Whether at work or play, it’s probably fair to call Joe Pavelski a creature of habit. And if it’s a summer Wednesday in Wisconsin, you’ll find him on the golf course with his playing partner, Tom Gilbert, likely enduring smack talk from their opponents, Adam Burish and Luke Stauffacher. While all four played NCAA hockey, Pavelski and Gilbert have the placid temperament of people who know their abilities and always feel in control. Burish and Stauffacher, on the other hand, embrace their underdog roll and use any means necessary to even the odds, targeting Pavelski in particular. “Some days we’ll try to get him drinking, but that doesn’t flap him,” says Burish.

With handicaps factored in, things often come down to the wire, meaning Pavelski is frequently teeing off on the 18th hole with six days’ worth of bragging rights hanging in the balance. So maybe it’s not Sunday at The Masters, but anybody who has a longtime friend like Burish knows he’s not the type of guy you want to lose to. With the stakes understood, Pavelski will reach for his driver and let fly. “He’s not nervous about going left or right; he doesn’t see the water it seems like,” Burish says. “He just hits it straight. He’s cool and that’s just him. He’s not a nervous guy.”