS gaming. That said, there’s still opportunities to be had in single-entry contests….

• PGA $50k Driver: If you want to end the year on a high, how does a $10k jackpot strike you? You’ll need to beat the other 276 players in this $200 contest to win it, but what a fine way to end 2021 that would be.

• PGA $50k Drive the Green: Whisper it, but this week’s slate is perhaps worth taking with a pinch of salt, so you might as well have fun with a lottery ticket of sorts – for $5 a turn, you could throw some darts at this contest which pays the winner a cool $10k.

This Week’s Fantasy Notes for the Hero World Challenge 

If we look at the roll call of Hero World Challenge winners since the event moved to Albany in 2015, we have a clear template for who might succeed. 

We’ve got a British Open champion (Stenson), a British Open runner-up (Rickie Fowler) and a US Open winner (Rahm), a victor in the windy and sandy Phoenix Open (Hideki Matsuyama), and Bubba Watson whose….well, he’s just Bubba.

But there’s a clear template for success in this event, and we’re looking for those wind-loving, sand-surfing, birdie-making types who have that hunger to succeed in a week that might otherwise become a bit of a vacation given Albany’s status as one of the most exclusive resorts on the planet.

Our Top 5 (and Top 2 Sleeper) Fantasy Picks and Odds to Win the Hero World Challenge 

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Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2021-2022)

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