The Hero World Challenge will close out the PGA Tour’s calendar year with 20 of the world’s top players, and all eyes will be on host Tiger Woods. The 15-time major champion will play in the tournament at Albany Golf Course in The Bahamas for the first time since 2019. He played in only three majors last season as he built strength following a serious car crash in February of 2021. Woods last played at The Open Championship in June. He will be joined in the Hero World Challenge 2022 field by 2022 major champions Scottie Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Thomas and other PGA Tour stars like Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa and Jordan Spieth. Viktor Hovland is the defending champion, and he edged Scheffler by one stroke after shooting a 6 under 66 in the final round to finish 18 under. Morikawa, who could have taken over as world No. 1 with a victory, entered the final round with a six stroke lead but went 4 over to tie for fifth.
The latest 2022 Hero World Challenge odds list Rahm, who won the tournament by four strokes in his debut back in 2018, as the 5-1 favorite. Not too far behind are Scheffler (8-1), Thomas (10-1), Tony Finau (10-1) and Xander Schauffele (10-1). The majority of golfers are 20-1 or shorter, with Woods listed as a 40-1 longshot, only ahead of Kevin Kisner, who was invited on a sponsor exemption. Before locking in any 2022 Hero World Challenge picks or golf bets, you need to see the PGA Tour predictions, best bets and sleeper picks from SportsLine golf insider Patrick McDonald.
After spending time at FanSided and NBC Sports EDGE, McDonald joined CBS Sports as a golf writer in the spring of 2022. Now covering the sport from a broader perspective, McDonald still likes to dip his toes into the betting pools on a weekly basis on the PGA Tour.
He takes a measured approach to his outright selections and finished the 2021-22 season up 42 units on those plays, having hit Cameron Smith (22-1) at the Tournament of Champions, Hudson Swafford (250-1) at The American Express, Joaquin Niemann (70-1) at the Genesis Invitational and Justin Thomas (66-1) live at the PGA Championship.
McDonald is having a profitable 2022-23 season in every category, and he nailed this month’s Houston Open, backing Finau at 25-1. The expert has been on the money on his matchup plays and cashed in huge on Brendan Steele (80-1) as the first-round leader at the Zozo Championship. Anyone who followed McDonald’s advice has cashed in huge.
Now, McDonald has studied the 2022 Hero World Challenge field and is locking in his best bets, best value and favorites to avoid. You can head to SportsLine now to see all his PGA picks and predictions.
Top 2022 Hero World Challenge expert picks
One shocking pick from McDonald: The expert is fading Sam Burns (16-1) despite his three victories last season and a T-3 here. “Burns hasn’t been the same since the summer,” the expert says. The 26-year-old won the Charles Schwab in May and finished in the top five at the Canadian Open in June, but has one top-10 finish since then. That came at the CJ Cup, where his putter helped him go 11 under par to tie for seventh. Burns is 226th in greens in regulation and 146th in strokes gained around the green, so until those improve, his putter can’t save him.
On the other hand, the expert knows excellent ball-strikers are the players who tend to win in Albany, and Rahm is among the world’s best. The Spaniard tied for fourth in strokes gained total last season after leading the tour the previous two years. He also comes off a victory at the DP World Tour Championship – a victory McDonald cashed at 10-1 in his picks last week – and has been in the top five in all four worldwide events since the PGA Tour’s Tour Championship. Rahm last played Albany in 2019, finishing second at 17 under in his attempt to defend his title. See who else to pick at the Hero World Challenge here.
How to make 2022 Hero World Challenge golf picks
Before this week’s PGA Tour event at Albany, McDonald has locked in his best bets for the 2022 Hero World Challenge. He is targeting an overlooked star to win who brings excellent value given his course history. The expert says this golfer is the best in the field in terms of strokes gained and should continue to excel on this seaside course. You can only find out who it is, and see the rest of McDonald’s picks and PGA Tour analysis, at SportsLine.
So which 2022 Hero World Challenge picks should you target? Which golfer brings excellent value in this stacked Hero World Challenge 2022 field? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Patrick McDonald’s top picks for Hero World Challenge 2022, all from the expert who nailed this month’s Houston Open, and find out.
Hero World Challenge odds, field, top contenders
See full Hero World Challenge picks, predictions, best bets here
Jon Rahm 5-1
Scottie Scheffler 8-1
Tony Finau 9-1
Xander Schauffele 11-1
Justin Thomas 11-1
Viktor Hovland 12-1
Matt Fitzpatrick 12-1
Tommy Fleetwood 16-1
Sungjae Im 16-1
Cameron Young 18-1
Jordan Spieth 18-1
Tom Kim 18-1
Collin Morikawa 18-1
Sam Burns 18-1
Shane Lowry 20-1
Max Homa 25-1
Billy Horschel 30-1
Corey Conners 35-1
Tiger Woods 40-1
Kevin Kisner 60-1