Romero, Vaughan share lead at Senior British Open

Golf Betting Lines

07/24/2008 - Ayrshire, Scotland (Golf Betting) - Eduardo Romero and Bruce Vaughan opened with rounds of three-under 68 on Thursday to share the lead after the first round of the Senior British Open Championship.

Andy Bean, John Cook, Kirk Hanefeld and Nick Job are a shot off the lead at two-under 69, while defending champion Tom Watson leads a six-way tie for seventh place at one-under 71, a group that also includes Bernhard Langer.

Greg Norman, the third-round leader at last week's British Open before he finished six shots behind winner Padraig Harrington, struggled to a four-over 75 in the first round at Royal Troon.

"This golf tournament is like any other, you just need to hang in," said Norman, who tied for sixth place at the last Champions Tour major, the Senior PGA in May. "There's more than one round to a golf tournament."

Watson, who has won three of the last five Senior British Opens, said they weren't taking it easy on the "old people" this week. The 58-year-old Watson claimed one of his five British Open titles at this week's host course.

"It looks like they put the [tees] out where it's as far back as they were going to move them," said Watson, who won the 1982 Open at Royal Troon. "So we are going to play a pretty long and difficult golf course at here."

Despite the course's length -- it's playing over 7,000 yards -- Watson managed consistency in one statistical category.

"I didn't hit every fairway, but I hit every green today," said Watson. "I've never done that before. I hit 18 greens and I've putted for 18 birdies, but I don't think I've ever hit 18 greens on the tour ever in my life."

Less consistent was Vaughan, the 51-year-old Kansan who collected eight birdies in the first round -- but also had a double- and triple-bogey. Both bad holes were marked seven, but Vaughan was able to get the strokes back within six holes both times.

"It was either feast or famine today," said Vaughan, who has never won on the Champions Tour. "Outside of those two sevens, it was a good round."

Like Norman, Vaughan was cautious about his position after the first day. Scores can improve, certainly, but they can go in the opposite direction just as easily.

"It's just the first day," said Vaughan. "We've got a few more days left."

Romero, playing in a group that teed off more than five hours after Vaughan's, was much steadier in his afternoon round. A first-time major champion at the 2006 JELD-WEN Tradition, Romero collected four birdies with just one bogey to join Vaughan in the lead.

"It's probably my week. I think it's my week," said the confident Romero, who has not finished outside the top nine in the last four years. "I think it's more difficult than last year and a couple years ago. But I'm in good form and I feel strong and I feel good and I feel happy."

Langer, who has won twice on the Champions Tour this season, came close to claiming his first over-50 major in May, when Jay Haas won the toughest Senior PGA Championship in history with a seven-over score at brutal Oak Hill.

The two-time Masters champion, who finished one shot behind Haas, said it would mean a lot to win this week.

"It's not just for the resume," said Langer. "I've always had dreams of winning the British Open. It still would mean a lot to win this."

Watson and Langer were joined at one-under 71 by Gene Jones, Mark McNulty, John Morse and Joey Sindelar.

Craig Stadler was six shots off the lead at three-over 74, but may have been the biggest winner on Thursday. His hole-in-one at the 123-yard eighth hole was worth 123 bottles of wine.

"I just chipped a little pitching-wedge and there she was," said Stadler. "The wine is perfect as well. I'll have a little Shiraz evening I think."

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Matt Kenseth And Kevin Harvick Favorites To Take NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship

(September 15)—The NASCAR season has hit the homestretch with the opening event on this year’s Chase for the Cup taking place this weekend at the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. With 10 races remaining to determine the Cup Series champion, leading online sportsbook MySportsbook.com today announced odds on all 10 Chase qualifying drivers capturing the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.

One of the largest sportsbook sites on the Internet, MySportsbook.com currently lists the top two drivers in the point standings as the early favorites to win the Nextel Cup. Entering the Chase for the Cup with a slim five-point lead in the point standings, 2003 NASCAR champ Matt Kenseth has been made a slight favorite to win his second Cup at 7/2 betting odds. 2001 Cup Rookie of the Year Kevin Harvick has betting odds listed at 5/2 and four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon is listed at 6/1 to capture the Nextel Cup this year.

Hoping to follow in the footsteps of his legendary father who won six NASCAR titles, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stands at 8/1 to breakthrough with his first Cup victory. Staying with the family theme, MySportsbook.com lists 2005 Rookie of the Year Kyle Busch at 14/1 to succeed big brother Kurt’s 2004 NASCAR title. While Kasey Kahne was the final driver to qualify for the Chase with a third place finish last week, the oddsmakers give him a fighting chance at 10/1 mainly due to several mile-and-a-half tracks remaining on the schedule. Despite going winless on the NASCAR circuit this season, Jeff Burton enters the Chase at 5/1 to capture the Cup title. Meanwhile, rookie Denny Hamlin is 4/1 to win the championship, while veteran driver Mark Martin enters the Chase for the Cup as a 15/1 long shot to win his first NASCAR title in his 24th and final season.

MySportsbook.com will offer comprehensive Nascar betting lines on every race remaining on the Nextel Cup series including driver match-ups, props and odds to win each race. For a complete list of NASCAR odds, please visit www.MySportsbook.com.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts US credit cards needs.



Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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