 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Albany, New Providence,The Bahamas |
| Established | 2000 |
| Course | Albany Golf Course |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 7,414 yards (6,779 m) |
| Tour | PGA Tour (unofficial event) |
| Format | Stroke play |
| Prize fund | US$5,000,000 |
| Month played | December |
| Tournament record score | |
| Aggregate | 262Jordan Spieth (2014) |
| To par | −26as above |
| Current champion | |
 Hideki Matsuyama | |
| Location map | |
  Albany GC Location inThe Bahamas | |
TheHero World Challenge is agolf tournament hosted byTiger Woods, which takes place each December. It features a small number (currently 20) of top-ranked golf pros. The tournament is a benefit for theTiger Woods Foundation. The event is part of the PGA Tour schedule, but does not offerFedEx Cup points or official money as it is an unofficial event.
Initially, the tournament had a 16-man field composed of the defending champion, the top 11 available players from theOfficial World Golf Ranking, and four sponsors exemptions chosen by the Tiger Woods Foundation. In 2008, the field was increased to 18 players, consisting of the most recent winners of the four major PGA tournaments, the top 11 available players from the Official World Golf Ranking, the defending champion, and two special exemption players selected by the foundation.[1]
In 2021, the field was increased to 20 adding an automatic invitation to the winner ofThe Players Championship going forward while the rest of the field selection remained the same. However, the 2021 field included automatic invitations to four major winners of both 2020 and 2021 since the 2020 event was not held.[2]
Prize money won by the players is not included in money rankings on any of the world'sprofessional golf tours, but the tournament is recognized as an unofficial money event by thePGA Tour. Since 2009, the event offers Official World Golf Ranking points.[3]
In 2007 the total prize fund was $5.75 million, similar to many official PGA Tour events, which usually have fields of about 150 players.[citation needed] In 2014, the first prize was $1 million, and the total purse was $3.5 million.[4] Woods usually donates his prize money to his foundation.[citation needed]
Hero World Challenge tournament is preceded by a pro-am competition, in which professional golfers play with amateurs. Hero World Challenge pro-am is usually organized two days before the first round of professional play. "Am-Am outing" takes place on the first day, "Official Pro-Am" on the second day. The access to the pro-am competition is limited only to the tournament partners. The pro-am tournament is closed to public.
The amateur participants of the 2016 pro-am included, for instance,Derek Jeter andTino Martinez.[5]
In 2000, the tournament was staged twice, withTom Lehman winning the first event in January. The tournament then moved to December of that year, withDavis Love III winning that event. It has been played in December ever since. The January 2000 event was played at Grayhawk Golf Club inScottsdale, Arizona. From December 2000 to 2013, the event took place atSherwood Country Club, a course designed byJack Nicklaus, inThousand Oaks, California.
In 2008, Woods did not compete due to knee surgery following his2008 U.S. Open victory, even though he was the two-time defending champion. He did not play in 2009 due to time spent away from golf related to personal matters. Woods returned to the event in 2010.
In 2011, Woods won the tournament with a score of −10, defeatingZach Johnson by one shot. Woods made birdie on the final two holes to win; it was his first win in over two years, since the 2009 Australian Masters.
The tournament was theWilliams World Challenge for its first three playings/two years. Beginning in 2002 was rechristened theTarget World Challenge. It was called theChevron World Challenge from 2008 through 2011. In 2012, new sponsorNorthwestern Mutual was the presenting sponsor instead of a title sponsor;[6] they became the title sponsor in 2013.[7] In 2014,Hero MotoCorp became the title sponsor.[8] In 2015, the event moved to theAlbany development in theBahamas.[9]
The first World Challenge was televised by theUSA Network andNBC Sports. It was then covered by USA andABC Sports from 2000 to 2006. It has been televised byGolf Channel and a returning NBC since 2007.
