Byrd looking for repeat performance in Hawaii
Golf Betting Lines
01/06/2012 - Kapalua, Hawaii (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When all the champions get together, it seems as though Jonathan Byrd shines the brightest.
Byrd, attempting to defend his title at the PGA Tour's season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions, began with a six-under 67 on Friday and sits alone atop the leaderboard.
His only victory of 2011 came in a playoff win over Robert Garrigus at Plantation Course at Kapalua, but Byrd is looking to make it two in a row after eight birdies and two bogeys. If he were to go on to victory, Byrd would have six PGA Tour wins in his career.
The season-opening event is four rounds like most other tournaments, except it will end Monday evening as opposed to the traditional Sunday finish. Invitations are extended only to those who won a tournament in the previous year, and, after Lucas Glover's withdrawal earlier in the day, 27 entrants teed off on Friday.
Byrd will have to keep up his hot play if he is to hold off a host of contenders, as four players share second at five-under 68. Among those is Webb Simpson, who is coming off a second-place performance in last year's FedEx Cup Playoffs.
The others include 11-time PGA Tour champ Steve Stricker, Michael Bradley and Martin Laird. PGA Champion Keegan Bradley is sixth at minus-four.
Byrd was in the final pairing with FedEx Cup champ Bill Haas, but while Haas struggled all afternoon, Byrd wasted no time.
After two opening pars, Byrd ran off six straight birdies, but it was the final three that were the most impressive.
He broke into red figures with a five-foot birdie putt at the third and followed with birdies at Nos. 4 and 5 from about the same length. The streak appeared over at the sixth, when his approach sat 28 feet away from the pin, but Byrd sank the putt to move to four-under.
Byrd, who made only 12 putts from over 25 feet in all of 2011, followed with a 26-footer at the seventh for birdie and a 29-footer for birdie at the eighth. At six-under, even the defending champion was a bit stunned.
"That's it?" Byrd said on television when informed of his 12 made putts from long distance in 2011. "It's something I practiced this offseason. I tried to improve on 10 to 25 feet after looking at the stats."
Unfortunately for Byrd, he was unable to maintain the momentum all the way through. He missed a nine-foot par putt at the ninth, and he found a greenside bunker at the par-three 11th en route to another bogey.
After dropping back to four-under, Byrd responded with an eight-foot birdie putt at the 12th. At the 16th, he made his fourth long putt of the round, draining a 29-footer for birdie to get back to six-under.
He had a chance to move two clear with a birdie at the last, but his 12-foot chance barely missed. Still, Byrd was optimistic about his play.
"I felt good out there," Byrd said on TV. "My misses were good. I only hit a few loose shots. For the most part, I'm really pleased. I gave myself a lot of opportunities and made a few putts."
K.J. Choi is in seventh at three-under 70, while D.A. Points and Bryce Molder share eighth at minus-two.
NOTES: In 2011, Brandt Jobe, Hunter Mahan, Cameron Tringale and Johnson Wagner tied for the most putts made of over 25 feet with 28. Wagner is the only one of the four in the field this week, and he shot a one-under 72...Byrd ranked 130th on that list with his 12 makes in 2011...Glover withdrew due to a knee injury suffered in a paddleboard accident earlier in the week...This is the fewest number of players in the field since the tournament moved to Kapalua in 1999.
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Semyon Varlamov stopped 27 shots for his second shutout of the season as the surging Colorado Avalanche handed the Chicago Blackhawks a 4-0 defeat at United Center. David Van Der Gulik, Chuck Kobasew, T.J
<< Rose leads Bulls over Magic
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derrick Rose had 21 points, 10 assists and
eight rebounds, leading the Bulls to a 97-83 win over the Magic on Thursday.
Luol Deng added 21 points, while Carlos Boozer had 20 and 13 boards for the
Bulls,
<< Cavs down Timberwolves
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Antawn Jamison scored 22 points to lead
Cleveland to a 98-87 win over Minnesota Friday.
Anderson Varejao posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds while
Kyrie Irving poured in 14 points
<< 'New Sixers' play same old song
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Sixers were the last NBA team to open
the home portion of their schedule Friday night and it was a little more
special than usual.
New ownership led by billionaire investor Joshua Harris has taken over
<< Gallinari, Nuggets take down Hornets
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Danilo Gallinari scored 23 points and
dished out six assists, as the Denver Nuggets used a strong second half to
beat the New Orleans Hornets, 96-88.
Al Harrington added 14 points and six reboun
University Park, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Penn State has officially named Bill O'Brien football coach, hiring the New England Patriots offensive coordinator to replace Joe Paterno and lead the Nittany Lions in the aftermath of a child sex abu
Thomas lifts No. 5 Maryland over Georgia Tech >>
College Park, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alyssa Thomas scored a game-high 24
points, leading No. 5 Maryland to a 77-74 win over Georgia Tech on Friday
night.
Thomas' three-point play with 17 seconds remaining gave the Terrapins (15-
Jazz slip by Grizzlies >>
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Al Jefferson scored 20 points and pulled
down nine rebounds to lead the Utah Jazz past the Memphis Grizzlies, 94-85, on
Friday.
Paul Millsap added 14 points and eight boards, while Josh Howard scored 13
Arkansas picks apart K-State in Cotton Bowl >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Adams scored on a 51-yard punt return and
No. 7 Arkansas built a big early lead Friday night on the way to beating No.
11 Kansas State, 29-16, in the Cotton Bowl.
Tyler Wilson threw two touchdown pas
Pennetta, Zheng Auckland final postponed >>
Auckland, New Zealand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saturday's ASB Classic final
between Italy's Flavia Pennetta and China's Zheng Jie has been postponed due
to rain.
The decision was made by event organizers to move the event to Sunday. Sh
Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back
With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.
"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."
Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .
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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting
So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.
Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?
If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)
Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).
In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.
Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.
| The Bubble Breakdown | |||
| CONFERENCE | LOCKS | SHOULD BE INS | AT-LARGES TAKEN (assuming no auto bid outlier) |
| ACC Betting Odds | 6 | 0 | 5 |
| Big East Betting Odds | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Big Ten Betting Odds | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Big 12 Betting Odds | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Pac-10 Betting Odds | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| SEC Betting Odds | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| MVC Betting Odds | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| MWC Betting Odds | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| TOTAL | 28 | 5 | 25 |
As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.
(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)
If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.
Atlantic Coast Conference
Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech
The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.
Work left to do:
Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.
Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).
Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.
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