PGA Championship Third Round News & Notes

Golf Betting Lines

08/09/2008 - Bloomfield Hills Township, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When the horn sounded on Thursday evening to end play for darkness, three players shared the lead.

Robert Karlsson, with three top-10s in this year's majors, and Jeev Milkha Singh of India were in the clubhouse at two-under-par 68. One player had yet to finish his round.

That was Andres Romero.

Unfortunately, the Argentine bogeyed No. 18 to fall out of the lead.

It got a lot worse for Romero in the second round.

He tallied a birdied, three bogeys, a double-bogey at 18 and a quadruple-bogey eight on the 16th. Romero shot an eight-over 78 and fell down to plus-seven for the championship, which was one shot within the cut line.

"I couldn't come back after that eight. I made a double bogey at the 18th because I was mad," Romero acknowledged through an interpreter on Saturday. "And then I was almost fighting for the lead in the tournament and suddenly I was trying to make the cut, so I was going mad the whole round the rest of the round."

Romero atoned for the hideous second round with a five-under 65 on Saturday. That is the lowest score of the championship and got Romero back into the mix at plus-two, just three off the lead.

"I played an excellent round. Almost perfect," Romero said through his interpreter. "I can't believe it, I have a chance for tomorrow and, well, I have to wait, but it's great to be here."

Romero burst on to the golf scene with an amazing run Sunday at the 2007 British Open Championship. He held the lead, but closed with a double-bogey, then a bogey at 18 to finish one shot outside the playoff between eventual champion Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia.

Romero parlayed his good run at the Open Championship into a victory the following week in Germany. He won the Deutsche Bank Players Championship on the European Tour by three, then posted a top 10 the very next week at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

"I learned a lot after that week," said Romero, referring to the 2007 British Open. "That helped me a lot not to, I don't know, not to go down after that loss. It was a very good experience after The Open."

SO WHO'S READY FOR 36?

When people debate whether golfers are athletes, focus on Sunday's final round. At least six players will play 36 holes on what could be a truly soggy track.

Factor in this is for a major championship and Sunday sets up as a long day.

"It's going to be like college again, playing 36 in one day," said the second- round leader, J.B. Holmes. "It happens, and everybody else is going to do it, too, so just have to go out there and deal with it."

Not everyone is going to be doing it.

Romero is three off the lead and can wait until the final round before he goes out for the first time Sunday. Romero's tee time could be in the 2:00 p.m. (et) neighborhood as opposed to the 7:40 a.m. time Holmes and Charlie Wi have Sunday morning.

"Obviously the guys that finished today that played well will have a nice relaxing morning while we're out there grinding," said 2003 British Open champion Ben Curtis, who is one off the lead heading into Sunday morning. "It's going to be tough for us, but it can be done."

Curtis feels that playing 36 in one day could actually be an advantage. If someone has a sensational third round Sunday morning, that can be carried over to the final round.

Essentially, you could have one big day and win the PGA Championship.

"I'm a believer in big momentum in one day, not necessarily for three or four days at a time," said Curtis.

* Prior to Mickelson's win in 2005, the last Monday finish was Bob Tway's victory in 1986 at Inverness. The only other in the stroke-play era of the PGA Championship was Dave Stockton's 1976 win at Congressional.

* Romero's 65 in Saturday's third round matched the course record at Oakland Hills. He is the ninth player to shoot 65 at this venue and first since Tom Lehman in the third round of the 1996 U.S. Open.

* Sunday's forecast calls for some rain.

* The winner of the last 12 PGA Championships has come from the final group in the final round. Steve Elkington was tied for fifth heading into the final round in 1995 and was the last player to win without being in the final group in round four.

* All three major winners this year have come from the final pairing on Sunday.

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Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament odds  
As of February 9, MySportsbook.com has released its coveted 2007 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament betting odds. “March Madness betting ” only a month away, the top ranked Florida Gators are favorite at 7-2 to win it all. The defending champs have not disappointed at all this season and currently have a 22-2 record and are undefeated (9-0) in SEC play. The Gators’ thrive off of their extremely balanced, experienced and versatile attack. All five starters started in last seasons National Championship game. What is most impressive with this group is their balance; the five starters all average between 10.7 and 13.6 PPG. The Gators have been on an absolute roll having won 15 straight by an average of 16.4 PPG.

Right behind the Gators are the 5th ranked UNC Tar Heels at 9-2. The Heels (21-3, 7-2) are absolutely loaded with top notch talent and are as deep as any team in the country. A concern for the Tar Heels might be inexperience. Of their top four scorers/ minute earners, three are freshmen and the other is a sophomore. The rest of the regular season, the Tar Heels play only one team that is currently ranked (Duke). Their remaining opponents do combine for an impressive 107-58 record though.

Other teams that the MySportsbook.com members seem to believe will win it all include the west coasts’ top team #2 UCLA (6-1), #3 OSU behind man-child Greg Oden (8-1), and #4 Wisconsin (10-1) behind their defense which has given up 70+ points only three times all season.

Below is a list of some of the favorites to win the 2007 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship lines. For the full list of teams and March Madness odds be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com. If you want to use your credit card to bet on college hoops or any other event, MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

Arizona 20-1

Butler 20-1

Duke 30-1

Florida 7-2

Georgetown 30-1

Indiana 35-1

Kansas 15-1

Marquette 25-1

Maryland 40-1

Memphis 50-1

Nevada 50-1

UNC 9-2

OSU 8-1

Oregon 30-1

Pittsburgh 15-1

Texas 30-1

Texas A&M 18-1

UCLA 6-1

Wisconsin 10-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook betting needs.

Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

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