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07/02/2009 - Bethesda, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Anthony Kim set the course record with an eight-under 62 at Congressional, taking the first-round lead Thursday at the AT&T National.
Tiger Woods, the tournament host, shot a six-under 64 to share second place with D.A. Points and Bryce Molder. Australia's Steve Elkington had a 65, while Jim Furyk led a three-way tie at 66.
Kim, who made it around the 7,200-yard course without a bogey, collected six birdies on his last nine holes to best the old scoring record of 63 set by Tom Pernice, Jr. and Peter Lonard last year.
In terms of birdies, it was the kind of success the 24-year-old Kim hasn't approached since he set the 18-hole birdie record at the Masters by making 11 of them in the second round.
"I'd like to say it was just me playing fantastic golf, but I got a couple good breaks along the way," said Kim, who also set a personal scoring record on the PGA Tour.
Kim made his eight birdies before Woods even hit the course to play his first competitive round at Congressional since 2007. That was the year Woods founded the Fourth of July Weekend tournament that benefits his foundation and pays tribute to members of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Woods missed last year's AT&T National after having season-ending left knee surgery following his U.S. Open victory.
He made about 150 feet worth of putts Thursday while shooting his best score since also posting a 64 in the second round of the 2007 Deutsche Bank Championship, which took place in September of that year.
Although Woods has routinely blamed his putting for his sometimes sporadic play this season, he seemed confident with the flat stick on Congressional's soon-to-be replaced greens.
"Today I hit a lot of putts on-line," he said. "Some went in."
Playing catch-up all day, he made four birdies and was bogey-free until hitting into a bunker at the 11th hole. Woods rebounded with a 31-foot birdie putt at the 12th -- this after he cursed his drive, which went into the right rough.
He made back-to-back birdies at the 15th and 16th, holing a 12-footer on the latter to climb within two shots of Kim's lead.
Overnight rains turned Congressional into a shooting gallery, and 36 players in a field of 119 shot under-par in the first round.
"The golf course could be had," said Woods. "You could be aggressive, you could fire at the flags and the only thing you really had to worry about is spinning the ball back too much."
Kim focused on hitting quality shots and also found the course ripe for scoring, although he took some time to explain the ways he got lucky during the first round.
Unsure of the wind at No. 3 -- his 12th hole -- Kim fired a drive that was headed 10 or 15 yards right of the fairway. The ball kicked left, saving him from a lie behind a tree, and he made a birdie.
On the next hole, Kim's drive was so far right that it missed the trees altogether, leaving him with a clear shot at the green. He made a seven-foot birdie putt there, then completed a run of three birdies in a row at No. 5.
"This golf course fits my eye, and when I hit it wide I seem to get lucky out here," Kim said. "This is one of the very few courses I feel like I get lucky at. I love coming back to a course I have good feelings about, and obviously playing well last year helped. But this course does fit my eye, and I'm starting to see the break on these greens pretty well."
Kim added birdies at the seventh and eighth holes, rolling in a seven-foot putt for the last one.
Saddled with high expectations since he won twice in 2008, and battling a nagging thumb injury, Kim has struggled to crack the top 10 this season. He hasn't done it since tying for second place behind Geoff Ogilvy at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in January, the PGA Tour's season-opener.
But Kim has finally gotten some strength back in his injured thumb, helping him to re-adjust his backswing, and he said his goal now is to win major championships.
Congressional, set to host the 2011 U.S. Open, is a good place to practice.
"I'm starting to focus on my course management because I know at majors that's what's important," said Kim, who tied for 16th at last month's U.S. Open. "This is a major championship type of golf course, obviously, because in two years we'll be here for the Open. I just know that if I'm working on the right things, it's going to pay off, whether it's tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday or next week."
The United States Golf Associations will begin its preparations for the '11 Open next week, when the Congressional greens are scheduled to be ripped up and the soil underneath them replaced.
Woods' tournament will move to the Philadelphia area the next two years to Aronimink Golf Club.
<< Ribery will only leave Bayern for Real
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chelsea and Manchester United appear to have
missed out on signing Franck Ribery after the France star revealed he will only
leave Bayern Munich for Real Madrid.
The two Premier League heavyweights were
<< Arsenal's Wenger hails Wilshere deal
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arsenal's teenage midfielder Jack Wilshere
has joined Aaron Ramsey in signing a new long-term contract with the Gunners.
The 17-year-old broke into the first-team picture at the Emirates Stadium last
sea
<< Napoli's Donadoni: Lavezzi will return
Naples, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Napoli coach Roberto Donadoni is confident
that Argentina forward Ezequiel Lavezzi will return to the club for the start
of pre-season training.
The 24-year-old has been heavily linked with a move
<< Dortmund: Zidan to stay put
Dortmund, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp
insists that his club have no intention of selling Egypt striker Mohamed Zidan
in the current transfer window.
The 27-year-old struggled to make an impact
Panthers sign Leopold, Wilson >>
Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers bolstered their defensive
corps Thursday by signing both Jordan Leopold and Clay Wilson.
Leopold, who signed a one-year contract, was acquired on the NHL Draft's
second day from Calg
Bees delay Astros/Padres game >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In the top of the ninth inning of a game
between the Houston Astros and San Diego Padres, a swarm of bees took over
part of left field and caused the game to go into a delay.
With Miguel Tejada at the plate w
Hurricanes retain LaRose for two years >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Hurricanes agreed to terms with
forward Chad LaRose on a two-year contract worth $3.4 million on Thursday.
LaRose is set to earn $1.5 million next season and $1.9 million in 2010-11.
The 27-y
Pressel among Jamie Farr leaders >>
Sylvania, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Morgan Pressel, Laura Diaz and Song-Hee Kim
each fired rounds of seven-under 64 on Thursday to share the opening-round
lead of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.
Suzann Pettersen and Michelle Wie ar
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.
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