This Week in Golf -- January 26th through January 29th
Golf Betting Lines
01/23/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA TOUR - FARMERS INSURANCE OPEN - Torrey Pines (North and South Courses), La Jolla, California - The PGA Tour heads to beautiful Torrey Pines this week.
This event used to signal the start of Tiger Woods' PGA Tour campaign, but more on that later.
Phil Mickelson, a three-time winner, is on hand fresh off his uninspiring tie for 49th at the Humana Challenge. He was involved in last year's thrilling finish.
With Mickelson two behind, but in the 17th fairway, Bubba Watson waited to tee off on the par-five 18th hole at the South Course at Torrey Pines. It was a wise move by Watson. Mickelson knocked his approach to four feet, so Watson waited for the gallery to settle before he hammered one down the 18th.
Mickelson holed his birdie putt to get into a tie for second with Jhonattan Vegas, the PGA Tour rookie who won the Humana the week before. Vegas was first to hit in the 18th fairway, but his approach sank just short of the green into the water.
Watson short-sided himself in a greenside bunker and that was no guarantee of an up-and-down birdie. Mickelson popped up his drive into the left rough, but still had enough to get home in two.
Watson played his bunker shot well left of the flagstick. The ball rolled down to 12 feet, but it was far from a gimme birdie.
Mickelson made a curious decision. Instead of waiting for Watson to putt, which would have let Mickelson know if he needed eagle or just birdie to tie, Mickelson laid up in the fairway.
Watson poured in his birdie shot to sign for his 67 and move two in front of Mickelson. Vegas bogeyed 18 to get in at 13-under, so it was down to Mickelson, a man known for his gambling style and interesting theater.
Knowing he needed to hole out for eagle, Mickelson sent his caddie "Bone" the 72 yards to the hole to tend the flag in case his ball flirted with the hole.
His pitch landed just long of the cup and began to spin back, but it was not enough. Mickelson's approach stayed above ground and that gave Watson the title.
Watson is back to defend and Ernie Els, Ryo Ishikawa and Rickie Fowler are making their season debuts on the PGA Tour.
Golf Channel has the action for the first two rounds, then CBS takes over on the weekend.
Next week is traditional event opposite the Super Bowl, the Phoenix Open, which was won last year by Wilson.
EUROPEAN TOUR
ABU DHABI HSBC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP - Abu Dhabi Golf Course, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - There is quite a formidable field scheduled for Abu Dhabi this week.
Tiger Woods will make his 2012 debut after his victory at the end of last season at the unofficial Chevron World Challenge. He is 25th in the world rankings, so he is way behind some of the others in the field.
Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer will open their seasons this week. The four are the four highest-ranked players in the world, adding some serious star power to the European Tour's event.
Kaymer has to be considered the favorite and can make history this week. Kaymer is the two-time defending champion and earned his first European Tour victory at this tournament in 2008. The one year he didn't win from 2008-2011, he tied for second in 2009.
Kaymer can join a select group of European Tour players who have won the same tournament four times.
Kaymer cruised to an eight-stroke win last year and set a new tournament scoring record, finishing at 24-under-par 264 to break the old mark by three shots. The victory 12 months ago moved Kaymer to No. 2 in the world rankings, dropping Woods to three. Kaymer eventually became the world's best.
Masters winner Charl Schwartzel and British Open Champion Darren Clarke are both in the field. With reigning U.S. Open winner McIlroy also playing, PGA Champion Keegan Bradley is last year's only major winner not in this week's field.
Kaymer deserves to be the favorite based on his pedigree at the Abu Dhabi Championship, but the hottest player in the world will also tee it up Thursday.
Branden Grace won for the second week in a row last week at the Volvo Golf Champions event. After his breakthrough victory at the Joburg Open, Grace topped two of his fellow countrymen, Els and Goosen, in a playoff at Fancourt.
Golf Channel will carry the action all four rounds.
Next up for the European Tour is the Qatar Masters, which was won last year by Thomas Bjorn. Hunter Mahan, K.J. Choi and Jason Day are scheduled to play as well.
Dortmund, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mario Gotze will remain out of the lineup for Saturday's match with Hoffenheim because of a thigh injury. Gotze had been struggling with an adductor injury which kept him
<< Rookies Newton, Dalton among Pro Bowl replacements
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie quarterbacks Cam Newton of Carolina and
Andy Dalton of Cincinnati were among the players selected for this week's Pro
Bowl as replacements for those originally selected from the Super Bowl
partici
<< Leroux nets five goals as USA hammers Guatemala
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sydney Leroux scored five goals and Abby
Wambach added two more as the United States women's national team coasted to a
13-0 win over Guatemala in Group B play at the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying
tournam
<< Alonso helps Toluca edge Tigres
Toluca, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ivan Alonso notched his fourth goal of the
Mexican Clausura season to help Toluca claim a 2-1 win over Tigres on Sunday.
Chilean striker Hector Mancilla gave Tigres the lead from the penalty spot in
the 2
<< Jackets activate Umberger off IR
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets have activated
forward R.J. Umberger off injured reserve.
Umberger had missed five games because of an upper body injury, believed to be
concussion-like symptoms. He took an elb
Lyon, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lyon defender Dejan Lovren signed a two-year contract extension with the club, it was announced on Monday. Lovren still had more than two years remaining on his existing deal, but has now committed himself
Stars lock up D Goligoski with four-year extension >>
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Stars on Monday signed defenseman
Alex Goligoski to a four-year contract extension worth $18.4 million.
Goligoski was set to be a restricted free agent at the end of this season.
"Alex Goligosk
Marseille loses Mbia to thigh injury >>
Marseille, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marseille is set to be without defender
Stephane Mbia for the next two or three weeks after he sustained a thigh
injury in the club's 3-1 Coupe de France win over Le Havre.
Mbia was forced out o
Van Buyten sidelined by broken foot >>
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich defender Daniel Van Buyten is
facing a spell on the sidelines after it was confirmed that he sustained a
metatarsal fracture in his left foot.
Van Buyten suffered the injury in Friday's 3
Stampeders cut ties with franchise rushing leader Reynolds >>
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Unable to find a trading partner, the Calgary
Stampeders have released running back Joffrey Reynolds.
The 32-year-old Reynolds played eight seasons with the Stampeders and became
the franchise's all-time
American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout
An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.
Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off. Randy was not impressed though. Paula thought he started off fantastic. "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either.
Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed. Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact. He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition.
Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula. Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.
Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next. Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential. Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell. He sang "Careless Whisper".
22 year old Chris Richardson was up next. He was listed with +1100 odds coming in. He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great.
Nick was boring and pitchy. Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week. Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition.
Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds . These of course were the early odds. He was considered original for picking an "odd song". He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night.
Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good.
Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds. Great voice and a great sense of humor. He's a real standout. Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit. Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig".
Jared Cotter followed. He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition. The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good.
22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next. "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon. Though the judges felt he performed okay. Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.
Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition. He was the last to perform. He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start.
Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys. Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.