Fantasy Golf Predictions

Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions – 2025 Hero World Challenge

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5 months ago

December 2, 2025

Golficity

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Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions for the 2025 Hero World Challenge

2025 Hero World Challenge Fantasy Preview

The regular PGA TOUR season may be over, but there’s still time for a pair of exhibitions featuring some of golf’s biggest names – including the return of Scottie Scheffler this week.

Sami Valimaki signed off on his 2025 campaign in the ultimate way: landing his maiden PGA TOUR title at the RSM Classic.

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The Finn had gone close at the WWT Championship just a few weeks prior, and that’s a course correlation that has been duly noted for next year’s Fall Swing.

As for the likes of Joel Dahmen, Harry Higgs, Adam Hadwin, and Cameron Champ, the season ended on a bum note: they lost their tour cards after finishing outside of the top 100 of the FedEx standings.

They will likely get plenty of invites from their conditional status, but have lost their full-time playing privileges.

As for Matt Kuchar and Zach Johnson, they will likely cash their career money exemptions… but 2026 could be their last year on the PGA TOUR.

Onwards we go to the Hero World Challenge. It’s the annual jolly to the Bahamas for the benefit of the Tiger Woods Foundation.

And while the Big Cat isn’t teeing it up as he continues his rehab from more surgeries, a strong field will assemble at the Albany Golf Club nonetheless.

The 2025 Hero World Challenge Field

Scottie Scheffler will make his yearly jaunt to the Bahamas. He’ll be looking to make it a hat-trick of victories, having won the Hero World Challenge in 2023 and 2024.

He will be joined on New Providence Island by reigning U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun, as well as two other members of the OWGR top ten in Robert MacIntyre and Justin Rose.

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There will be a strong Ryder Cup feel to proceedings, with Harris English, Sam Burns, Cameron Young, and Sepp Straka all involved, as will be Keegan Bradley – fresh from winning The Skins game last week.

There’s plenty of other classy operators in the field too, with Tiger’s invitations going to Akshay Bhatia, Billy Horschel, and Jordan Spieth.

This Week’s Course Preview

The winning score at Albany Golf Course has ranged from -16 to -25 in the past three years alone, which reveals how the weather impacts proceedings here.

It’s a coastal layout on an island, so clearly the wind is going to be a factor – as well as the firm and fast conditions.

It’s a Par 72 measuring in the region of 7,450 yards, but note the unusual routing: five Par 5s and five Par 3s make Albany an unusual stretch of golf.

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It was designed by Ernie Els, who seemingly combined his two loves: Links golf and the classic sandbelt courses of Australia.

So that’s why Albany GC is completely exposed, with zero tree coverage, and has holes that look ‘Linksy’ in nature. But there’s plenty of bunkers and even man-made sand dunes, too.

These sand traps are shallow and easy to play from, and with large Bermuda greens, it’s little wonder that Albany has relented to winning scores of -20 and lower… when the wind allows, of course.

Last year, 14 of the holes averaged under par for the week, and the only challenging hole on the real estate is, ironically, the last: a 471-yard Par 4 that served up more bogeys than birdies in 2024.

The two Par 5s that measure over 600 yards aren’t gimmies, but the other three Par 5s are, while Par 4s measuring 307 and 366 yards at seven and fourteen are clearly there for the taking.

Weather Forecast for Albany, Bahamas

The weather on New Providence Island this week is exactly as you would expect: hot, sunny, and windy.

Sunshine and cloud are the prevalent forces, with temperatures in the range of 78-80 degrees.

But, of course, the wind speeds are the key factor at Albany GC. Thursday and Sunday, at the time of writing, appear to be the easiest days in that regard, but Friday and Saturday could see 12-16mph – at the local level, that will likely feel even stronger.

Last Year’s Results

It was a procession for Scheffler 12 months ago, who practically lapped the field – only two players got within 10 shots of the world number one.

Curiously, he was three adrift of Cameron Young after the opening round, but a majestic 64 on Friday propelled Scheffler two strokes clear of the field.

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There was still time for some twists and turns – Justin Thomas led by a single shot from Scheffler with a round to play, but Sunday was all about one man alone.

The world number one produced an epic 63, bogey-free and with nine birdies, that was four shots better than anybody else on the day.

Despite birdieing the first, Thomas could only muster 71 in the end, so it was easy as a Sunday morning for Scheffler as he successfully defended his Hero World Challenge crown.

Where to Play Fantasy Golf for this Week’s the 2025 Hero World Challenge

Look, there’s no two ways about it, drafting a balanced six-man roster from a selection of 20 players is not easy.

But that means that other players won’t find it easy either, so there’s contests that hold some appeal this week….

PGA TOUR $80k Drive the Green: The standard $5 contest is ideal in that it provides plenty of scope for prize money even if our lineup choices are duped by many others. The jackpot is $20k.

PGA TOUR $100k Sand Trap: For bigger budget players, here’s a $25 entry contest with a top prize of a handsome $20k. There’s only 4,705 entries allowed, which means less competition and fewer duped lineups.

This Week’s Fantasy Notes for the 2025 Hero World Challenge

Curiously, ShotLink data is available for the Hero World Challenge – why the PGA TOUR can’t make that happen in Bermuda and at the WWT Championship only they know.

Last year, Scheffler ranked first in the field for Driving Accuracy, SG: Approach, and Greens in Regulation, and that’s a playbook that has long brought success at Albany GC.

In fact, if we look at the identities of the last two winners of this event – Scheffler and Viktor Hovland – as well as the last two runners-up in Sepp Straka and Tom Kim, it becomes clear that fairway finding and class with mid-range irons in hand is very helpful here.

