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07/26/2007 - Evian-les-Bains, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Americans Pat Hurst and Brittany Lincicome posted matching rounds of six-under-par 66 Thursday to share the first-round lead at the Evian Masters with Korea's Eun Hee Ji.
Christina Kim was joined by Jin Joo Hong and Kyeong Bae in a tie for fourth at minus-five. Six more players are tied for seventh at three-under-par 69 at Evian Masters Golf Club.
Defending champion Karrie Webb opened with a two-under-par 70 and is tied for 13th. Annika Sorenstam, a two-time winner here, mixed five birdies and four bogeys in a round of 71. She is tied for 16th with Laura Davies and Rachel Hetherington among others.
"I think I played really well," Sorenstam said. "I had a lot of good chances today and I'm very disappointed because I think I played better than what the score says."
World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa birdied the final two holes to shoot even-par 72, where she was joined by U.S. Women's Open winner Cristie Kerr and nine others.
Michelle Wie returned to action for the first time since withdrawing from the U.S. Women's Open with an injured wrist. The young Hawaiian had a solid front nine with seven pars and two birdies. Around the turn, she struggled with a double-bogey and a bogey to card a 73 that left her tied for 37th.
Hurst, whose best finish here was a tie for 18th in 2004, got her round going with birdies on one and four. She tripped to the only bogey of her round at the par-five ninth. Around the turn, Hurst recovered that lost stroke with a two-foot birdie putt on 11.
After a par at 12, Hurst birdied the 13th to move to three-under. She birdied the 16th, then closed with a 10-foot eagle putt on the par-five 18th to jump into a share of the lead.
"I played steady out there," said Hurst. "I started out with a birdie so that got me off on the right foot. I played pretty steady and just kept it down the middle and on the green and made some putts."
Lincicome, who won the Ginn Open earlier this year, parred the first five holes. She caught fire from there with birdies on six and seven before knocking her second within a foot at the par-five ninth. She kicked that in for eagle to turn in four-under.
Around the turn, Lincicome birdied No. 12, but gave that stroke back with a three-putt bogey at the par-three 14th. She came right back to birdie 15 and closed with a birdie at the last.
"I figured if I got it up there somewhere around minus-seven, I would be close," Lincicome stated. "I three-putted on No. 14, but had to wait for like 30 minutes on the tee box, so I was a little out of rhythm. You lose your feel a little faster."
Ji got off to a fast start as she holed a nine-iron from 130 yards out for eagle on the par-four third. She came right back with a birdie No. 4. Birdies on the seventh and ninth gave Ji the lead at minus-five.
She stumbled to a bogey on the par-four 10th. Ji rolled in consecutive birdie putts from the 12th, but faltered to a bogey on 15. Ji gained a share of the first-round lead with a birdie at the 18th.
Mi Hyun Kim, who won the SemGroup Championship earlier this year, is one of the seven players tied for seventh. She stands alongside Diana D'Alessio, Sophie Gustafson, Linda Wessberg, Sun Ju Ahn and Jeong Jang.
<< Schiavone, Szavay land in Bad Gastein QFs
Bad Gastein, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone
and last week's Palermo champion Agnes Szavay were a pair of second-round
winners Thursday at the inaugural $175,000 Gastein Ladies tennis event.
Schiavone
<< Bengals' Thurman done for '07
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Odell Thurman, suspended for all of the 2006
season after violating the league's substance abuse policy and then being
arrested for drunken driving, will not return to the field for the Cincinnati
Bengals
<< Chiefs sign Turley to one-year deal
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Chiefs announced
Thursday that they have re-signed offensive tackle Kyle Turley to a one-year
contract. Per team policy, the terms of the deal were not yet disclosed.
The 6'5",
<< A-Rod, Yankees aim for sweep of KC
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees are on a serious roll, while Alex
Rodriguez is on the verge of history. Tonight the All-Star third baseman aims
for a historic home run as the Bronx Bombers attempt to complete a four-game
sweep o
Predators sign free-agent forward Gelinas >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators announced Thursday
that they have signed free-agent left wing Martin Gelinas to a one-year
contract. The deal will earn the veteran forward $1.25 million in 2007-08.
The 37-
Nationals' Lannan ejected in major league debut >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals selected the
contract of pitcher John Lannan from Triple-A Columbus for his major
league debut in Thursday's matinee against Philadelphia, where he was ejected
in the
Bucs sign first-rounder Adams >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers avoided a potential
training camp holdout Thursday by signing their top draft pick, defensive end
Gaines Adams. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Adams, a 6'4", 258-pound p
Robredo, Calleri reach Kitzbuhel quarters >>
Kitzbuhel, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo
and reigning champion Agustin Calleri of Argentina were among Thursday's
third-round winners at $1.085 million Austrian Open.
Robredo fought back to beat
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.
MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.
Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.
According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).
Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.
''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.
Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.
''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''
Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.
”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.
For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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