With the official 2025 PGA Tour season in the rearview mirror, an elite field gathers in the Bahamas for the 2025 Hero World Challenge. An unofficial staple on the golfing calendar, the Hero, hosted by Tiger Woods, has boasted an elite field every year since its inaugural edition in 2000.
The home of the Hero World Challenge since 2015, Albany Golf Course, a par-72, 7,449-yard Ernie Els design, will once again welcome an elite 20-man field this week. Defending champion and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler headlines this year's edition as he aims to win in the Bahamas for an unprecedented third year in a row. Scheffler is set to tee it up for the first time since the Ryder Cup in September.
Joining Scheffler this week are past winners Hideki Matsuyama (2016) and Jordan Spieth (2014), 2025 U.S. Open winner J.J. Spaun, Robert MacIntyre, Cameron Young, Sam Burns, Justin Rose, and last week's winner of 'The Skins Game', Keegan Bradley. Tournament host Tiger Woods won't tee it up as he continues to recover from disc replacement surgery. Let's make some picks and predictions for this week's marquee event in the beautiful Bahamas.
2025 Hero World Challenge picks and predictions
Sleeper pick for the Hero World Challenge w/o Scheffler: Andrew Novak (+2800)
Andrew Novak is set to tee it up in this year's Hero World Challenge for the first time, and while he has no tournament history to speak of, Novak is one of a handful of players in this year's event who has played competitive golf since the Ryder Cup.
Novak finished T7 at the RSM Classic a couple of weeks ago and has now recorded three top-25 finishes in his last four starts. Additionally, he won the Zurich Classic team event earlier in the year and lost in a playoff to Justin Thomas at the RBC Heritage in April.
Pick to win the Hero World Challenge w/o Scheffler: Keegan Bradley (+1000)
Fresh off his win in The Skins Game, Keegan Bradley returns to the Bahamas after a top-five finish in last year's event. The Ryder Cup captain tied for 17th at the BMW Championship in August before recording a T7 finish in his last competitive start at the Tour Championship. He ranks fourth in this week's field from tee to green over the last twenty rounds, per Data Golf, and has a history of stringing together excellent results in spurts.
Pick to win the Hero World Challenge: Hideki Matsuyama (+2000)
Like Novak before him, Matsuyama is one of a handful of players in this year's field to have teed it up competitively in recent weeks. The 2016 champion is back in the field this week for the first time since the 2018 Hero World Challenge and comes into this year's event with four top-20 finishes in his last four starts, including finishing T5 in Japan at the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament at the end of last month.
All betting odds courtesy of DraftKings. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. The content in this article should not be considered betting advice. Gambling involves risk, and one should only gamble with funds that one can comfortably afford to lose. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.