DraftKings PGA DFS Picks: Hero World Challenge Cash and GPP Strategy

HERO WORLD CHALLENGE

Purse: $5M 
Winner's Share: $1M 
FedEx Cup Points: 0 (Only OWGR points)
Location: New Providence, the Bahamas 
Course: Albany Golf Course
Yardage: 7,449 
Par: 72
2024 champion: Scottie Scheffler

Tournament Preview

When the Hero World Challenge debuted in January 2000, it was a very big deal. It filled a void during a quiet time on the golf calendar. Most of all, it featured Tiger Woods at the peak of his super powers.

As the tournament host, Woods also invited 15 of the world's best golfers to take part. Yes, you had to be invited -- by Tiger. Golf's silly season suddenly got a lot less silly.

Besides Woods, the tournament featured a $1 million payday to the winner at a time when there was only one PGA Tour event with that big of a purse. THE PLAYERS was at $1.08M. Not even the majors paid out that much. So that was quite a carrot to attract elite names.

But now, a quarter of a century later, while the event still has some cache, it's not that big of a deal. Woods once again won't be playing, recovering from his umpteenth back surgery. Scottie Scheffler has won it twice in a row and, even though the world No. 1 can win going away once again, the tournament is fortunate to have even him. And Jordan Spieth.  After that, there's not a needle-mover in the 20-man field, half of whom are outside the top-20 of the world rankings.  

To illustrate: Scheffler is priced at a ginormous $14,900 on DraftKings, an unheard of $5,000+ more than the next two guys on the board, Robert MacIntyre and J.J. Spaun. Don't get us wrong, both guys are in the top-10 in world. But outside of their own households, they are not household names.

Thank goodness for Spieth. He's far from his heyday, when he won this tournament in 2014 by a record 10 shots in the final year before it moved to its current location in the Bahamas. But he remains one of the game's top draws.

Who else is on hand? Maybe the next big names would be Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama and Justin Rose. But there are Aaron Rai, Corey Conners and Andrew Novak. Ouch.

Smartly, Scheffler and Spieth are paired in the first round.

The entire purse is $5 million, barely what THE PLAYERS winner alone gets today.

Okay, now that we've got you all excited for this tournament, let's dive in.

Albany is an Ernie Els design with a rare layout of five par-5s and five par-3s. There are only three par-4s on the front-nine. Weird, huh? The course features wide fairways and Bermudagrass greens averaging only 4,500 square feet. The golfers have talked about the tight lies around the greens, so getting on the putting surface from the fairway is especially important. There are three water hazards covering five holes and, often, plenty of wind. Three of the par-5s are over 590 yards and four of the par-3s are about 190-plus.

Yet the scores are always low, with Scheffler reaching 25-under last year to tie Bubba Watson's 2015 tournament record. The golfers have talked about having to do the bulk of the scoring on seven holes -- the five par-5s and two of the par-4s, the semi-drivable 366-yard 7th and the definitely drivable 307-yard 14th. Last year, Scheffler played those seven holes in 13-under.

Focusing on lineup construction, there are a few things to consider. First, with only 20 golfers, every guy will have at least moderate ownership. Don't go crazy trying to find a hidden guy -- no one is hidden this week. Some guys have been inactive for much of the fall, others have been busy. But that shouldn't be too much of a consideration. And it won't take much for anyone to climb the leaderboard with so few guys to pass. Don't fear the $6,000s, even the lowest of them.

As for the weather, it's what we expected. High temperatures in the upper 70s all week with little chance of rain. Of course, there will be wind.

Key Stats to Winning at Albany

The most important indicators every week are current form and course history. "Key Stats" follow in importance.

