107th U.S. Open Final Round News and Notes

Golf Betting Lines

06/15/2007 - Oakmont, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phil Mickelson wore a black brace on his injured left wrist Thursday during the first round of the U.S. Open. He took it off to putt, revealing a bandage underneath.

Mickelson opened with a four-over 74 at Oakmont and was six shots off Nick Dougherty's lead.

"I feel like I hung in there, and I'm excited to still be in it," he said.

Questions about the condition of Mickelson's wrist diverted talk, at least for a day, from his collapse at the 72nd hole at Winged Foot last year. The injury forced his withdrawal two weeks ago from the Memorial and caused him to miss a scheduled start last week in Memphis.

But the wrist looked OK as Mickelson blasted out to within inches from a bunker on the back nine, and he appeared comfortable making putts like the 12- footer he rolled in for par at his 16th hole (No. 7).

"I'm not overly disappointed," he said. "It could have been a round that got away from me."

Mickelson said he may have injured the wrist while chipping from the long rough at Oakmont during a practice round ahead of the Memorial. He was back Thursday, and the rough was just as penal.

Not exactly the place you want to test out an injured wrist.

"This isn't the course you want to do that," Mickelson said. "[The wrist] got a little bit more sore, but I was able to trust that it was okay."

OAKMONT PLAYING EASY?

Not really.

Playing in an early morning tee time, Dougherty made four birdies and two bogeys to take the lead, then said Oakmont was playing "easy." Not that he wanted everyone to know he said that.

"I hate saying it ... Especially if a USGA official picks up on that," he added. "It's still frightfully tough out there."

The scoring average was 75.32, down from 75.98 in the first round at Winged Foot last year but still almost six shots over par, meaning even the players who shot 75 and 76 were right in the middle of the pack.

The only hole that played under-par was the 609-yard, par-five fourth, which played to a 4.974 average. The toughest hole was the par-four 18th, which played to an average of 4.654 shots.

There were 17 scores in the 80s and just two in the 60s (Dougherty's 68 and Angel Cabrera's 69).

Statistically, the first round at this year's Masters was tougher with a 76.188 average.

OPEN NOTES

- A funny thing happened to Tom Byrum at the par-four ninth: He holed out from the fairway ... into the wrong hole. Turns out the No. 9 green is big enough to also serve as the practice green for the championship, and Byrum found one of those holes. Get used to seeing players back there this weekend, but don't get used to seeing players hole out. Even into the wrong cup.

- Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy opened with a one-over 71 and was tied with a large group that included Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh. He also opened with a 71 last year at Winged Foot.

- If Ogilvy has hopes of repeating, history isn't exactly on his side. The player to successfully defend his U.S. Open title was Curtis Strange in 1989.

- There were two eagles posted in the morning wave of tee times -- by Stuart Appleby and Michael Block -- and none by the players who teed off in the afternoon.

- Rhys Davies and John Kelly shared low amateur honors for the first round with four-over 74s.

- There are players from 20 countries and 27 U.S. states competing this week.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

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.