Vaughan leads Senior Open by two

Golf Betting Lines

07/29/2010 - Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bruce Vaughan carded a four-under 66 Thursday to grab a two-stroke lead after the opening round of the U.S. Senior Open Championship at Sahalee Country Club.

Vaughan's lone win on the Champions Tour was a playoff victory over John Cook at the 2008 Senior British Open.

Loren Roberts, a four-time major winner on the Champions Tour, and amateur Tim Jackson share second place at two-under 68. Jackson, a two-time U.S. Mid- Amateur champion, was the 36-hole leader last year before fading into a share of 11th.

Bernhard Langer, who won the Senior British Open last week, posted a one-under 69. He was joined in fourth place by Mark Calcavecchia, Tom Lehman, Joe Ozaki and Michael Allen.

Vaughan played the back nine first on Friday. After hitting a tree with his tee shot, Vaughan still managed to birdie the par-five 11th. He gave that back at the 14th, where he found a bunker off the tee and came up short of the green with his second.

The 53-year-old was unable to get up and down for par from there. Vaughan got back into red figures with a birdie on the 16th. He turned at two-under after making another birdie on No. 18.

Around the turn, Vaughan rolled in back-to-back birdie efforts from the second to jump to minus-four.

Vaughan was alone atop the leaderboard at five-under after a birdie on the par-four sixth. He closed with a bogey at the last to cut his lead to two.

"I birdied probably two of the hardest holes on the golf course, Nos. 18 and 6," stated Vaughan, who is the solo leader after the first round for the first time in his Champions Tour career. "Those were probably two of the hardest holes on the golf course and I made birdie on them. That's like picking up three or four shots on everybody."

Vaughan is having a tough season, with just one top-five and four top-20 finishes. He turned his fortunes around on Thursday by hitting a lot of fairways.

"I did everything you're supposed to do, hit a lot of fairways, a few greens and made some putts," said Vaughan, who hit 12-of-14 fairways and 14-of-18 greens in regulation.

Roberts, who played five groups ahead of Vaughan, opened with four straight pars. He birdied two of the next three holes to get to minus-two.

After three straight pars around the turn, Roberts got to three-under with a birdie on the par-five second. He gave that stroke back with a bogey on the sixth. Roberts parred the last three to end two back.

"I was happy with the way I played. I hit a lot of good shots," Roberts said. "I only hit one bad tee shot at six, and made a bogey, and bad tee shot at nine, my last hole, but got it up and down. All in all, I played as solid as I played in a while today."

Jackson parred the first four holes, then dropped in a birdie effort on the par-three fifth. He followed that with a birdie on the seventh.

Jackson remained at minus-two until the 16th. He stumbled to a bogey on the par-four 16th, but fought right back with a birdie on 17 to end at minus-two.

"We have to do what we did last year, play one side at a time here, because the trees are hanging out and the hole locations are right over the mounds and you've got to be pretty precise," Jackson explained. "You've got to be patient."

Tom Watson, a three-time runner-up at this championship, posted an even-par 70. He was joined in ninth place by Jay Haas, Scott Simpson and local favorite Fred Couples, who was born in Seattle.

NOTES: Defending champion Fred Funk opened with a six-over 76 and is tied for 68th with among others Ben Crenshaw, Andy Bean and Gil Morgan...The last first-round leader to win this title was Peter Jacobsen in 2004...Corey Pavin's streak of 12 straight rounds in the 60s was snapped as he shot 72.

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2007 NFL Football Betting Preview


“You play to win the game!”

Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.

The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.

The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.

Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?

Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.

New York Giants betting lines

Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.

Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.

Dallas Cowboys betting lines

Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.

The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.

Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.

Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.

Oakland Raiders betting lines

This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.

First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”

The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason. 

Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football wagering needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.