Sabbatini leads Woods by one at Firestone

Golf Betting Lines

08/04/2007 - Akron, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rory Sabbatini struggled early in his round Saturday, but steadied himself and managed to post a two-over 72 to lead by one after three rounds of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Sabbatini completed 54 holes at four-under-par 206. He leads after 54 holes for the sixth time in his career and third time this year.

Earlier this year at the Wachovia Championship, Sabbatini led Tiger Woods entering the final round after saying he wanted to face Woods in the final round.

Woods closed with a 69, while Sabbatini struggled to a 74. Woods won by two over Steve Stricker and by four over Sabbatini.

"I think it was mis-interpreted and taken to a new level. People can do that in the media," said Sabbatini of his comments from earlier in the year that Woods was more beatable than ever. "The situation is, I know that if I want to be No. 1 in the world, I've got to compete against No. 1.

"I know if you're playing with Tiger on Sunday, you're in good position and you're in good company. You have to keep challenging yourself."

Meanwhile, Woods played a steady round Saturday with a one-under 69 to get in at three-under-par 207. A bogey at the last hole cost Woods a share of the third- round lead. Woods has won this title five times, including last year, and hasn't finished worse than tied for fourth.

"I feel great. It was hard out there today," said Woods. "It was playing brutal. The wind was all over the place and that made things a lot more interesting than it should have been."

Kenny Perry carded a one-over 71 and is the only other player in red figures on the South Course at Firestone Country Club at one-under-par 209.

Andres Romero and Stuart Appleby both shot 69 Saturday. They were joined at one-over-par 211 in fourth place by Hunter Mahan (71), Chris DiMarco (72), Justin Leonard (71), Scott Verplank (73) and Aaron Baddeley (67).

Master champion Zach Johnson was in second place entering the round, but a quadruple-bogey on the ninth and a double-bogey at the 10th cost him dearly. Two more bogeys on the way in left in at plus-two after a round of 76.

Sabbatini had a bad start as he found a fairway bunker off the tee at the first. His second got out of the sand, but stopped in thick rough left of the fairway. After getting on the green, he lipped out from five feet and walked off with a double-bogey that dropped him into a share of the lead at minus- four with Johnson.

The 31-year-old Sabbatini responded with a two-putt birdie on two to regain one of those lost strokes. However, he came up short of the green at the fourth and was unable to save par.

That bogey let him tied with Woods and Johnson

Woods, playing two groups ahead of Sabbatini, birdied the fourth and came back with a 10-foot birdie putt on six to move to four-under.

Sabbatini quickly regained the lead with a four-foot birdie putt on five. He gave that stroke back with a bogey on the ninth after he missed the fairway with his drive and his second shot.

He pitched his third to the back edge, then got up and down for bogey. Woods was still one down at that point as he found a greenside bunker at the ninth and could not get up and down for par.

Woods atoned for that mistake with a nine-foot birdie putt on the 11th to join Sabbatini at minus-four. Woods parred six straight, including saving par from the 14th fairway while playing No. 13.

He hit his tee shot into the left trees at the last. Woods pitched out, then left himself 22 feet for par. He missed the par-saving putt and dropped one back.

"I just tried to stay as patient as possible," explained Woods, who was the only player in the final three groups without a double-bogey in round three. "I played ultra-conservative today.

"I fired away from a majority of the flags today and just dumped the ball in the center of the green and moved on. If I happened to make a putt, I happened to make a putt. I just tried to hang in there and never give a shot back. You can make double-bogeys out there in a heartbeat."

Sabbatini parred the final nine holes to complete 54 holes at minus-four.

"The way I look at it is, I got my bad round out of the way today," Sabbatini stated. "(Sunday) I just have to go out there and eliminate the mistakes I made today. The key will be to put the ball in the fairway off the tee and once you do that, be patient and don't get over-aggressive."

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Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year

Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.

Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.

With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.

Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.

Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.

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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

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