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08/26/2010 - Paramus, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Playing his best golf this year, Tiger Woods shot a six-under 65 Thursday to tie Vaughn Taylor for the first-round lead at The Barclays.
Woods played in the first group out in the morning wave and racked up seven birdies and just one bogey in the PGA Tour playoffs opener.
"I just played today," Woods said.
Of course, it was the first competitive round for the world No. 1 since his divorce was made public on Monday, ending nine months of speculation about where he and Elin Nordegren stood as a couple in the wake of his sex scandal.
While he wouldn't say that a weight has been lifted from his shoulders, Woods seemed to hint that the turmoil in his personal life played as much a part in his recent on-course struggles as his swing problems.
"I think it's all of the above," he said.
Shaking free of those struggles, at least for a day, Woods took his first lead on the PGA Tour since the second round of last year's Tour Championship after shooting his best round in six career Barclays starts.
The Tour Championship is exactly what Woods is trying to reach. He entered the playoffs ranked 112th on the points list and needs to finish inside the top 57 at Ridgewood to make the 100-player field for next week's Deutsche Bank Championship.
After that, the fields are reduced to 70 players for the BMW Championship and 30 for the playoffs finale at the Tour Championship. Last year, only seven players ranked outside the top 30 at the beginning of the playoffs made it all the way to the last event.
Woods, a two-time FedEx Cup champion, could mathematically move to No. 1 in the standings with a victory this week.
"I figure if I win I should be OK," he said.
Taylor, who stands 38th in the FedEx Cup rankings, overcame an early bogey at No. 3 with seven birdies the rest of the way. He birdied four of his last six holes to join Woods in the early lead.
With his tour card locked up and sitting in a good position to make at least a couple more playoff fields, Taylor said everything else is just "gravy."
"Obviously (I) want to finish as high as I can on the FedEx and the money lists to get in all the majors next year and things of that nature. So it's pressure off, but also a little bit of pressure to reach your goals," he said.
Ryan Palmer cooled off after shooting a seven-under 28 on the front nine. He made a double-bogey at the 10th, a birdie at the 13th and closed with a bogey at the 18th to shoot a 66 and share third place with Brian Gay and Adam Scott, who also bogeyed his last hole to fall out of a share of the lead.
Davis Love III, Camilo Villegas and Stewart Cink led a large group at 67 that also included defending champion Heath Slocum, whose one-shot victory last year was a shocker over Woods, Ernie Els, Steve Stricker and Padraig Harrington.
Els, the FedEx Cup leader, opened with a 71 on Thursday, while Stricker, who is second in points, had a 70.
Phil Mickelson is the next highest-seeded player in the field after Jim Furyk's Wednesday disqualification for missing the pro-am. Currently No. 4 on the points list, Lefty never got anything going in a round of 72.
Mulling over another swing change -- it would be his fourth new swing on tour -- Woods played in the first group off No. 1 and opened with a 15-foot birdie putt.
"It was a good ball-striking day," he said. "Nice to have control. I didn't warm up very well initially. Was struggling a little bit. But fixed it, and I was committed to it all day."
Taking advantage of a soft course and calm conditions, Woods rattled off three more birdies on the front nine, making the turn with a four-under 31. He drove the green at the short par-four fifth and two-putted for one of those birdies.
"You had to get it today, especially with the wind being down early and then we had fresh greens," Woods said. "It was good to be out early."
He made his only bogey at No. 12, hitting his approach into a bunker. But he bounced right back with a six-foot birdie putt at the 13th and three-footer for birdie at the 14th.
Woods knocked his final approach to seven feet at the 18th, closing with a birdie for his best score of the year.
The 65 snapped a streak of 11 consecutive rounds in the 70s for Woods going back to the second round of the British Open. It was just his second sub-70 score in his last 18 rounds.
"It's exciting to hit the ball flush like this again. It's something I've been missing all year," said Woods. "I haven't hit it flush. And it felt good to hit the ball and shape it both ways and really hit it through the wind.
"I've hit so many shots this year that haven't been hit flush enough to get through the wind. But today I was doing it all day."
NOTES: Woods, who has yet to win this season, took his first 18-hole lead since the 2009 PGA Championship, where he famously finished second to Y.E. Yang...Woods is 13-12 when holding at least a share of the first-round lead on the PGA Tour. He is winless in his last three opportunities, however, dating back to a victory at the 2006 CA Championship.
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Reyes leaves Thursday's game >>
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While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game
How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.
A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.
The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).
Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.
The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).
Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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