The Super Bowl’s Super Villains

AUGUSTA, Ga. – One day after making the Masters look easy, Jordan Spieth reminded us how hard it really is to win the Green Jacket. Spieth rolled through the second nine Thursday, making five consecutive birdies en route to a 66 that gave him a two-shot lead. He had that look of focused determination that he gets when he enters a state of flow. He stared down his iron shots without a hint of anxiety and pumped his fist while putts were still rolling toward the hole. He looked like a man unconcerned with any outcome besides the one he envisioned. The game looked simple on the course that brings out his best. The ease with which he took that two-shot lead made it seem feasible that we were witnessing another coronation at Augusta National. Yes, it was only Thursday, but his demeanor was reminiscent of 2015, when he tied the tournament scoring record and won by four shots. Even the bogey he made on the 18th hole added to his confidence after he averted a worse score with a skillful pitch. He received a warm ovation when he arrived at the first tee shortly before Friday’s 10:53 a.m. tee time. He spoke again Thursday evening of his reverence for this event, and the patrons responded with a gesture that showed their admiration for another of Augusta’s adopted sons. They could hardly envision what the next five hours would hold. He drove into the pine straw on the first two holes. Both times, he hit three shots before his ball came to rest on short grass. He needed a series of par saves to keep his deficit from getting even larger, then stayed in contention by answering the siren song of the second nine’s two par-5s. He still had to fight on the final two holes, holing an 8-foot par putt on 17 and saving par from a fairway bunker after a drive that caused him to slam his club into the tee. He wasn’t happy that he failed to convert the 10-foot birdie putt that followed a strong approach from the sand, but he could still walk off the course proud of the fact that he’d played his final 11 holes bogey-free to keep himself in contention for a second Green Jacket. He sits at 4-under 140 after Friday’s 74. He was 3 over after his first two holes, but birdied both of the second nine’s par-5s to shoot 34. “The wheels could have come off there, but I made some nice par saves and was able to grind out some phenomenal second shots (to the par-5s),� he said after his round. He hit just half his fairways Friday, resulting in several adventurous holes. He was so far right on the first hole that he had to ask multiple times for the crowd to move farther into the trees to give him a clear shot to the green. His punch-out from the pine needles stayed in the second cut and his third shot rolled off the false front. He missed his 11-foot bogey putt. He hooked his tee shot on No. 2, rushed his punch shot and had to hit a phenomenal 6-iron just to reach the green in three shots. He three-putted from 52 feet. Both errant shots were caused by mishits on the toe, he said. Not a good start, but Spieth has been doing this long enough to know that 52 holes remained. His caddie, Michael Greller, reminded him, “Man, you always take punches out here and come back stronger.� Even after the quadruple-bogey that cost him the 2016 Masters, he birdied two of the next three holes to give himself a chance. He made another quad in last year’s first round but started Sunday just two shots back. “So what’s the first couple holes on a Friday mean? It doesn’t really mean much to me,� he said. “It means let’s figure out what was wrong and fix it, but it’s not going to affect the outcome of this tournament off of those two holes. I’m still in a great position.� His biggest mistake may have been his approach shot to the seventh hole, because that miscue came from a mental mistake. “I just didn’t trust my instincts there,� he said. His tentative approach shot plugged into one of the bunkers fronting the green, resulting in a bogey that dropped him to 4 over for the day. After parring the par-5 eighth hole, he played what he called his most important hole of the day. His tee shot on No. 9 snuck into the second cut and his approach shot went over the green. He two putted from 75 feet, holing a 6-footer for par to shoot 40 on his front nine. “When that went in, I thought, okay, forget about everything that’s happened. Let’s try to shoot 2 under on the back nine. That was the goal,� he said. He accomplished it with two birdies on Augusta National’s famed par-5s on the second nine. They were his only two birdies on a day when inconsistent wind gusts made it difficult to get the ball close to the hole. He hit 12 greens Friday, one more than he did in the previous day’s 66, but had just a handful of birdie chances. The first came from an unlikely spot after he drove into the pine straw on the par-5 13th. A tree stood between his ball and the hole, but he had room to hook a 4-iron onto the green. It wasn’t until after he hit the shot that he realized the risk. Sometimes it’s better not to overthink it. “When I was walking (to the green), I’m like man that was a really, really difficult shot to pull off. I don’t know why I didn’t have any nerves,� he said. “I just kind of stepped up and hit it. It was probably the quickest shot I hit today, which is weird.� Spieth also hit the 15th green with his 212-yard second shot after hitting a 320-yard drive. It was another shot that allowed him to move closer to the lead, increasing his chances of another Masters title in spite of a horrible start to the day.  