| Year | Winner | Score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner-up | Winner's share ($) | Venue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hero World Challenge | ||||||||
| 2025 | Hideki Matsuyama (2) | 266 | −22 | Playoff |  Alex Norén | 1,000,000 | Albany | |
| 2024 |  Scottie Scheffler (2) | 263 | −25 | 6 strokes |  Tom Kim | 1,000,000 | Albany | |
| 2023 | Scottie Scheffler | 268 | −20 | 3 strokes |  Sepp Straka | 1,000,000 | Albany | |
| 2022 |  Viktor Hovland (2) | 272 | −16 | 2 strokes | Scottie Scheffler | 1,000,000 | Albany | |
| 2021 | Viktor Hovland | 270 | −18 | 1 stroke | Scottie Scheffler | 1,000,000 | Albany | |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic[10] | |||||||
| 2019 | Henrik Stenson | 270 | −18 | 1 stroke |  Jon Rahm | 1,000,000 | Albany | |
| 2018 | Jon Rahm | 268 | −20 | 4 strokes | Tony Finau | 1,000,000 | Albany | |
| 2017 | Rickie Fowler | 270 | −18 | 4 strokes | Charley Hoffman | 1,000,000 | Albany | |
| 2016 | Hideki Matsuyama | 270 | −18 | 2 strokes | Henrik Stenson | 1,000,000 | Albany | |
| 2015 | Bubba Watson | 263 | −25 | 3 strokes | Patrick Reed | 1,000,000 | Albany | |
| 2014 | Jordan Spieth | 262 | −26 | 10 strokes | Henrik Stenson | 1,000,000 | Isleworth | |
| Northwestern Mutual World Challenge | ||||||||
| 2013 | Zach Johnson | 275 | −13 | Playoff | Tiger Woods | 1,000,000 | Sherwood | |
| World Challenge | ||||||||
| 2012 |  Graeme McDowell (2) | 271 | −17 | 3 strokes | Keegan Bradley | 1,000,000 | Sherwood | |
| Chevron World Challenge | ||||||||
| 2011 | Tiger Woods (5) | 278 | −10 | 1 stroke | Zach Johnson | 1,200,000 | Sherwood | |
| 2010 | Graeme McDowell | 272 | −16 | Playoff | Tiger Woods | 1,200,000 | Sherwood | |
| 2009 | Jim Furyk | 275 | −13 | 1 stroke | Graeme McDowell | 1,350,000 | Sherwood | |
| 2008 |  Vijay Singh | 277 | −11 | 1 stroke | Steve Stricker | 1,350,000 | Sherwood | |
| Target World Challenge | ||||||||
| 2007 | Tiger Woods (4) | 266 | −22 | 7 strokes | Zach Johnson | 1,350,000 | Sherwood | |
| 2006 | Tiger Woods (3) | 272 | −16 | 4 strokes |  Geoff Ogilvy | 1,350,000 | Sherwood | |
| 2005 |  Luke Donald | 272 | −16 | 2 strokes | Darren Clarke | 1,300,000 | Sherwood | |
| 2004 | Tiger Woods (2) | 268 | −16 | 2 strokes |  Pádraig Harrington | 1,250,000 | Sherwood | |
| 2003 | Davis Love III (2) | 277 | −11 | 2 strokes | Tiger Woods | 1,200,000 | Sherwood | |
| 2002 | Pádraig Harrington | 268 | −20 | 2 strokes | Tiger Woods | 1,000,000 | Sherwood | |
| Williams World Challenge | ||||||||
| 2001 | Tiger Woods | 273 | −15 | 3 strokes | Vijay Singh | 1,000,000 | Sherwood | |
| 2000 (Dec) | Davis Love III | 266 | −22 | 2 strokes | Tiger Woods | 1,000,000 | Sherwood | |
| 2000 (Jan) | Tom Lehman | 267 | −13 | 3 strokes | David Duval | 1,000,000 | Grayhawk | |
25°00′54″N77°30′20″W / 25.0150°N 77.5056°W /25.0150; -77.5056