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Jackson Koivun vs Ben James

72-hole matchup · World Wide Technology Championship
El Cardonal at Diamante · first tee

BJ
Our pick
JKJackson Koivun
54.6% to finish ahead
ModelKoivun 54.6%James 45.4%

Sportsbooks post golf matchups too, but there's no free feed of them, so there's no market number to compare here.

Ties left out (a push). Not a promise: a 55% pick still loses about 5 times in 10.

Advantages Why Koivun can finish ahead

  1. Koivun rates 0.2 strokes a round better than James over the last two years of rounds, measured against the fields they beat (our core number).
  2. Koivun is the steadier player (round-to-round spread 2.7 strokes against James's 3.0), so fewer blow-up rounds.
  3. Koivun makes the cut in 85% of our simulations, James in 79%. If only one of them plays the weekend, he wins the matchup.
  4. Koivun finishes in the top 20 in 51% of our simulations of this week, James in 44%.
  5. Koivun finishes in the top 10 in 33% of our simulations of this week, James in 29%.

Disadvantages Why Koivun may not

  1. James is in form: his recent rounds average 0.5 strokes better than his rating.
  2. Head to head: James finished ahead in 3 of their last 5 tournaments together (a fact, not part of our numbers).
  3. Recent results: 4 top-10 finishes in James's last 8 starts, 3 for Koivun.
  4. Golf is the most random sport we cover: one round of 75 can undo a whole week. At 55%, Koivun still loses this matchup about 4 times in 10.
  5. About 4% of our simulations end level after 72 holes: a tie, which sportsbooks void (a push) for a two-way matchup.

🥭 Mango Sliced Facts

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AI answers can be wrong; the numbers above rule. Not betting advice.

Side by side

JK KoivunBJ James
4.8%Win this week4.8%
21%Top 518%
33%Top 1029%
51%Top 2044%
85%Make the cut79%
+1.22Rating (strokes / round)+1.00
+1.26Recent rounds+1.45
2.67Round-to-round spread3.05
66Rounds on record66
–At this course (0 / 0 rounds)–

Rating: strokes a round better than an average PGA Tour player, from every round on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LIV Golf and Korn Ferry Tour since 2014, each measured against that day's field and recent rounds counting more. Course history is shown for interest only: it didn't improve the backtest, so it doesn't move our numbers.

Last 5 meetings

Tournaments they both played: Koivun finished ahead 2, James 3. Settled like a matchup bet (72 holes; a missed cut loses).

  • JAMBank of Utah ChampionshipKoivun T65 · James T5Oct 2026
  • JAMBiltmore Championship AshevilleKoivun T5 · James 2Sep 2026
  • JAMWyndham ChampionshipKoivun T29 · James 3Aug 2026
  • KOIRocket ClassicKoivun T31 · James T38Jul 2026
  • KOI3M OpenKoivun 1 · James MCJul 2026

Last 6 starts

JK Jackson Koivun

  • T65Bank of Utah Championship-8Oct 2026
  • T5Biltmore Championship Asheville-21Sep 2026
  • T24FedEx St. Jude Championship-3Aug 2026
  • T29Wyndham Championship-8Aug 2026
  • T31Rocket Classic-8Jul 2026
  • 13M Open-25Jul 2026

BJ Ben James

  • T16VidantaWorld Mexico Open-15Oct 2026
  • MCButterfield Bermuda Championship-1Oct 2026
  • T5Bank of Utah Championship-22Oct 2026
  • 2Biltmore Championship Asheville-24Sep 2026
  • 3Wyndham Championship-18Aug 2026
  • T38Rocket Classic-7Jul 2026
Live oddsBetMGM DraftKings FanDuel Unpaid links. We take no bets.

How we get these numbers: ratings from every round on four tours since 2014, measured against each day's field, then 20,000 simulations of this tournament (cut included). See how it holds up · These two in the Analyzer

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