Officialsportsbetting.com Golf Betting Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth are golf giants with contrasting styles

Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth are golf giants with contrasting styles

Jack and Arnie. Tiger and Phil. Dustin and Jordan? It’s early, so the rivalry between FedExCup No. 1 Dustin Johnson and No. 2 Jordan Spieth, if one exists, is still just a pencil sketch that could coalesce into a work of art, or not. As the Playoffs roll into TPC Boston for the Dell Technologies Championship, all we know for sure is they’re chummy (they teamed up to go 2-1-0 at the 2015 Presidents Cup in Korea); they play many of the same courses well; and they seem to understand why one might call it a rivalry. “I think everyone wanted a fight to the end,â€� Spieth said at THE NORTHERN TRUST at Glen Oaks last weekend, after Johnson made a 17 ½-foot par putt to force a playoff, which he won with a birdie on the first extra hole. “I think the way it played out, if I had been a fan, I would have been obviously very pleased with the way this tournament went.â€� In other words, Spieth can appreciate how this must look, the intriguing contrast between two vastly different superpowers with vastly different styles, each vying to be No. 1. South Carolina vs. Texas. Early 30s vs. early 20s. Johnson’s thunder vs. Spieth’s sixth sense. Johnson’s stellar beard vs. Spieth’s caddie’s stellar beard. (Take a bow, Michael Greller.) The contrast, of course, gives a rivalry its texture. (Think Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James.) But there must also be familiarity, and in that regard, Johnson-Spieth also works. They see each other a lot, which is partly because of the rare air at the top, and partly because they seem to like many of the same tracks. Each has won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (Spieth in 2017, Johnson in 2009, 2010) in Monterey, and the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua (Spieth in 2016, Johnson in 2013). Although THE NORTHERN TRUST marked their first sudden-death playoff, it should’ve been their second. They were headed for overtime at the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay before Johnson’s freakish three-putt on the 72nd hole left the trophy to Spieth. D.J. on Spieth: “Jordan is a tough competitor.â€� Spieth on D.J.: “It’s very difficult holding a lead on a difficult golf course when the guy you’re playing with goes bogey-free and doesn’t even really sniff a bogey and shoots 4 under.â€� They’ve combined for seven titles this season, at the Genesis Open, World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship, WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and THE NORTHERN TRUST (Johnson); plus the AT&T Pebble Beach, Travelers Championship and The Open (Spieth). As we go into the last three tournaments of the Playoffs, Johnson leads all players with 88 weeks inside the top five of the FedExCup standings since 2013. Spieth is in third with 66 weeks. (Jimmy Walker is second at 73 weeks.) Only Spieth has won it all, in 2015. Johnson leads the TOUR in strokes gained: tee-to-green, and has Spieth beat by .802 strokes per round off the tee. Spieth is better in strokes gained: approach-the-green, sg: around-the-green, and sg: putting. Johnson, after Glen Oaks: “If I’m playing my best, yeah, I’ll play against anybody, anytime.â€� Spieth, after the first round of The Open in 2015: “I’ve played enough golf with (Johnson) to where I believe in my skill set that I can still trump that crazy ability that he has.â€� Both have brothers who played college basketball, Steven Spieth at Brown before earning a spot on the Dallas Mavericks summer league team in June, and Austin Johnson at Charleston Southern. Both have a sneaky sense of humor. Upon hiring Austin as his caddie in 2013, Dustin was asked if he’d checked his little bro’s resume. He told CBS Sports he had not—and “probably wouldn’t have believed it anyway.â€� Spieth sometimes remarks on his older caddie’s “Greller belly.â€� Both make fun of themselves, too. Johnson lamented his “weakâ€� fist pump after his par save on the 72nd hole at THE NORTHERN TRUST in New York. Spieth said “I lost my mindâ€� after he holed out from the bunker to win the Travelers and incite rake-tossing delirium in Connecticut. For the record, Johnson and Spieth have been paired together 23 times on TOUR, with Johnson (48-under par) edging Spieth (46-under) in relation to par. Spieth, though, has shot the lower score 12 times to Johnson’s nine, with two ties. They’ve combined to win four of the last 12 majors—with Spieth doing the bulk of the work, with three. (The ledger might look different today if Johnson hadn’t fallen down some stairs before the Masters.) Johnson has 16 wins in 218 career starts (7-percent win percentage); Spieth has 11 wins in 124 starts (9% win percentage). Johnson has 77 top-10 finishes (35 percent), Spieth 49 (40 percent). Neither man has won at TPC Boston, although Johnson has three top-10s and has proven capable of figuring out any course with 18 holes. Ditto for Spieth, who was playing with Phil Mickelson when he fired a final-round 62 to tie for fourth at TPC Boston in 2013. The round became part of Spieth lore, prompting a wide-eyed Lefty to text his pal and then-Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples: “Dude, you’ve got to pick this guy.â€� (Couples did.) Johnson, Spieth and FedExCup No. 3 Justin Thomas, who has won seemingly everything they haven’t, will tee off at 9:15 a.m. ET Friday. They’ll be teammates at next month’s Presidents Cup at Liberty National in New Jersey, but in the FedExCup Playoffs it’s every man for himself. Fist pumps, chest bumps and rake-tossing are encouraged.  