The link to the British Open can’t be ignored either. Since the Hero World Challenge switched to Albany GC in 2015, two of its winners have also been British Open champions, another finished runner-up on the Links, and even Hovland has a best of T4 in that particular major.

More surprising is the correlation with The Masters. Again, since 2015, four Hero World Challenge winners have also been handed the Green Jacket, while a fifth – Patrick Reed – is a Masters champion and Hero runner-up.

Other players that have thrived at Albany, such as Rickie Fowler, Tony Finau, and Charley Hoffman, help to frank the link between the Hero, the British Open, and The Masters.

Top 5 Picks/Odds to Win the 2025 Hero World Challenge

Top Tier Pick # 1

Scottie Scheffler (Odds: 2/1, FPPG: 103.0, Salary: $14,900)

Yep, it’s one of those weeks.

In his first two visits to Albany GC, Scottie Scheffler finished second on both occasions. In his last two, he’s won the tournament by three and six shots respectively.

And not just that. In 2023, Scheffler beat most of the field by five or more strokes. Last year, he beat the majority of the field by ten shots.

In 2025, he will face what is, in reality, a weakened Hero World Challenge field: there’s not a huge array of world class or in-form players heading for the Bahamas.

It’s hard to imagine Scheffler getting lazy over the past few months of rest. In fact, his record in this event proves that after a prolonged lay-off, the world number one is at his most dangerous.

Key Stats:

Scoring Average (adjusted) – 1st
SG: Approach – 1st
SG: Off-the-Tee – 2nd

Top Tier Pick #2

Aaron Rai (Odds: 20/1, FPPG: 70.6, Salary: $8,400)

Aaron Rai continued his ascent up the world rankings by winning the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in November.

It caps a fine year for the Brit, who finished T34 or higher in all four majors and T14 at the PLAYERS Championship.

That consistency means that Rai is knocking on the door of golf’s top table, and we like the idea of him continuing in that vein this week at a venue that should suit; he’s won in the breeze of a Scottish Open and in similarly windy conditions in the Middle Eastern desert.

Key Stats:

SG: Approach – 21st
SG: Off-the-Tee – 22nd
Scoring Average (adjusted) – 23rd

Mid-Tier Pick #1

Justin Rose (Odds: 20/1, FPPG: 64.7, Salary: $8,000)

Justin Rose, ageing like a fine wine, has finished inside the top ten in each of his last five trips to Albany GC.

He is a regular at the top end of leaderboards in our two correlating events at the British Open and The Masters; in fact, the Brit suffered a heartbreaking third runner-up finish at Augusta earlier this year.

A winner at the FedEx St Jude in August, Rose is still very much capable of mixing it with the young guns at the age of 45.

Key Stats:

Birdie Average – 25th
Putts Per Round – 26th
SG: Approach – 55th

Mid-Tier Pick #2

Akshay Bhatia (Odds: 22/1, FPPG: 67.6, Salary: $7,400)

Akshay Bhatia looked very assured on debut at Albany GC 12 months ago, knocking in rounds of 66 and 67 on his way to a solo fourth place finish.

That perhaps comes as no surprise for a noted wind player who makes a ton of birdies; he ranked 14th on TOUR in 2025 for Birdie Average.

It’s easy to forget just how young Bhatia is at 23, given that he’s been around for a while, but the leftie is still learning his trade.

However, his performances against quality opponents – T3 at the PLAYERS Championship, T6 in the St Jude, and T13 at the TOUR Championship – confirm that Bhatia’s game is in the ascendance.

Key Stats:

SG: Approach – 14th
Birdie Average – 14th
SG: Putting – 35th

Low-Tier Pick

Chris Gotterup (Odds: 30/1, FPPG: 65.6, Salary: $7,100)

A win at the Scottish Open, third in the British Open, T10 at the TOUR Championship, and T23 at the U.S. Open in 2025 confirm Chris Gotterup as a player on the up and up.

Two of those fine showings came in exposed, Links style conditions of course, so there’s hoping that Gotterup’s comfort in a breeze and when playing with wide open spaces in front of him proves helpful this week.

His other PGA TOUR win came at the sandy, coastal Dunes Golf Club for the Myrtle Beach Classic, so Albany GC will hopefully suit Gotterup’s eye.

Key Stats:

SG: Off the Tee – 9th
Scoring Average (adjusted) – 15th
Greens in Regulation – 22nd

Sleeper Pick for the 2025 Hero World Challenge

Billy Horschel (Odds: 45/1, FPPG: 60.7, Salary: $6,500)

You can imagine that a few players in this field will be keen to put their clubs away for a few weeks, but Billy Horschel – having missed much of 2025 due to surgery – isn’t in that camp.

He’s played in this event three times now, with a range of finishes from T8 to T16, but he’ll be keen to improve on that and make up for lost time.

Horschel eased his way back into shape this season, but T11 in his last outing in Utah suggests that his rehabilitation phase is now over.

Personal bests of T2 at the British Open and T17 at The Masters are suggestive that Billy Ho can fare nicely at Albany GC.

Key Stats:

Alternative Sleeper Pick for the 2025 Hero World Challenge

Brian Harman (Odds: 33/1, FPPG: 66.0, Salary: $6,400)

One of the rank outsiders in this event 12 months ago, Brian Harman served up a solid 12th place finish.

That means that his record in this tournament now reads 8-12, which is decent enough for a player that is routinely overlooked in fields with big names in them.

A former British Open and Texas Open champion, it goes without saying that Harman is comfortable in a breeze, and a best of T12 at Augusta continues that correlation nicely.

Key Stats: