Alexander Noren looks set to mash his fellow Swede

Sky Sports Golf, 6.30pm Thursday

Hero World Challenge host Tiger Woods tees off at 5.05pm UK and Ireland time, joining Justin Thomas on the first tee at Albany in The Bahamas for round one of the star-studded gathering.

Following Woods and Thomas 11 minutes later will be defending champion Rickie Fowler and world number three Dustin Johnson. There are two Swedes in the field and Alexander Noren is an attractive wager at evens to end up the best of them on Sunday.

The top Swede market is a match between Noren and Henrik Stenson, who has been labouring with an elbow problem for much of the second half of the year. He had surgery on his left elbow a month ago and the 42-year-old is probably not back at full throttle yet.

At a sluggers' paradise this week – one where Stenson finished 17th of 18 runners last year – the former Open champion could get left behind. He prefers to hit a three wood off the tee, but Albany is a layout where all-out attack with a driver is typically the most successful policy.

Noren has no injury concerns and can be fancied to improve on the 12th place he managed on his Hero Challenge debut last year. Three tidy post-Ryder Cup outings – 18th place in the CJ Cup, 18th in the HSBC and ninth in the DP World Tour Championship – indicate that Noren can give a decent account of himself in the Bahamas over the next four days.

Bryson DeChambeau and Jason Day, playing partners in the final first-round twoball, are both tournament debutants, but there are reasons for believing that DeChambeau will make a faster start, and the American looks the best value on the twoball card.

DeChambeau has won four tournaments in the last six months, including two in the FedEx Cup playoffs and his last outing, the Shriners Open at the start of this month. He is bursting with form and confidence, and is a regular visitor to Albany, where he takes winter holidays. A fast start seems likely.

Day became a father for the third time this month – baby boy Arrow darted on to the scene – so practice has taken a back seat. The Aussie should improve as the tournament wears on, but he has a month of rust in his system and had never seen Albany prior to this week.

Stenson and Day are potential candidates in Sky Bet's market on who finishes last, but preference at the prices is for Patrick Reed at 11-1. Reed has been globetrotting, competing in Shanghai, Dubai and Hong Kong since departing the Ryder Cup with some barbed comments about Jordan Spieth and the American captain Jim Furyk, and he was a late arrival at Albany.

A 20-hour journey from Hong Kong is not ideal preparation for Reed, who could hit a wall of mental fatigue during a low-key week where adrenaline is lacking. He is one of the shorter hitters in a power-packed field, he developed rib pain on his way to 45th place in Hong Kong, and is worth chancing for the Hero Challenge wooden spoon.

Recommendations
A Noren top Swede
3pts Evens bet365
B DeChambeau to win twoball
3pts 19-20 BetBright, Betfred, Sky Bet
P Reed to finish last
1pt 11-1 Sky Bet

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