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08/07/2008 - Bloomfield Hills Township, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robert Karlsson of Sweden and India's Jeev Milkha Singh are the co-leaders after the early wave of players during the first round of the 90th PGA Championship.
Karlsson and Singh both posted rounds of two-under-par 68 Thursday at the tough South Course at Oakland Hills.
Padraig Harrington, who won his second consecutive British Open last month, birdied his first three holes to move into the lead at three-under. The Irishman has played six holes in his first round.
Sergio Garcia, Sean O'Hair, Billy Mayfair and Ken Duke are in the clubhouse at one-under 69.
Phil Mickelson, the 2005 PGA Champion, overcame bogeys at his first two holes to shoot an even-par 70.
"I'm just happy to have shot even-par today," acknowledged Mickelson. "I think that after the start, bogeying the first two holes, I thought it was pretty good to hang in there, fight and make some birdies, because there were a lot of holes that were tough to get to."
Mickelson tallied three birdies and two bogeys the rest of his first nine to make the turn at plus-one, but perhaps his best shot was a chip-in par at the par-three 13th.
Mickelson rolled in a 15-footer for birdie at four, then converted a four- footer for birdie at five to get into red figures for the championship. Unfortunately for Mickelson, he bogeyed his final hole, the 237-yard, par- three ninth, but is still pleased.
"I'll gladly take it," said Mickelson.
He is only two behind the co-leaders, one of whom has enjoyed quite a major season.
Karlsson is the only player to post top-10 finishes in all four majors this season, but he's not resting on an impressive record in golf's most important events.
"To forget about those three top eights, that's the most important thing," Karlsson said when asked about expectations. "This is a new event. This has nothing to do with the other three."
Karlsson, like Mickelson, got off to a terrible start on Thursday. He hit a cart path over the green and walked off the first with a double-bogey six.
That would be one of his last mistakes.
Karlsson birdied three in a row from the second, including a two-putt from 60 feet at two, a four-footer at the third and a 12-footer at No. 4. The tall Swede drained an 18-foot birdie putt at six and knocked a seven-iron to tap-in range to set up birdie at the eighth.
A 10-foot birdie putt at 11 got Karlsson to four-under par for the championship, but back-to-back bogeys from the 14th dropped him into a share of the lead.
"It was great," said Karlsson. "The greens were absolutely perfect, so once I rolled a couple in, just keep going, so it was good."
Singh also made a mess early on with a bogey at the first. He atoned for the error in style with a five-foot eagle putt at the second and Singh got to minus-two with a nine-foot birdie putt at the fifth.
Singh dropped shots with bogeys at seven and 10 to fall back to even-par. At the 15th, Singh hit his seven-iron approach to kick-in range and got back under par for the championship.
He grabbed his share of first with a 20-foot birdie putt at the par-three 17th.
And Singh is doing all of this with a bad ankle.
"Obviously the ankle does hurt at certain positions because it's a hilly golf course and especially the slopes," said Singh, who has won in Austria and Japan in the last two months. "I try to watch that whenever I'm walking."
<< CFL Previews - Week 7 (August 7-8)
Toronto, Ontario (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
TORONTO ARGONAUTS (3-3) AT HAMILTON TIGER-CATS (1-5)
DATE & TIME: Thursday, August 7, 7 p.m. (et).
GAME NOTES: These are indeed difficult times in Hamilton.
The Tiger-Cats are tied for last in
<< Nats place Dukes on disabled list
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals placed outfielder
Elijah Dukes on the 15-day disabled list Thursday with a strained right calf.
The move is retroactive to August 3.
Dukes, 24, is currently batting .264 with si
<< Karlsson is a major factor
Bloomfield Hills Township, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Who is the only player to
register a top-10 finish in each of the season's first three major
championship?
That would be the tall Swede, Robert Karlsson.
He tied for eight
<< Rays acquire P Bradford
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays acquired reliever
Chad Bradford from the Baltimore Orioles Thursday in exchange for a player to
be named later.
Bradford, 33, was 3-3 with a 2.45 earned run average in 47 relief
West Ham's Bellamy will miss start of season >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - West Ham United striker Craig Bellamy will
miss the opening weeks of the new Premier League season due to a hamstring
injury.
The 29-year-old Wales international suffered renewed injury problems
Phils acquire veteran P Eyre >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired
veteran reliever Scott Eyre from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for minor league
pitcher Brian Schlitter.
The left-handed Eyre, 36, had appeared in only 19 game
Mutu signs extension with Fiorentina >>
Florence, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fiorentina striker Adrian Mutu is delighted
to have pledged his long-term future to the Italian club, having been linked
with a move away from Florence this summer.
The 29-year-old was a target for bo
Pennington released by Jets >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Jets have released quarterback
Chad Pennington on Thursday in the wake of the team signing future
Hall of Fame signal-caller Brett Favre late Wednesday night.
"I appreciate everyth
The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.
While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.
For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.
1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.
2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.
How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.
Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.
Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.
How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).
Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.
Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.
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Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.
New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.
His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.
HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.
The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.
RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.
First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.
The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.
These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.
New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.
You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff!
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines .
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