Daily Fantasy Golf Course Primer: Hero World Challenge

Many of the world's elite golfers will tee it up for a small field event and a chance to not only bag a $1 million prize but also bragging rights over their peers. Tiger Woods hosts the event in what amounts to an exhibition with a decent payday for the winner. No FedEx Cup points or Official Money rankings are on the table this week for this invitation-only event. Note that the tournament will be played Wednesday to Saturday this week to give contestants a head start on the President's Cup commute to Australia.

Albany Golf Course on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas is the host course, a unique layout that features five par 3s and five par 5s to its par 72. Taking advantage of the extra birdie opportunities -- not just the extra par 5 but also two par 4s shorter than 350 yards -- will be paramount this week.

Wind is the primary defense against those birdie makers, but the fairways play wide enough that driver is still the preferred club off the tee for most of the studs in this field.

Mid-day Wednesday looks to be the worst of the wind at first glance, so even in a small field, getting off the course as soon as possible will give the slightest edge. Look to the first few groups as a tiebreaker when deciding on wagers or daily fantasy contests.

Let's dig into the course and see what stats we can use to build our daily fantasy lineups this week.

Course and Tournament Info

Course: Albany Golf Course
Par: 72
Distance: 7,309 yards
Fairways/Rough: Bermudagrass with native areas in the rough
Greens: Bermudagrass

Each of the par 3s measure at least 180 yards, and each of the par 5s is at least 548 yards. The par 4s are easy picking, with a few shorties and none longer than 470 yards. Even though the course plays pretty easy and most everyone has an even weather draw, each year the course produces wide chasms of differential between first and last place. Jon Rahm hit 20-under par last year while Hideki Matsuyama pulled up the rear with just an even par card after 72 holes. Avoiding trouble is essential, and even though everyone here can be considered elite, there is still a certain pedigree required to stand out and take down the Hero.

Key Stats

These stats will be key to success in the Hero World Challenge.

Pretty straightforward here given the small samples in field and event history, but strokes gained: tee to green with an emphasis on approach is the go-to default. We know birdies are there for those willing to take them, and performance on the par 5s will be the difference. Even still, avoiding trouble when the wind pushes you to a bad lie or your approach is off the mark can be the difference not just for one hole but for the rest of the round. Thus, scrambling plays a huge role as it does whenever the world's best go head to head.

Course History Studs

Rickie Fowler was the winner two years ago and has been top-five each of the past four years.

Rahm is back to defend his title, and with Matsuyama not in the field this week, the only other champion at Albany is Bubba Watson, who holds the record at 25-under par in his blazing win in December 2015.

Mike Rodden is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Mike Rodden also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mike_rodden. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.