Click here to read the full article…

Here are nine tidbits from the third round of A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. The Old White TPC at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia hosts for the eighth time and measures 7,287 yards and plays to Par-70. Know Thy Enemy These were the top-10 selected golfers in the PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf game presented by SERVPRO. With temperatures in dipping into the 70’s the breeze blowing, The Old White TPC showed its teeth, to a degree, in Round 3. After giving up a round of 61 in the first two rounds the lowest total on moving day was just 65. The track and the greens both firmed up nicely and there’s hardly a wonder why the top 10 was turned upside down. The Final Pairing Kelly Kraft has never held the 36-hole lead before and now he’s never lost it. He’ll want to forget he played the three holes in two-over par as he saw his three-shot lead evaporate as he shares the 54-hole lead. The good news is he finished the day in red numbers (69) and he’s 13-under on the Par-4 holes. He’ll be playing alongside another looking for win No. 1 on TOUR, Harold Varner, III, so that should help both of them relax. Varner’s last bogey was 39 holes ago as he posted 66 after 64 in Round 2 to share the lead. The last time we checked in with Varner he was putting all four rounds under-par at TPC Sawgrass for T7, his only top 10 of the year. He’ll be looking to join the first-timers club in the winner’s circle tomorrow. He closed with 67 last year in much different circumstances. Na-ht Out of It Kevin Na backed up his 63 in Round 2 with the co-low round of the day, 65, in Round 3 and sits just one back of the lead. He’ll have no problem stalking two players who have never won as he looks to pick up his first win since 2011. He closed with 61 at Trinity Forest for solo fourth at the AT&T Byron Nelson in May and his only top 10 here was posting 65 in 2012. Country Roads, Take Me Home Bubba Watson isn’t worried about stats or trends and shouldn’t be as well as he’s playing. He’s never led this week so he can join the previous seven winners in keeping that streak alive if he does the business tomorrow. He matched the low round of the day on Saturday with 65 as he led the field in SG: off the tee, tee to green, driving distance and proximity. He fired 63 on Sunday his last time out to win the Travelers so I’m not going to be surprised with another low one tomorrow! Mountain Climbing Tony Finau is looking to keep up his momentum going at The Old White TPC. His worst round of 11 is 69 and his best is 66 so I’m not surprised with his trio of 67’s this week. His third one of 2018 moved him up 10 spots to T14 as he looks to best his T7 from last year. He was second to Watson in the first three categories listed above and third in proximity. He’ll need to make a few tomorrow to get back into the top 10. I’m not betting against him as he’s T4 in birdies for the week. The Defending Champ All the talk of coming from behind to win is great but I’ll also point out that nobody has successfully defended either. Xander Schauffele doesn’t care about any stats or streaks as he became the first rookie to win The TOUR Championship last year. He’ll gladly take his chances on a course he loves as his 65 today pushes his two-year total to 27-under in seven rounds. Moving Day For the second week in a row Bronson Burgoon has forced himself into the conversation with a big round on Saturday. And for the second Saturday running it’s a 65 on Par-70 layout that’s put him in the mix. Last week he backed it up with 67 for his first top-10 TOUR finish and a trip to Carnoustie. He’ll have to feel like he’s playing with house money on Sunday as he moved up 24 spots, the most into the top 10. … J.T. Poston went out early and posted the first 65 of the as he jumped 42 spots to T18. … Brandon Harkins continues to rumble as well as his 66 leapfrogged 39 players to T21. Moving Day: Wrong Way Webb Simpson (T2) and Whee Kim (T5) both shared the worst round of the day with matching 76’s. Simpson dropped 28 spots to T30 while Kim plummeted 43 spots to T48. Simpson’s rough day affected more gamers than Kim’s to say the least. … The next step for cut-maker extraordinaire Tyler Duncan is putting together two solid WEEKEND rounds. He’s made nine cuts in a row but he dropped 52 places from T8 to T60 after 75 Saturday. I’ll keep reminding everyone that he’s a rookie playing his 26th event. Study Hall Saturday’s scoring average was the most difficult of the week but still played under-par at 69.753 (-0.247). Round 1 was 69.340 (-0.660) and Round 2 went lower at 68.636 (-1.364) before the correction in Round 3. … Varner has the cleanest card of week so far with just two bogeys and zero others. … Ollie Schniederjans (T14) has circled the most birdies thus far with 19 but has eight bogeys and a double to go with them. … Every player inside the top 10 SG: approach the green is in the top 21 save for Simpson. … Every player inside the top 10 SG: putting is T21 or better as well. … Only Varner and John Peterson (T38) played bogey-free golf in Round 3. Check yesterday’s Emergency 9 for more info on Peterson.

