Tiger’s 2-week balancing act begins at Hero World Challenge
Field Level Media’s Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: The RSM Classic (Tyler Duncan)
THIS WEEK: Hero World Challenge, Dec. 4-7
Albany, New Providence, Bahamas (Par 72, 7,309 yards)
Purse: $3.5 million (Winner: $1M)
Defending Champion: Jon Rahm
FedEx Cup leader: Brendon Todd
TV: Wednesday-Thursday, 1-4 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (GC); Sunday, 10-12 p.m. ET (GC), 12-3 p.m. (NBC)
NOTES: The 18-player, no-cut event does not award FedEx Cup points. … Eleven of the 12 members of the U.S. Presidents Cup team are in the field, including captain Tiger Woods, who is the tournament host of the Hero World Challenge. … No. 3 Rahm is the highest-ranked player in the field. He won the event by four strokes over Tony Finau last year. … Chez Reavie is the lone player making his tournament debut after replacing Dustin Johnson (withdrew) in the field. … Woods, a five-time winner of the event, will be paired on Wednesday with Justin Thomas. Rahm will be paired with Albany resident Justin Rose. … For every birdie made during the event, $500 will be donated to the ONE Bahamas Fund to help with recovery from Hurricane Dorian. Eagles will raise $1,000 and any hole-in-one will raise $2,500.
BEST BETS: Rahm (+400 by DraftKings) did not make a start during the PGA Tour’s fall swing, but is coming off consecutive victories at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, and the Mutuactivos Open de Espana. … Justin Thomas (+700) already has a victory this season at The CJ Cup and has five top-10 finishes in his past nine worldwide starts, with a T17 his worst finish during that stretch. … Woods (+1000) is a five-time winner who also won his last event in Japan, but does he have too much on his mind preparing for the Presidents Cup? … Rose (+1600) knows the course very well and finished third in the event last year. … Henrik Stenson (+2800) has five top-five finishes in six starts in the event.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Presidents Cup, Dec. 12-15
LPGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: CME Group Tour Championship (Sei Young Kim)
THIS WEEK: OFF.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, Jan. 15-19
CHAMPIONS TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: Charles Schwab Cup Championship (Jeff Maggert; Scott McCarron won Charles Schwab Cup)
THIS WEEK: PNC Father Son Challenge, Dec. 5-8
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, Jan. 16-18
–Derek Harper (@DerekAHarper), Field Level Media
