Stricker still 5 clear at Kapalua

Golf Betting Lines

01/08/2012 - Kapalua, HI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Stricker needed a late rally to keep his comfortable lead on Sunday.

The 44-year-old Wisconsin native birdied the final four holes to keep his five-stroke lead after three rounds of the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

Stricker carded a four-under 69 to end 54 holes at 19-under-par 200.

He will go for his 12th PGA Tour title on Monday at Kapalua. Stricker has won five of the last six times he has owned at least a piece of the 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour.

Defending champion Jonathan Byrd and Scotland's Martin Laird both shot six- under 67 Sunday to move into a share of second at minus-14. They were joined there by Webb Simpson, who posted a four-under 69 in round three.

Bryce Molder (67) and Kevin Na (71) are tied for fifth at 11-under-par 208.

Stricker led by five entering the round, but got off to a slow start with six consecutive pars. He posted his first birdie on the seventh as he drained a 20-footer.

However, he gave that stroke right back with a three-putt bogey on the par- three eighth.

Stricker was still three clear at that point, but as he parred the next six holes Simpson inched within one of the lead.

Much like he did in the first two rounds, Stricker caught fire down the stretch. He two-putted for birdie on the par-five 15th. Stricker spun his short approach off the front edge on 16.

No worries, though. He chipped in for birdie to push his lead back to three strokes.

Stricker stuffed his approach within four feet at 17 and poured that birdie putt in. At the 18th, he came up just short with his second, but rolled an eagle effort within two feet. Stricker kicked that in for birdie to finish his second straight round with a five-stroke cushion.

"It was a struggle today. Not a lot of good things happened," admitted Stricker in a televised interview. "I stayed patient, I really did. I kind of stole one with the chip in on 16.

"When you're leading a golf tournament, it is so hard to keep the momentum. I had such a good day [Saturday], and when you're not making birdies, you feel like you're letting things slip away. And that's what I was feeling like. Fortunately, I had a good finish."

Stricker has played the 15th through 18th at 11-under with nine birdies, an eagle and two pars.

Byrd stumbled to bogeys on the second and third to tumble nine strokes back at the time. He got those strokes right back with a birdie on the fourth and an eagle on No. 5.

After three straight pars, Byrd birdied five of seven holes from the ninth to soar to 14-under. He parred the last three to share second.

"I had a rough start. I made two poor bogeys starting out. I hit a good wedge on four near that accessible pin, then eagled five," Byrd explained on television. "I hadn't played the par-fives real well, so making that eagle got me back in it feeling like I was playing good again."

Laird had four birdies on the front nine before faltering to his only bogey on No. 11. He erased that mistake with a birdie at 12. Back-to-back birdies from the 15th moved Laird to minus-14. He parred the last two.

"It was tough to make some putts out here. The greens are grainy with lots of slopes, so it takes a few holes to get used to the reads," Laird said in a TV interview. "That was kind of the case today."

Simpson had one birdie through seven holes. He carded three birdies in a five- hole span from the eighth to get to 14-under. Simpson was just one back, but the 16th proved to be a tough turning point.

Like Stricker, Simpson spun his approach off the green. Simpson failed to get it up and down, and his bogey dropped him four back. He did two-putt for birdie at the last to get back to minus-14.

It may have only been a four-under 69 for Simpson, but it was pretty impressive as he put a new driver in his bag moments before the round started. Simpson cracked the face of his old driver on the practice range, but was able to get a new one before his round began.

Harrison Frazar had the low round of the day with his seven-under 66. He jumped three spots into seventh place at 10-under-par 209.

NOTES: Stricker is 7-of-13 in his PGA Tour career with at least a piece of the 54-hole lead...Americans own 18 of the top 21 spots on the leaderboard...The event has a scheduled Monday finish with the tee times pushed up two hours so that the round ends prior to the start of college football's national championship game.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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Super Bowl 2009 Betting

Super Bowl 2009 Betting propositions

Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.

Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.

Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.

If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.

Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.

By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.

In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.

So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.

While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.

There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.

In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:

SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.

XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.

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