Golf tips, free bets and latest odds for the Hero World Challenge, plus Nedbank Golf Challenge picks

2 weeks ago 5

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER heads an all-star cast of holidaymakers – sorry, golfers – heading to the end of season get-together organised by Tiger Woods in the Bahamas.

Woods is not teeing it up himself at the Hero World Challenge as he continues to recover from yet another back operation.

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A detail of golf balls in the practice area prior to the final round of the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course on December 03, 2023 in Nassau, Bahamas. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

But Scheffler is one of nine players from the world’s top ten in action, and the lowest ranked player in the 20-man field is 2022 Open runner-up Cameron Young – a ‘dismal’ 37th in the rankings!

Scheffler is a red hot favourite to retain the title he won by three shots last year, at a best-priced 5-2.

No surprise there, considering he has racked up eight more wins this year – including a second Masters and the Olympic title _ and spent the entire year at the top of the world rankings.

Let’s be honest, he should win again. But his short price means practically everyone else in the field is quoted at odds that make them worth backing each way – and that makes Ludvig Aberg look particularly appealing at around 11-1.

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Golf tips

Aberg was listed here as one to avoid when he defended the RSM Classic title two weeks ago, on the grounds that he was bound to be rusty after undergoing knee surgery straight after the Tour Championship in August.

Sure enough, Aberg slumped to five over par in round one, with a triple bogey at the tenth doing most of the damage.

The world No 5 did well to salvage a three over par 73, but that still left him eleven shots adrift of eventual winner Maverick McNealy.

A p[air of 64s helped Aberg cut the final deficit to six shots, and a share of 17th was a decent showing given his lack of preparation. He will strip a lot fitter this time, and even though this is his debut at Albany he should go well.

Justin Thomas actually shades Aberg as second favourite, at between nine and ten to one, largely based on his impressive record here – fifth three years in a row and then third 12 months ago.

Thomas was runner-up in the Zozo on his last start, suggesting he is close to recapturing the form that brought him two USPGA titles.

But I would like to see more evidence of that before backing him at these odds.

There is so little to separate the rest of the field that It may be worth having a small interest on one or two of the longer priced players – and my shortlist is made up of 25-1 shot Akhshay Bhatia, Keegan Bradley at 35-1, and Nick Dunlap, at 45-1.

Bhatia has enjoyed a breakthrough season, and is fresh off a share of second at the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan. Although this is his Albany debut, he has won elsewhere in the Bahamas on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Bradley’s BMW Championship victory was a terrific effort, and after struggling in the opening rounds in this event last year he closed with a pair of 68s.

Dunlap is another player making his first appearance at Albany. But two PGA Tour victories this year, the first while he was still an amateur, have shown that he has the talent to compete at the highest level.

There is also a surprisingly strong line-up in South Africa for the Nedbank Challenge, another small field event restricted to just 66 starters.

Max Homa is back as defending champion, while fellow American Will Zalatoris also makes the trip, along with two of the Canadians who featured in the President’s Cup, Cory Conners, and Mackenzie Hughes.

With Homa’s form tailing off badly in the last 12 months, Conners is favourite with most bookmakers, at around 10-1.

But Hughes turned in a good effort when fifth at the RSM Classic. So at 22-1 he could be the pick of the trans-Atlantic challengers.

Thriston Lawrence looks the best of the home brigade at 16-1, while in-form Englishman Laurie Canter is a decent each way option at 30-1.

Fellow Englishman Dan Bradbury was bang in the hunt here 12 months ago before finishing fifth. The French Open winner also looks competitively priced at 66-1.