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Round 1 of the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship begins today. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action from Club de Golf Chapultepec. Round 1 leaderboard Round 1 tee times HOW TO FOLLOW (ALL TIMES ET) Television: Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 12 p.m.-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel). Saturday, 2:30 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel). Sunday, 2:30 p.m.-7 p.m. (NBC) PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, 12 p.m.-7 p.m. (Featured Groups and Featured Holes) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, 2 p.m.-7 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). FEATURED GROUPS (ALL TIMES ET) Abraham Ancer, Dustin Johnson, Francesco Molinari Thursday: 12:39 p.m. ET (No. 10 tee); Friday: 1:51 p.m. ET (No. 1 tee) Carlos Ortiz, Jon Rahm, Adam Scott Thursday: 2:03 p.m. ET (No. 1 tee); Friday: 12:51 p.m. ET (No. 10 tee) Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy, Gary Woodland Thursday: 12:51 p.m. ET (No. 10 tee); Friday: 2:03 p.m. ET (No. 1 tee) Marc Leishman, Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Thomas Thursday: 1:51 p.m. ET (No. 1 tee); Friday: 12:39 p.m. ET (No. 10 tee) MUST READS Power Rankings Expert Picks The First Look Brotherhood of the slump: How pros fight through  

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No risk, lots of reward, for FedExCup pursuersNo risk, lots of reward, for FedExCup pursuers

ATLANTA – Corey Conners graduated from Kent State five years ago with a degree in actuarial mathematics. That education will be useful at this week’s TOUR Championship. Conners, who’s 23rd in the FedExCup standings, has four rounds to make up nine strokes on leader Justin Thomas. Players are accustomed to starting tournaments on equal footing, but an unprecedented staggered start is being used this week to reward players for their season-long performance. RELATED: How new FedExCup format works | Power Rankings | Breaking down the top 30 Actuaries analyze the financial consequences of risk. A lot of money is on the line at East Lake – the winner will receive a record $15 million — and the players, like Conners, at the back of the pack must calculate the proper way to overcome a big deficit on a demanding layout. There’s nothing to lose, and everything to gain. The only question is how to make up those strokes. Don’t expect drastically different gameplans, especially in the early rounds, though. East Lake isn’t a course that offers a lot of risk-reward opportunities. Instead, it’s a straightforward layout that rewards repetitive execution.  Plodding along with pars and taking advantage of the occasional birdie opportunity is the best way to succeed here. Professional golfers are a conservative bunch by nature, and they aren’t convinced that slamming on the gas pedal for 72 holes is the best strategy at the season finale. “I don’t think I’m really going to change my game plan too much,â€� Conners said. “I’m going to try to make a lot of birdies. Starting in this position, there’s really nothing to lose. You can’t be silly, but if I can put four really good rounds of golf together, I have a chance. I think everyone feels like they have a chance.â€� Since 1983, there have been 19 victories by players who trailed by 10 or more strokes after any round. 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At the end of the day, it’s about getting as many birdie putts as possible and hoping the putter gets hot. East Lake is a rather straightforward design where players have traditionally hit a lot of drivers. There aren’t a lot of holes where a player must decide between playing safe with a fairway wood off the tee or taking a risk with a driver to gain an exponential advantage. Most of the holes are fairly straight and there are very few penalty areas in play off the tee. Jake Nichols of the golf analytics firm 15th Club recommended that the pursuers should make the driver their default pick off the tee. The exception would be a hole where a bunker or penalty area severely narrows the landing area. “There’s not a ton of downside for Jason Kokrak to pump it out there,â€� he said. “Top five on the leaderboard is what guys should be targeting. That’s where the big money is. “This week, if you can send it or play aggressively, that’s the smart numbers play. Can you say to yourself, and believe it, that this is a totally different week?â€� Nichols also recommends that pursuers give a little extra pace to their putts to ensure they don’t leave them short. Golf statistician Richie Hunt, who works for multiple TOUR players, has found that players who trail by a large margin have a tendency to hit their putts with more speed and play more aggressively off the tee. It has to do with the economic phenomenon of loss aversion, which refers to humans’ preference of avoiding loss over acquiring equivalent gains. In other words, the pain felt from losing $5 outweighs the joy of finding the same amount of money. Hunt found that players who squeaked inside a cut line played more aggressively than those who started the weekend with the lead, especially a large one. The players who barely make a cut have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The opposite is true of players who are nervous about the embarrassment of blowing a big lead. 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No. 4: Rory McIlroyNo. 4: Rory McIlroy

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