107th U.S. Open Final Round News and Notes

Golf Betting Lines

06/15/2007 - Oakmont, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phil Mickelson wore a black brace on his injured left wrist Thursday during the first round of the U.S. Open. He took it off to putt, revealing a bandage underneath.

Mickelson opened with a four-over 74 at Oakmont and was six shots off Nick Dougherty's lead.

"I feel like I hung in there, and I'm excited to still be in it," he said.

Questions about the condition of Mickelson's wrist diverted talk, at least for a day, from his collapse at the 72nd hole at Winged Foot last year. The injury forced his withdrawal two weeks ago from the Memorial and caused him to miss a scheduled start last week in Memphis.

But the wrist looked OK as Mickelson blasted out to within inches from a bunker on the back nine, and he appeared comfortable making putts like the 12- footer he rolled in for par at his 16th hole (No. 7).

"I'm not overly disappointed," he said. "It could have been a round that got away from me."

Mickelson said he may have injured the wrist while chipping from the long rough at Oakmont during a practice round ahead of the Memorial. He was back Thursday, and the rough was just as penal.

Not exactly the place you want to test out an injured wrist.

"This isn't the course you want to do that," Mickelson said. "[The wrist] got a little bit more sore, but I was able to trust that it was okay."

OAKMONT PLAYING EASY?

Not really.

Playing in an early morning tee time, Dougherty made four birdies and two bogeys to take the lead, then said Oakmont was playing "easy." Not that he wanted everyone to know he said that.

"I hate saying it ... Especially if a USGA official picks up on that," he added. "It's still frightfully tough out there."

The scoring average was 75.32, down from 75.98 in the first round at Winged Foot last year but still almost six shots over par, meaning even the players who shot 75 and 76 were right in the middle of the pack.

The only hole that played under-par was the 609-yard, par-five fourth, which played to a 4.974 average. The toughest hole was the par-four 18th, which played to an average of 4.654 shots.

There were 17 scores in the 80s and just two in the 60s (Dougherty's 68 and Angel Cabrera's 69).

Statistically, the first round at this year's Masters was tougher with a 76.188 average.

OPEN NOTES

- A funny thing happened to Tom Byrum at the par-four ninth: He holed out from the fairway ... into the wrong hole. Turns out the No. 9 green is big enough to also serve as the practice green for the championship, and Byrum found one of those holes. Get used to seeing players back there this weekend, but don't get used to seeing players hole out. Even into the wrong cup.

- Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy opened with a one-over 71 and was tied with a large group that included Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh. He also opened with a 71 last year at Winged Foot.

- If Ogilvy has hopes of repeating, history isn't exactly on his side. The player to successfully defend his U.S. Open title was Curtis Strange in 1989.

- There were two eagles posted in the morning wave of tee times -- by Stuart Appleby and Michael Block -- and none by the players who teed off in the afternoon.

- Rhys Davies and John Kelly shared low amateur honors for the first round with four-over 74s.

- There are players from 20 countries and 27 U.S. states competing this week.

Footballbettingshop Golf Betting News

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Matt Kenseth And Kevin Harvick Favorites To Take NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship

(September 15)—The NASCAR season has hit the homestretch with the opening event on this year’s Chase for the Cup taking place this weekend at the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. With 10 races remaining to determine the Cup Series champion, leading online sportsbook MySportsbook.com today announced odds on all 10 Chase qualifying drivers capturing the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.

One of the largest sportsbook sites on the Internet, MySportsbook.com currently lists the top two drivers in the point standings as the early favorites to win the Nextel Cup. Entering the Chase for the Cup with a slim five-point lead in the point standings, 2003 NASCAR champ Matt Kenseth has been made a slight favorite to win his second Cup at 7/2 betting odds. 2001 Cup Rookie of the Year Kevin Harvick has betting odds listed at 5/2 and four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon is listed at 6/1 to capture the Nextel Cup this year.

Hoping to follow in the footsteps of his legendary father who won six NASCAR titles, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stands at 8/1 to breakthrough with his first Cup victory. Staying with the family theme, MySportsbook.com lists 2005 Rookie of the Year Kyle Busch at 14/1 to succeed big brother Kurt’s 2004 NASCAR title. While Kasey Kahne was the final driver to qualify for the Chase with a third place finish last week, the oddsmakers give him a fighting chance at 10/1 mainly due to several mile-and-a-half tracks remaining on the schedule. Despite going winless on the NASCAR circuit this season, Jeff Burton enters the Chase at 5/1 to capture the Cup title. Meanwhile, rookie Denny Hamlin is 4/1 to win the championship, while veteran driver Mark Martin enters the Chase for the Cup as a 15/1 long shot to win his first NASCAR title in his 24th and final season.

MySportsbook.com will offer comprehensive Nascar betting lines on every race remaining on the Nextel Cup series including driver match-ups, props and odds to win each race. For a complete list of NASCAR odds, please visit www.MySportsbook.com.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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