Hero World Challenge: Power ranking the 18-player field at Albany

The Hero World Challenge is packed with US and International players prepping for next week’s Presidents Cup

The Hero World Challenge has been played under various names and various courses since 2000. It’s consistently been held around the same time on the calendar, but for the first time, it’s serving as a tune-up for the Presidents Cup.

This has ruffled some feathers for the golf purists. Players are eschewing the Australian Open, which would be a natural fit, for the guaranteed money and world ranking points in the Bahamas.

Dustin Johnson withdrew to rest his recovering knee. The other 11 American Presidents Cup members are here in Nassau. No one from the International team is here and 15 of 18 players in the field are American.

Several Internationals are playing the Aussie Open.

The Hero began at Grayhawk Golf Club in Arizona, moved to Sherwood Country Club in California from 2000-2013, spent one year at Isleworth in Florida before settling at Albany since 2015.

Albany is an Ernie Els design that measures 7,309 yards for a par 72. Bermuda grass covers the entire course.

The course is seaside and the wind is its best defense. The fairways are wide and sandy waste areas are easy to hit from, as long as you avoid some of the exotic horticulture on the course.

The greens are usually fairly soft, but they can be tough to putt if the wind is swirling.

Early weather forecasts look ideal. Temperatures are expected to be in the 60s and 70s Fahrenheit with winds slowly picking up during the week but plateauing in the teens in miles per hour.

Winning scores here have been -25 (Bubba Watson), -18 (Hideki Matsuyama), -18 (Rickie Fowler) and -20 (Jon Rahm).

I think 20-under or better will get it done this week.

My rankings are steering more toward the big hitters this week. It’s the way of the PGA Tour these days anyway, but this course fits that mold even more so.

Let’s take a look at who will pull off some heroics at the Hero: