08/14/2008 - Stockholm, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Dougherty opened with a four-under- par 66 Thursday to grab a share of the lead after the opening round of the SAS Masters.
Dougherty was joined in the lead by Peter Hanson and Pedro Linhart.
Robert-Jan Derksen is one of seven players one shot off the lead. He shares fourth place with Peter Baker, Peter Fowler, Gary Orr, Paul Broadhurst, Martin Erlandsson and Terry Pilkadaris.
Dougherty, like his fellow leaders, started on the 10th tee at Arlandastad Golf Club in the opening round. After back-to-back pars, he holed a 142-yard shot for eagle on the par-four 12th.
The Englishman moved to minus-three with a birdie on the par-four 14th. Dougherty parred the last four holes of his opening nine.
On the front nine, Dougherty parred the first eight holes before closing with a birdie on the par-five ninth.
"It's been a long while since I've had a round with no bogeys. I had plenty of them last week, that's for sure," joked Dougherty about last week's PGA Championship. "I've not played a good round in what feels like forever, but I played some really great golf there. You've got to turn the corner somewhere, so hopefully this is where it starts."
Hanson stumbled to a bogey on the 10th. He bounced back with consecutive birdies from the 15th. However, Hanson made the turn at even-par after tripping to a bogey on the 18th.
Around the turn, Hanson carded three birdies in the first five holes to get within one of the lead. He also birdied No. 9 to cap his round.
Linhart traded a bogey for a birdie from the 11th. He moved to minus-one thanks to a birdie on the 14th. Linhart parred the next four holes.
The Spaniard wrapped birdies at one and three around a bogey on the second. Linhart got to three-under with a birdie on the par-three fifth.
He tripped to another bogey on the seventh, but recovered nicely with birdies on eight and nine to share the first-round lead.
Jesper Parnevik and Jamie Donaldson head a group of eight players tied for 11th place at two-under-par 68. They were joined there by Scott Barr, Patrik Sjoland, Gareth Paddison, Marc Warren, Felipe Aguilar, and Magnus A. Carlsson.
Fifteen more players are tied at minus-one. Niclas Fasth and defending champion Mikko Ilonen are among a large group tied at even-par 70.
D.J. Trahan, who is battling for a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, carded a three-over 73 and has a lot of work to do if he is going to make the cut.
<< Roy has successful surgery
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy
underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on Thursday to repair a meniscus
tear in his left knee.
The All-Star from the University of Washington learned of th
<< Saints DT Thomas out two months
Metairie, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Hollis
Thomas suffered a right triceps injury in practice on Wednesday that will
sideline him about two months.
A starter for much of his two seasons with New Orlea
<< Blake ousts Federer from Olympics; Williams sisters out of singles
Beijing, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Blake has finally slayed the dragon.
The eighth-seeded Blake had been 0-8 against Super Swiss Roger Federer going
into Thursday's tennis quarterfinal match at the Olympics, but the American
pulled out
<< Penguins break ground on new arena
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins broke ground on
their new arena Thursday.
The new multi-purpose facility, which is located beside Mellon Arena, is
slated to open in time for the 2010-11 season.
Among
Proud Spell and Music Note highlight Alabama Stakes >>
Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Proud Spell and Music Note, two of
this year's leading three-year-old fillies, top a field of six for Saturday's
128th running of the $600,000 Alabama at Saratoga Race Course. The 1 1/4-mile
race is
Padres' Young back on DL >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres placed pitcher Chris
Young on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to August 11, with a strained
right forearm on Thursday.
The righty suffered the injury on Sunday in the Padr
Nationals' top pick Crow signs with Fort Worth team >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Right-handed pitcher Aaron Crow, the
Washington Nationals' top pick, ninth overall, in this year's draft, has
signed a deal with the Fort Worth Cats of the American Association.
The Nationals
Nats activate Boone; place Gonzalez on DL >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals activated infielder
Aaron Boone off the disabled list and placed shortstop Alberto Gonzalez on the
15-day disabled list on Thursday.
Boone had missed the past 30 games with a left
JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.
Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.
MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .
''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''
Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.
He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.
''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''
Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.
Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.
With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.
Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
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The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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