2021 Hero World Challenge: Top 10 power rankings at Albany
It’s like a World Golf Championship, but with fewer players and lower stakes. Have I sold you on the Hero World Challenge?
No?
Fine, that’s understandable. It’s the silly season in golf with a lot of fans looking for a break and/or diverting their attention to winter sports in full swing.
But, with a month between now and Kapalua, it’s not the worst thing in the world to turn on our televisions and see 20 of the world’s best players competing in the tropics.
Even if it’s at a relatively teethless course (unless the wind’s up) in Albany.
It’s an Ernie Els design that measures 7,309 yards for a par 72. Bermuda grass covers the course, so look for southeastern American players to have a bit more comfortability on the greens.
There’s not much rough and the fairways are wide. Sandy waste areas can lead to some unpredictably if you’re wayward, but recovery shots are not too tricky.
If you want to win, though, you do need to play from the fairway to attack the right portions of the relatively small greens.
The Hero World Challenge has existed under different names and at different courses since its inaugural year in 2000. Albany’s had it since 2015.
The Tiger Woods-hosted invitational has always been around this time on the calendar in late November/early December
It began as a 16-player field until 2008 when it grew to 18. It’s now up to 20 beginning in 2021.
The 2019 edition was canceled due to the pandemic.
A win here does not count as an official PGA Tour win nor are FedEx Cup points on the line. There are however world ranking points and loads of cash for everyone in this 72-hole, no-cut event.
Most of the top 20 players in the world are in attendance. Exceptions are No. 1 Jon Rahm, No. 3 Dustin Johnson, a late scratch in No. 5 Patrick Cantlay, No. 10 Louis Oosthuizen, No. 15 Hideki Matsuyama and No. 20 Jason Kokrak.
Before I get to the top 10, I decided to quickly rank players Nos. 11-20 just for the fun of it. I expect to nail everything 1-20!
20) Justin Rose
19) Henrik Stenson
18) Bryson DeChambeau
17) Brooks Koepka
16) Tyrrell Hatton
15) Patrick Reed
14) Webb Simpson
13) Abraham Ancer
12) Harris English
11) Daniel Berger