Hero World Challenge Preview: Scheffler Chases Three-Peat as Woods Hosts

The 2025 Hero World Challenge brought a compact elite field to Albany in the Bahamas, with Scottie Scheffler attempting to win the event for a third consecutive year. The tournament was still unofficial on the PGA TOUR schedule, but it remained useful for Presidents Cup evaluation because the 20-player field included several names relevant to Medinah 2026.

Tiger Woods hosted the tournament without taking a playing place in the field. The competitive focus remained on Scheffler's title defense and the other invited players, whose individual rounds would offer a late-year view of their form before the following season.

Scheffler's Three-Peat Attempt

Scheffler arrived as the two-time defending champion after winning the Hero World Challenge in 2023 and 2024. The official event field page also described him as the world No. 1 and noted that he had won two of his four major championships in 2025.

For Team USA, the relevance is obvious. A player chasing a third straight win at a course he clearly understands gives Brandt Snedeker another look at how his likely anchor handles a favorite's role.

Field Strength and Limits

The Hero World Challenge is small, no-cut, and invite-only. That means it should not be weighted like a major, a Signature Event, or a FedExCup playoff tournament. Still, the field strength makes it more useful than a casual exhibition.

The official field and Golf Monthly's preview listed a group that included Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Cameron Young, Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, Corey Conners, and other high-profile players. European participants such as Justin Rose and Robert MacIntyre offered elite comparison points but were outside the Presidents Cup International Team's eligibility pool.

Presidents Cup Lens

For Snedeker, the week was a chance to watch possible U.S. pieces in a controlled setting. Scheffler, Spaun, Young, Spieth, and other Americans had an opportunity to show late-year sharpness.

For Ogilvy, Matsuyama's presence mattered more than most. The International Team needs its top player to remain competitive around elite fields, even when the tournament itself is not official PGA TOUR competition.

Woods' Role

Tiger Woods hosted the event and was on site, but did not compete.

What It Means

Scheffler's attempt at a third consecutive title gave Snedeker another chance to watch him handle the expectation of being the favorite. Matsuyama's presence offered Ogilvy a comparison with several American players. The small field limited the breadth of that assessment, but the quality of the opponents made individual performances worth following.

For either captain, the most useful observations would be how players controlled their approaches, recovered after mistakes and maintained scoring through the week. Those details could inform later pairing decisions alongside results from the regular tour season and major championships.

Albany also gave players a chance to compete before the winter break. Maintaining sharpness in December could provide a foundation for the next season, though sustained form in the months leading to Medinah would carry more weight when the captains settled their teams.

A limited-field stroke-play event offers a different test from a Presidents Cup session. Every player completes an individual score over a full round; there is no partner to share alternate shots and no single opponent whose score determines each hole. Ball-striking and putting form can still carry across formats, but a captain must also consider how those skills complement another player's game.