Kresge leads PODS Championship
Golf Betting Lines
03/09/2007 - Palm Harbor, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cliff Kresge overcame a pair of late bogeys to shoot a six-under-par 65 on Thursday and take the first-round lead of the PODS Championship.
Arron Oberholser, who missed several weeks earlier in the season due to a back injury, posted a four-under-par 67 and is tied for second place with Daniel Chopra, Anthony Kim and Doug LaBelle II at the Copperhead Course at Westin Innisbrook Resort.
This tournament was moved up in the schedule for the 2007 season after K.J. Choi took the title last fall. This year it was a journeyman from the Nationwide Tour that jumped out to the early lead.
Kresge wasted little time in breaking into red figures. At the par-five opening hole, Kresge came up short of the green with a three-wood for his second shot, but chipped to five feet and holed the birdie putt. He added another birdie putt at the third when he knocked a seven-iron to a foot.
Kresge laid up short with his second at the par-five fifth and the decision paid off for him. He hit a sand-wedge inside two feet to set up the tap-in birdie.
At the par-four sixth, Kresge found a divot in the fairway off the tee. He took some time to decide between a six-iron or five-iron and elected to go with more club. Another wise decision by Kresge as his approach eventually found the bottom of the cup for an eagle.
"I got into the front edge of the divot and was between a six and five," said Kresge. "I thought I was going to hit a cut five, and it was a hook lie, so it was really going to stay pretty straight and it landed perfectly."
Kresge parred his final three holes on the front, then picked up where he left off on the back nine. He played a wedge to a foot to set up birdie at the 10th, then rolled in a 10-foot eagle putt at the 11th to reach eight-under par.
"For 11 holes it was a dream round really," acknowledged Kresge. "Everything was just happening. Then it kind of got in my way a little bit at the end."
He parred four straight after the eagle, then missed the fairway left at 16. Kresge's second landed in the rough short of the green, then he chipped right off the putting surface. His chip stopped eight feet from the hole and Kresge missed the par putt.
Kresge struggled with the driver again at 18 as his ball came to rest in the left rough. His second found sand and he hit his bunker shot heavy, only making it to the fringe. Kresge two-putted from there for his second bogey in his last three holes.
Despite the late miscues, Kresge still owns the first-round lead. Pretty strong performance for a three-time winner on the Nationwide Tour, who is most known for the fact that he fell into water trying to read a putt during the final round of the 2000 Q School. He finished in rain pants and earned his PGA Tour playing card.
"I try to pretend that wasn't me," joked Kresge, who tied for sixth this year at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. "If that thing did anything to me, it hardened me a lot. I was just determined to not let the fact that I fell in the water keep me from getting my card."
Oberholser tallied five birdies and a bogey through his first 14 holes. He bogeyed the sixth, his 15th of the round, thanks to a three-putt from 50 feet, but got back to four-under at seven with a 14-foot birdie putt.
Chopra combined five birdies and a single bogey for his 67 in one of the morning groups on Thursday.
Kim holed a tough four-foot par putt at the 16th, then sank a 15-footer for par at the last to stay in a tie for second place.
LaBelle reached five-under par when he rolled in a 16-foot birdie putt at the par-three 15th. He slipped down the leaderboard when he bogeyed the next par three, the 17th.
Jesper Parnevik, Pat Perez, Heath Slocum, Hunter Mahan, Joey Sindelar, Matt Kuchar and Camilo Villegas, who lost in a playoff last week at the Honda Classic, are knotted in sixth place at three-under-par 68.
Choi, Honda Classic champion Mark Wilson, Trevor Immelman, Chris DiMarco, Tom Lehman and Ryan Moore, who aced the 17th hole on Thursday, are part of a group tied for 13th at minus-two.
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SPORTS BETTING
NFL Football Betting OnlineIn terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.
It is called the "pointspread."
Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.
But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.
A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.
In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.
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