Carquest Auto Parts Birdie Leaving Edge Of Vehicles

Golf Betting Lines

"We're very good friends," said Clarke. "I would certainly like to be four or five shots ahead of him as I could have been as opposed to tied for the lead, but we'll have some fun."

 

Bjorn, who won this year's Irish Open, recorded pars on his next four holes, then ran home an eight-foot birdie putt at the closing hole to get in at minus-11.

 

"It has got a huge place in my heart and always will have," said Bjorn, who has nine wins on tour. "Any pro will tell you their first victory is the most special one. I don't think we play a finer venue on the tour. When it is like this and the weather is fine, it is spectacular."

 

Ernie Els, a two-time winner of this tournament, shot a four-under 67 on Saturday. He is tied for 10th place with Jamie Donaldson (71), Mark Foster (68) and Charl Schwartzel (72). The group is knotted at seven-under-par 206.

 

He now stands at 14-under-par 202 -- two strokes ahead of Lonnie Nielsen, who shot a six-under 66 in the third round to reach 12-under-par 204.

 

No one believed Roberts' early-season success was a fluke. Beginning part-time on the Champions Tour last summer, Roberts won the JELD-WEN Tradition in a playoff over Dana Quigley for his first Seniors major.

 

He made a run at the U.S. Senior Open last week with a record-setting 62 in the third round, then shot 73 on Sunday to finish tied for eighth.

 

Roberts broke a four-way tie for the lead when he drained a four-foot birdie putt at the par-four 16th to get to 12-under. It was the first of three consecutive birdies to end his bogey-free round at the TPC of Michigan.

 

Don Pooley -- one of eight players who held a share of the second-round lead -- now heads a group of four players who are tied for fifth place. Pooley shot a two-under 70 in the third round and is tied with Bobby Wadkins (65), Des Smyth (68) and Jim Thorpe (69) at minus-10.

 

Ozaki slipped further in the third round, shooting a one-over 73 to tumble into a tie for 16th place at seven-under.

Wwwdallasnews Golf Betting Blog

<< Golf Flagstick Advertising Cut Smash Salvage Over Birdie

<< Tucson Meeting Edge Disable In Meetings

<< Tour Leaves Golftees.com For Nickent

<< Golf Classic Helps Courses At Tee

<< Businesses Leads Neighbour From Development

Edfors Beats Birdie Of Chamber >>

ST. George Golf Highlight Host Down Habig >>

Two Groups Adds CN In Order >>

MR. Paone Leads Skins From Telus >>

Sea Trail Helps More Affordable Product At Immelman >>

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.