09/05/2008 - Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Australia's Marc Leishman fired an eight-under 63 Friday to take a one-shot lead after two rounds of the Utah Championship.
Leishman completed two rounds at 14-under-par 128. His 63 matched the course record first posted by Mark Hensby in 2000 and matched eight other times since, including by Michael Putnam in Friday's second round.
Kyle Thompson entered the day tied for second and then carded a six-under 65. He is now alone in second place at minus-13. Brendon Todd shot five-under 66 and is alone in third at 12-under-par 130.
Chris Nallen and Blake Adams each shot six-under 65 Friday. Nallen is in fourth at 11-under-par 131, while Adams is one shot back at minus-10.
With just five full-field events left on the Nationwide Tour schedule, players are trying to jump into the top 25 on the money list to earn their PGA Tour cards for next season. The top-five players on the leaderboard all need big weeks. Todd is closest to the top-25 as he is 53rd on the money list, while the other four rank between 68th and 87th.
Leishman, No. 75 on the money list, opened with birdies on the first and third. He moved to minus-nine with a birdie at the sixth. However, Leishman tripped to a bogey on the par-three seventh.
The Australian bounced back from that bogey with three straight birdies from the eighth at Willow Creek Country Club to move to 11-under.
After a par on 11, Leishman dropped in birdies on 12 and 13 to move into the lead at 13-under. He parred three in a row before dropping his third shot within five feet at the par-five 17th.
Leishman rolled that putt in for birdie to get to 14-under. He parred the last to finish one shot off the tournament's 36-hole scoring record.
"That's big around here because there's five of them," said Leishman, who birdied all five par-fives. "I birdied four of them yesterday. I've been playing ok, but the biggest challenge is that I have never seen most of the courses. You make a few silly mistakes and hit it in the wrong spots, but it's starting to come together. The last few weeks have been pretty good."
Thompson played the back nine first and parred his first four holes. He birdied 14 and 15 to move to minus-nine.
Around the turn, Thompson birdied the first and third to move into a share of third place. Birdies on seven and eight got Thompson within one of Leishman. Thompson missed a birdie putt at the ninth, his last, to end alone in second.
Television commentator Bobby Clampett carded a four-under 67 to move into sixth place at nine-under-par 133.
Putnam's 63 moved him into a share of eighth at eight-under-par 134. He was joined there by Mark Brooks, Roger Tambellini, Ricky Barnes, Matt Weibring, Bubba Dickerson, Bill Lunde, Spencer Levin, Gary Christian, Fabian Gomez, Jeff Curl, Won Joon Lee and Daniel Summerhays.
Dickerson carded a hole-in-one on the par-three 18th. After four aces on Thursday, the five holes-in-one for the event set a Nationwide Tour record for most aces in one tournament.
First-round leader David Branshaw stumbled to a one-over 72 and is tied for 20th at minus-seven.
The cut line fell at four-under-par 138 with 63 players moving on to the weekend. Among those missing the cut were the Nationwide Tour's leading money winner Brendon De Jonge (139), No. 5 on the money list Rick Price (142) and Scott Dunlap (149), who won the Panama Championship earlier this year.
<< Jays down Rays, continue spoiler role with sixth straight win
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rios hit a pair of home runs and Roy
Halladay threw seven effective innings, as the Toronto Blue Jays toppled Tampa
Bay, 6-4, in the first of three games with the Rays.
Halladay (18-9) gave up three
<< Nats' Hill has surgery; Belliard out with groin strain
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Nationals pitcher Shawn Hill
underwent season-ending surgery on his right elbow Friday.
Dr. James Andrews performed the surgery on Friday and removed spurs in the
posterior elbow.
Hill
<< Cards' Isringhausen to undergo elbow surgery
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jason
Isringhausen, currently on the 15-day disabled list with a right elbow strain,
will undergo season-ending surgery next week.
The procedure is slated for September
<< Rangers OF Byrd injures thumb
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers outfielder Marlon Byrd left
Friday's game with the Boston Red Sox after spraining his left thumb.
The injury occurred while Byrd tried to make a diving catch on Dustin
Pedroia's line drive in
Braves notch back-to-back wins over Nats >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Brandon Jones highlighted a seven-run
third inning with a three-run double, carrying Atlanta to a 10-5 win over the
Washington Nationals.
Kelly Johnson had three hits, including a pair of doubles,
A's crush O's >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Braden and the Oakland bullpen held
down the Baltimore offense, while the Athletics finally took advantage of
suspect pitching in an 11-2 rout over the Orioles in a rain-soaked opener of a
three-g
Lowell, Beckett highlight BoSox rout of Rangers >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Lowell finished 3-for-5 with four runs
batted in, and Josh Beckett threw five shutout innings, as the Boston Red Sox
beat Texas, 8-1, in the first of three games with the Rangers.
Beckett (12-9) and
White Sox thump Halos to keep pace in AL Central >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Uribe belted a pair of two-run homers to
carry the Chicago White Sox to a 10-2 rout of the Angels in a battle of
division leaders.
Paul Konerko had three hits, including a solo homer, and Ken Grif
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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