Americans split fourballs; take seven-point lead into singles

Golf Betting Lines

09/29/2007 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The American team pulled out a split of Saturday afternoon's fourballs matches, but will take a huge lead into Sunday's singles at The Presidents Cup.

The U.S., which swept the morning foursomes 5-0, leads the competition 14 1/2 - 7 1/2, but it looked like it might be closer. Four of the five matches were in the Internationals' favor on the back nine, but the U.S. closed better.

"This afternoon, we turned the tide on them," said Tiger Woods, whose 3-1 mark in the team format is his best in 10 Presidents or Ryder Cups. "We try to keep them at bay because we know how dangerous they can be in the singles."

History is certainly not on the International side come Sunday. It has never won the singles session outright in the six previous Presidents Cups, but twice tied 6-6.

The Internationals were down by eight in 2000, but the U.S. won 7 1/2 points in the 12 singles for the most lopsided victory in tournament history, 11 points.

Gary Player's International team will need a historic comeback, rivaling the American rally on Sunday at the 1999 Ryder Cup at Brookline. That was the biggest comeback in that event's history, but even that was only four points.

Stewart Cink rode a hot putter to two late wins and partnered Jim Furyk to a 1-up victory in the first match against Angel Cabrera and K.J. Choi.

Phil Mickelson holed a clutch birdie putt on the last hole to steal a halve with Woody Austin against the International team of Retief Goosen and Adam Scott.

Mike Weir continued to validate both Captain Player's selection of him and his Canadian hero status. He and Ernie Els trounced Lucas Glover and Charles Howell III, 4 & 2. Weir leads the International team with 2 1/2 points.

The final match on the course nearly caused more problems for the Internationals. Vijay Singh and Stuart Appleby were 2-up with two to play, but lost 17 to a Stricker birdie. Stricker nearly duplicated the magic at 18, but Singh converted a clutch four-footer to pull out a 1-up win over Stricker and Hunter Mahan and keep it at a seven-point margin.

In the anchor match, Woods and David Toms played together for the first time in international team competition and Nicklaus' decision paid off huge. They destroyed Nick O'Hern and Geoff Ogilvy 5 & 3.

"This afternoon looked like Tiger was going to be the only point we were going to get," said American captain Jack Nicklaus. "The guys grinded it out. Getting a split, walking into the clubhouse, I'm quite happy."

Down seven, Player went out first with the two golfers who sat in the morning, Cabrera and Choi.

Cink and Furyk were 2-down with six to play, but Furyk ran home a long birdie putt at 13 to cut the deficit in half. Cink, who missed a short par putt that cost his side on Friday afternoon, took over the match.

He rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt at the 16th to square the match then exorcised the demons from Friday on 17. Cink holed a six-foot birdie putt at 17 to put the Americans 1-up.

Cabrera missed an 18-foot birdie putt at the last that could have halved the match.

Mickelson and Austin were in some trouble late. At the 15th, Mickelson found the water, but had a shot at his ball. Austin, who fell backwards into a lake at 14 on Friday, tried to persuade him to play it, but Mickelson elected to wait to see what Austin did.

Austin made bogey, so Mickelson went in the water and tried for a miracle up- and-down. It did not happen, so the U.S. fell 1-down with three to play. Goosen holed out for a birdie from a bunker at 16, and the Internationals were assured a halve.

But Austin, who birdied his last three on Friday afternoon to get his side a halve, rekindled the magic. He drained a nine-footer for birdie at the 17th to take his side 1-down with the difficult 18th to play.

Goosen drove into the trees and was basically out of the hole. Austin missed a birdie chip, so the 18th came down to Mickelson and Scott. The Aussie left himself with three feet for par after his 40-footer never threatened the cup. Mickelson holed an impressive 25-footer for birdie and a big halve.

"We made some birdies down the stretch," said Mickelson. "Woody's birdie on 17 was big. To make the one on the last hole sure feels good."

Els and Weir built a 3-up lead at the turn, but back-to-back birdies by Glover got the margin down to 1-down. Els tapped in a short birdie putt to win the 12th, then Weir rolled in a long birdie putt to win the 15th and go 3-up with three to play.

Els hit a spectacular approach from the mud at 16. Neither American managed a birdie, so the Internationals took the point.

"I played with Mike yesterday, he played unbelievable. He played great today," said Els. "It's a privilege to play with him every year."

Singh and Appleby made a mess of the closing hole, both hitting in bunkers. Appleby barely advanced his and was out of the hole as he left himself with 12 feet for par. Singh blasted out to four feet and watched Mahan never come close with his birdie putt.

Stricker also missed his birdie effort. Singh had to hole his to save a valuable full point for the Internationals. He did just that to keep the faint International hope alive.

Toms was the man who carried his team in the final game. He birdied two and three for wins, then a couple of Woods' birdies at eight and nine put them 4- up.

The U.S. closed it out on the 15th.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

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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Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back

With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.

"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."

Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .

Get all your baseball betting lines, MLB lines and MLB team props at the My Sportbook.

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