The Hero World Challenge opens the unofficial winter stage of men’s professional golf at Albany, the luxury resort community on New Providence in The Bahamas, with play unfolding from December 4–7, 2025. Hosted by Tiger Woods and limited to an invitation-only field of 20 world-class players, the event blends a relaxed island setting with serious competitive and ranking implications in a 72-hole, no-cut format.
Launched in 2000 as a high-end invitational in Arizona, the Hero World Challenge later spent long runs at Sherwood Country Club in California and a brief stint in Florida. It has since evolved into a fixture of the late-season calendar. Since 2015, Albany’s Ernie Els–designed layout has been the tournament’s permanent home, giving the event a consistent visual identity amid wind, sand, and staggering light sources that television cameras love.
Even as a limited-field invitational, the week carries a $5 million purse, world-ranking points, and a champion’s share of $1 million, ensuring the golf is far from an exhibition. The narrative this time orbits around World No. 1 and two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler, chasing a third straight title in a field loaded with Ryder Cup veterans and newly crowned major winners eager to unseat him.
Scheffler leads a field defined by depth and pedigree; it includes multiple major champions, rising international winners, and debutants who arrive with fresh trophies from events like the U.S. Open and Scottish Open. With no cut and a small field, every pairing feels like a feature group. Furthermore, momentum can swing quickly in a 20-player leaderboard where mistakes are magnified and birdie runs travel fast. Tactically, Albany’s 7,400-yard par-72 layout rewards controlled aggression: players must flight irons under the wind, pick smart lines through sandy waste areas, and manage a set of risk-reward par 5s that often decide the tournament. In gusty conditions, holding greens and lag putting on firm, fast surfaces become as critical as raw power off the tee.
Albany wraps the competition in a private-resort atmosphere. The visuals will be abundant with yachts framing the closing holes, understated galleries, and hospitality structures that turn the finishing stretch into a compact amphitheater. The setting reinforces the event’s dual identity: part elite year-end summit, part Caribbean retreat where sponsors, players, and guests share the same small stage. Beyond prestige, the tournament funnels proceeds to the TGR Foundation, Tavistock Foundation and Bahamas Youth Foundation, which shows initiative to link every birdie to educational and community initiatives. For players, it is a chance to bank ranking points, test offseason tweaks under pressure, and send a message before the new year even begins.
As the 2025 Hero World Challenge Kickoff looms, the questions sharpen: Can Scheffler carve his name into Albany history with a three-peat, or will a hungry major champion or first-time invitee rewrite the script in the Bahamian wind? How will the sport’s next wave handle the intimacy of a 20-man field where there is nowhere to hide, every shot is televised, and Tiger’s presence, even outside the ropes, lingers over every swing?
