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08/10/2007 - Tulsa, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Graeme Storm, an unheralded Englishman, fired a five-under-par 65 on Thursday to take the first-round lead at the PGA Championship.
John Daly, the 1991 PGA Champion, posted a three-under 67 at a sweltering Southern Hills Country Club.
Temperatures reached over 100 degrees on Thursday afternoon. Even the players in the morning tee times dealt with highs in the mid-90s and a heat index over 100.
"There was odds with all the caddies and players this week who would fall first, me or my caddie," joked Daly. "So we made it. We made 18 holes."
World No. 1 and defending champion Tiger Woods is in search of his first major of the year. He opened with a one-over 71, which is disappointing considering he flew out of the gate.
He started on the 10th tee Thursday and knocked his approach at 10 to seven feet. Woods drained that putt, and added birdies at 13 and 15 to join the lead at minus-three.
Woods dropped a shot at the 18th when he could not save par from a bunker. That kick-started a run of bad golf which saw Woods bogey two and four. He made birdie at the par-five fifth, but fell back to even-par with a bogey at seven.
At the 245-yard, par-three eighth, Woods came up short with his tee ball. He chipped to 10 feet, but missed the par save. Woods rolled in a three-footer at No. 9 to stay at one-over par.
"I felt like I hit the ball better than my score indicates, which is good," said Woods, who won last week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational by eight. "That's a good sign heading into the next three days."
The last season Woods failed to win a major was 2004. Since his breakout victory at the 1997 Masters, Woods has only had three seasons without one of golf's big four in his trophy case.
Arron Oberholser, Stephen Ames and Woody Austin are knotted in third place at two-under-par 68.
Everyone in the field is looking up at a 29 year old who won the Open de France in early July.
Storm started strongly on Thursday with a 20-foot birdie putt at the 10th, his first hole. He nearly holed his tee shot at the par-three 11th, but settled for a tap-in birdie.
The Englishman reached the green with a two-iron second shot at the par-five 13th. Storm left his 15-foot eagle try short, but once again took a birdie and moved to three-under through four holes.
"I did get off to a fast start. I nearly had a hole-in-one at the 11th, which was my second hole," he said. "So two-under through the first two holes is always nice."
Storm's next birdie came at the 16th when he hit an eight-iron eight feet behind the hole. He now led the PGA Championship, but appeared to be in trouble at the par-four second.
He missed the fairway at the second and pitched just short of the putting surface. Storm chipped in for birdie, parred out and walked off with the first-round lead in his first PGA Championship.
"It was just one of those rounds, really, when I never really thought about anything," said Storm, who took a job in a cake factory in 2002 when his career was a little stagnant. "I just kept on doing the things that I was trying to do, which was just enjoy myself."
Daly has employed a similar strategy this week. He did not play a single practice round due to the heat, some lingering injuries and a new philosophy.
"I've been putting too much pressure on myself," acknowledged Daly. "Being hurt doesn't help. I haven't really played that bad. I just haven't been able to score. If you can't score, you don't have any confidence."
It has been another strange year for one of golf's most complex characters.
During the second round of the St. Jude Championship in early June, Daly showed up with scratch marks on his cheeks. He told authorities his wife attacked him while he was asleep.
The next time Daly surfaced was last month at the British Open Championship, a tournament he won in 1995. Daly took the lead with a chip-in eagle on Thursday, then exploded and missed the cut.
On Thursday, Daly was able to finish off his round.
His first birdie came at the par-four fourth when he sank a 10-footer. Daly birdied the seventh, then canned an eight-footer for birdie at the ninth. He parred the first three on the second nine, before a two-putt birdie at the par-five 13th.
Daly never recovered from a poor second shot at the 16th and made bogey.
"Since it's over 500 yards, I feel like I made par so I didn't make any bogeys today. Perfect," Daly joked. "I consider it par because anything after 500 yards is a par five in my book and it always will be."
British Open champion Padraig Harrington must still have his form from Carnoustie last month. He shot a one-under 69 and is tied for sixth place with Mark Wilson, Markus Brier, Camilo Villegas, Lee Westwood, John Senden and 2006 U.S. Open winner Geoff Ogilvy.
Phil Mickelson's woes in majors continued on Thursday. He played well early with birdies at one and four, but tallied six bogeys and a birdie the rest of the way. His three-over 73 put him in a tie for 53rd place.
"I finished with a three-over par round, which stinks," said Mickelson.
<< Rockies put Hirsh on DL; make several other moves
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies made a series of moves on
Thursday, including putting pitcher Jason Hirsh on the 15-day disabled list
with a fractured right fibula.
The club also optioned catcher Alvin Colina to T
<< Dodgers get Sweeney from Giants
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers made a move on
Thursday to bolster their depth by acquiring veteran first baseman Mark
Sweeney from the San Francisco Giants for a player to be named later or cash.
One
<< Clemens, Torre suspended after Toronto incident
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens and
manager Joe Torre have been suspended by Major League Baseball for their
roles during Tuesday's Yankees-Blue Jays fracas in Toronto.
Clemens has been susp
<< Spiezio put on restricted list
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals put infielder Scott
Spiezio on Major League Baseball's restricted list due to an apparent
substance abuse problem.
Spiezio came forward to the team concerned about possible
Defending champion Kim into quarters at Amateur >>
Carmel, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - No player has repeated as champion at the U.S.
Women's Amateur in 11 years. On Thursday, that stat was one hole from being
safe for another year.
But by the end of the day, defending champion Kimberly Kim h
Federer, Nadal, Roddick move into Rogers Masters quarters >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded and defending champion Roger
Federer, second-seeded former winner Rafael Nadal and American Andy Roddick
were among Thursday's third-round winners at the $2.45 million Rogers Masters
-- the
Marlins score two in the ninth to top Phils >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Willingham homered and also dazzled
with his glove in the outfield, as Florida scored a pair in the ninth to upend
the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2, in a rain-filled finale of a three-game series
at Citi
Back with a blast: Ankiel leads Cards past Padres >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rick Ankiel made a smashing return to the
majors, belting a three-run homer, and Joel Pineiro threw seven shutout
innings as the Cardinals blanked the San Diego Padres, 5-0, in the finale of
a four-
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.
As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.
Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.
Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.
Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey betting needs.
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