Click here to read the full article…

We are down to two tournaments remaining in what is the last fall portion of the wraparound era. As the message in your Inbox on the PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live page states, the Cadence Bank Houston Open and The RSM Classic present two more opportunities to capture a piece of the weekly $5,000 prize fund. As always, Glass and Rob share their picks and argue for each below. Back in early play in Texas is R1 Leader, so they have it covered. Also, a Top 5 weeklong bet has supplanted the more familiar Top 20. Because odds are longer for the premium finish, it’s more likely that it will have a hand in determining who watches his or her bank account for the direct deposit on Monday. Register for PGA TOUR Pick ‘Em Live here and monitor Rob’s and Glass’ progress as Influencers. For a broader explanation of the format and FAQs, click here. TOURNAMENT TO WIN Glass … Adam Long (+10000) Hoo, baby! Nothing better than a live long shot who is also a Horse For Course. Long crashed and burned last week as a HFC in Mexico (MC; -2), so I’m expecting a nice bounce-back performance this week. Psst, if you’re not a fan of Will Gordon below, Long has opened 66 and 68 in his previous two visits here… Rob … Sahith Theegala (+4000) Welp, I nailed the opening odds for last week’s winner, +4000, but you may have noticed that Brendon Todd didn’t win. Russell Henley did. Bless my heart. A wise man once said that this is gambling after all. The paradigm in Houston favors a surprise – we haven’t had a first-time winner yet this season – but it’s still not worth reaching to the fringe for our purposes here. So, I’m doing both. Like any golfer, Theegala can be quantified, but he goes about his business in such a real-time and really timely fashion to succeed, so the belief here is entirely in the guy and his guts. We know that he’s going to get his at some point and won’t be 40-to-1 again soon after he does. He’s No. 13 in my Power Rankings. TOP 5 Glass … Matthew NeSmith (+1000) His last three starts on TOUR are T9-T2-T9, so at +900 I’m absolutely down to clown. Big ball-striker loves bermuda and opened here 66-67 last year before fading. Third time is SURELY a charm! Rob … Sam Burns (+320) I’ll call you SURELY anytime I want. The fact is, I love Glass’ selection here, but I’m concerned if or when this bet will unlock. A top-five finish is hard, and it requires some luck, so I’m keeping it simple and I’m still elated to get this kickback if it hits. TOP 10 Glass … Adam Schenk (+700) Had a nice peg here last week with David Lipsky (+1000), so I’m hoping to make it back-to-back longer shots. Schenk is 34-under in his last three starts, so form is not my worry. Cashed T29 here last year with 64 in Round 2. Speaking of early rounds, he’s opened 69, 65 and 63 in those last three events, plus goes off early from hole No. 1 on Thursday. Rob … Mackenzie Hughes (+540) The Canuck is No. 9 in my Power Rankings, so this is a no-brainer, but that’s not the only reason. If this bet refuses to become available while I’m paying attention, just like the Top 20 bet often does in the same space, then I’m thrilled to be getting this value if it’s a set-and-forget experience. R1 LEADER Rob … Sahith Theegala (+4000) Thursday’s weather should yield balanced scoring throughout the day, but I still want my charge going off the front. Both nines are par 35s, but it’s unfair to compare scoring because of how the routing plants an additional par 3 and par 5 on the outward side. Still, and strictly in relation to par, Nos. 10-18 are tougher overall, so let’s lean into the best greens on the easiest half of holes before his turn. Lo and behold, my outright goes off No. 1 in the third threesome. Glass … Will Gordon (+8000) I’ve pointed out two others above who you could slot in if you’re afraid of this big number. Gordon tees off on the front side, the easier of the two, and does so at 8:08 a.m. local time, so I’m not stuck. In five events this year, from earliest to last week, he’s rattled off 70, 66, 65, 68 and 62. I’m not going to overthink it at this value. And if I’m wrong, I’ll use the rules to my advantage and go back for more! NOTE: While Glass and Rob typically stick with their selections as detailed in Pick ‘Em Preview, they are allowed the right to make changes at any time. Responsible sports betting starts with a game plan. Set a budget. Keep it social. Play with friends. Learn the game and know the odds. Play with trusted, licensed operators. CLICK HERE to learn more at HaveAGamePlan.org.

Click here to read the full article…