2025 PGA Picks: Hero World Challenge Odds and Expert Betting Predictions

The PGA Tour wraps up 2025 with a trip to Albany this week for the 25th playing of the Hero World Challenge. You might be thinking, Albany?!

Isn’t most of the East Coast supposed to drop to negative temperatures over the weekend? Well, yes. Thankfully for the fans, though, and more so for the golfers in the field, the Hero World Challenge is in Albany, Bahamas.

Pristine conditions are forecasted with highs around 80 degrees and winds not expected to exceed 10 MPH. The former is highly likely, while the wind speed could change with the tide. Coastal courses are notoriously as hard as the weather makes them. With decent conditions, we will likely see scores in the mid- to high-20s.

World #1 Scottie Scheffler is the two-time defending champion at the Hero World Challenge. His scores in the past two tournaments have been 20 and 25 under par, respectively. The guy finished runner-up the two years prior to that.

As you might imagine, he is the overwhelming betting favorite this week. We’ll get to the betting odds to win here in a moment.

First, though, let's touch on the tournament's format, the small field of golfers, and how the Hero World Challenge came to be.

This is essentially Tiger Woods' tournament. The proceeds benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation. The field started with 16 golfers and, in 2021, moved to where we are now, with 20 of the world's best.

Yes, I said the world's best, but we will be without guys like Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, and two-time winner, Norway's Viktor Hovland. That stinks a little, but we still have some dangerous golfers in the field, including Sam Burns, Hideki Matsuyama, the holder of the course record, Jordan Spieth, as well as the ageless Justin Rose, who looks to cap off one of his best PGA Tour seasons in recent memory. 

Let’s dive into these betting odds and make our picks to win the 2025 Hero World Challenge.

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Hero World Challenge Winner Betting Odds

Scottie Scheffler: +145

Robert MacIntyre: +1100

Cameron Young: +1300

Sam Burns: +1800

J.J. Spaun: +2000

Keegan Bradley: +2000

Aaron Rai: +2000

Ashkay Bhatia: +2200

Hideki Matsuyama: +2200

Justin Rose: +2500

Alex Noren: +2500

Jordan Spieth: +2500

Course Characteristics - Albany Golf Course

It's Woods' tournament, but the Albany Golf Course was designed by another legend, the South African Ernie Els. We mentioned that coastal courses typically play relatively soft in favorable weather conditions. There's also a pro/am that precedes the tournament.

Els wasn't messing around, though. He made this course one of the more challenging coastal courses on the PGA Tour. It isn't quite Pebble Beach, but 17 of the 25 tournaments here have yielded final scores in the teens.

The greens are fast and complex. The sand dunes are swept by the wind and are not small. Water hazards will play difficult as well.

A proper approach will be paramount to win here at Albany.

Hero World Challenge Winner Betting Picks

Scottie Scheffler: +145

All we need to say is that we think he has a 45% chance of winning, and we have a valuable bet. I'm already there. Scheffler has now had almost a full year to recover from his 2024 Christmas Day wine-glass ravioli-cutting disaster.

Don’t overthink this one.

Keegan Bradley: +2000

Honestly, I feel solid about playing only Scheffler, but Keegan Bradley is a name that stands out to me. He fumbled the bag at the Ryder Cup, and this guy may look a little bit dainty in the upper body, but make no mistake.

Under his skin, on the left side of his chest, sits a strong one. He's a dog, as much as a golfer can be. Don't let the soft features fool you.

He’s a winner.

Akshay Bhatia: +2200

California’s Akshay Bhatia is still a month short of his 24th birthday, so I see his game continuing to improve. Looking at his Instagram, the stick figure has started to pack on some size.

He's always played well in bad conditions, so if the wind becomes a problem, I like Bhatia even more.

Bonus Prop Bet

Justin Rose Top Ten: -105

Lastly, we have Rose to finish inside the top ten. He has five consecutive top ten finishes here. The 45-year-old Brit won a playoff event this year, the St. Jude Championship. This was about as important, pressure-filled spot for everyone, and he showed the kids that youth can still be trumped by experience and pure ice in the veins.

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