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06/09/2007 - Vienna, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Australian Richard Green extended his lead to three strokes through three rounds of the BA-CA Golf Open.
Green posted a four-under 67 Saturday at Fontana Golf Club to complete 54 holes at 15-under-par 198.
England's Richard McEvoy climbed into a second place at 12-under-par 201 thanks to a third-round 64. Miguel Angel Jimenez and Steven Jeppesen each shot 69 on Saturday and share third place at minus-11.
Green is on track for his first win since claiming his lone European Tour title at the 1997 Dubai Desert Classic. He got off to a steady start with eight straight pars.
Martin Erlandsson, who played in the final pairing with Green, birdied the third to join Green in the lead at 11-under. Erlandsson had several chances to grab the lead on his own, but could not convert.
The 36-year-old Green finally got on the board with a birdie on the par-five ninth. Around the turn, he rolled in consecutive nine-foot birdie putts from the 12th to move to 14-under, two clear of McEvoy.
Green parred his next four holes to remain there. At the par-five 18th, Green two-putted for birdie to finish three clear of the field as he has played the 18th at four-under through three rounds.
"I feel comfortable on the course, it suits the way I like to putt," admitted Green. "I'll be fairly anxious to win because it's been a long time, but I won't be desperate because I'm not going to put any undue pressure on myself. It's hard to put a finger on why I've not won again, but I do now have more self-belief."
McEvoy jumped from a share of 14th into second with a solid round. He tripped to a bogey on the second to open his round, but came back with birdies on three and four.
The Englishman turned in eight-under thanks to birdies at six and nine. Four more birdies on the back nine moved McEvoy into second place at 12-under.
"It's a bit tough at times when they are going out and winning tournaments, especially Luke (Donald), and you remember being at their standard, but it does give you the determination to do it," said McEvoy of his 2001 Walker Cup teammates Donald, Graeme McDowell, Nick Dougherty and Marc Warren.
McEvoy has had a tough start to his season as he has missed the cut in six of his first seven starts and eight of 11 overall.
Swedes Johan Skold and Michael Jonzon each posted seven-under 64s Saturday to move into a share of fifth place at 10-under-par 203. They were joined there by David Park (68).
Chris Gane (64), Jean-Francois Remesy (65), Gary Orr (66), Jarmo Sandelin (69), Shaun P. Webster (68) and Graeme Storm (69) are tied for eighth at minus-nine.
Erlandsson stumbled on the back nine with a bogey on 15 and a double-bogey at 16. He slid into a share of 14th at eight-under-par 205.
<< Pierzynski suspended one game
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski has
been suspended for one game and fined an undisclosed amount by Major League
Baseball for his inappropriate actions during the bottom of the eighth inning
of Thur
<< Clemens recalled, will start on Saturday
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Clemens has been recalled from Triple-A
Scranton on Saturday and will make his 2007 debut against the Pittsburgh
Pirates.
Clemens was initially slated to start this past Monday against the White
<< Pirates place Torres on DL
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Pirates placed pitcher Salomon
Torres on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with right medial inflammation.
Torres didn't record an out in his brief appearance against the Yankees on
Friday.
<< Lowe, Marcum square off at Chavez Ravine
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The reeling Los Angeles Dodgers will try for their second
consecutive victory when they battle the Toronto Blue Jays in the second
matchup of a three-game set from Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers will send Derek Lowe to the
Clemens K's seven in six innings >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens made
his 2007 debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday and lasted six full
innings.
The righty struck out seven and walked two while giving up three runs on
Haas extends lead in Des Moines >>
West Des Moines, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jay Haas, the reigning Champions Tour
Player of the Year, overcame a double-bogey on Saturday with six birdies in a
seven-hole span to increase his lead at The Principal Charity Classic.
Haas shot a
Clemens earns win in return to the Yankees >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rogers Clemens made his much anticipated 2007
debut and pitched six innings as the New York Yankees downed the Pittsburgh
Pirates, 9-3, in the second of a three-game set at Yankee Stadium.
Clemens (1-0) s
Giants' Lewis, Alfonzo placed on DL >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Francisco Giants catcher Eliezer
Alfonzo and right fielder Fred Lewis have been placed on the 15-day disabled
list. Both were hurt in Friday's 5-3, 10-inning loss to the Oakland Athletics.
Alfo
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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