• Strokes Gained: Approach
• Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green
• Strokes Gained: Putting 
• Par-5 Scoring, 550-600 yards 
• Birdie Average/Birdie or Better Percentage

Past Champions

2024 - Scottie Scheffler
2023 - Scottie Scheffler
2022 - Viktor Hovland
2021 - Viktor Hovland
2020 - No Tournament
2019 - Henrik Stenson 
2018 - Jon Rahm 
2017 - Rickie Fowler
2016 - Hideki Matsuyama 
2015 - Bubba Watson

Champion's Profile

Can we just say "Scheffler" and leave it at that? Really, that's your champion's profile right there.

Anyhoo, Scheffler dominated the past two years, defeating Sepp Straka by three shots in 2024 and Tom Kim by six in 2025.

He ranked first in SG: Approach, greens in regulation and scrambling last year, along with third in both SG: Off-the-Tee and Putting. He made only two bogeys on the week.

As we mentioned, 13-under of Scheffler's 25-under total last year came on seven holes -- the five par-5s and the two shorter par-4s. In 2024, a more pronounced 15-under of his 20-under came on those holes.

There is no rough at Albany, but wayward drives will land the golfers in the native area. Sometimes that's trouble, but oftentimes it's just fine.

With a field this small, any golfer who takes this week seriously has a chance to win, er, finish second. Unfamiliarity with the Albany course should not be a big issue for the newcomers, though there are only three: J.S. Spaun, Chris Gotterup and Novak. It's important to note that OWGR points will be distributed, so that should be an impetus for some guys.

DRAFTKINGS VALUE PICKS

Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap

Scottie Scheffler - $14,900 (Winning odds at the DraftKings Sportsbook: +140)
Scheffler has won it the past two years and was second the two previous years. He's $5,100 more than the next guy, MacIntyre. That's almost a full Andrew Novak ($6,000). Need we say anything else? The uber-competitive Scheffler would want to crush his 6-year-old nephew at checkers during a July Fourth picnic. (Editor's note: We have no idea whether Scheffler has a 6-year-old nephew.)

J.J. Spaun - $9,500 (+1200) 
Spaun is among three newcomers to this tournament and we will be picking all three.  It will feel more special for them, Woods will be there, they'll want to prove themselves. Besides, Spaun is really good.

Cameron Young - $9,200 (+1200) 
This will be Young's fourth straight trip to Albany. He arrives this time as a PGA Tour winner and a far better putter than ever before. He finished third in his 2022 debut.

Jordan Spieth - $7,500 (+2000)
At No. 70 OWGR, Spieth does not need the world ranking points to climb into the top-50 by year's end to qualify for the Masters. He's already in. But being so far down the rankings surely doesn't sit well with the former No. 1, and this is about as easy of a week to accrue points. A higher ranking would benefit Spieth in other tournaments besides the Masters.

Akshay Bhatia - $7,400 (+2200) 
Bhatia is not a newcomer -- that was last year, when he finished fourth. He did not have a great 2025 season -- he's fallen to No. 43 in the world -- so he has an strong impetus to right the ship. Besides, he's one of the best approach players and par 5 scorers in this field.

Chris Gotterup - $7,100 (+2200)
Gotterup is another Albany newcomer wanting to prove he belongs in this tournament. Of course, he comes equipped with a breakthrough 2025 season in tow, one that saw him grab his first PGA Tour victory.

Billy Horschel - $6,500 (+4000) 
Horschel has had to overcome a lot the past few years. His game way fell off and he fought back to relevance. Then he had surgery on his right hip last May and now he's fighting to regain his game once again. In his third tournament back, Horschel tied for 11th in the Bank of Utah Championship. He is a fighter even in the best of times, but more so in the worst.  Horschel was invited to this tournament for just the second time in a decade. He'll take it seriously.

Andrew Novak - $6,000 (+4000) 
The third newcomer in the field. Novak is deservedly at the bottom of the DK board and would not have been invited had so many others said no. But no matter, now that he's here, he'll play as hard as anyone. He doesn't have to do much to justify his bargain-basement price. He'll play hard for all four rounds.

Think you've got your DraftKings plays picked out for the Hero World Challenge? See how they look in RotoWire's PGA DFS Lineup Optimizer.