Woods to play with Rose in first two rounds of British Open

Golf Betting Lines

07/12/2010 - St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods and Justin Rose, the world's top-ranked player and one of the hottest players in golf, respectively, will be paired together for the first two rounds of the 2010 British Open.

The 150th Anniversary Open will tee off from historic St. Andrews on Thursday.

Woods has won the last two Open Championships staged at St. Andrews, but has struggled for most of the 2010 season on the heels of his off-the-course issues that first surfaced last November. His two best finishes in just six starts this year came in the first two major championships -- tying for fourth at both the Masters and U.S. Open.

Rose, meanwhile, won Woods' tournament two weeks ago, the AT&T National in suburban Philadelphia, and also captured the Memorial Tournament last month with a tie for ninth in between at the Travelers Championship.

Joining Woods and Rose for the first two rounds will be Camilo Villegas. The trio will tee off at 9:09 a.m. local time (4:09 a.m. et) on Thursday and 2:20 p.m. local time (9:20 a.m. et) on Friday.

The first group of the tournament, starting at 6:30 a.m. local time (1:30 a.m. et) on Thursday, features 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie, who came back from 10 shots on the final day to win at Carnoustie, as well as Thomas Levet and Steve Marino.

Defending Open champion Stewart Cink, who beat Tom Watson in a playoff last year at Turnberry, is paired with 2002 Open winner Ernie Els and Ian Poulter. They are scheduled to start at 8:42 a.m. local time (3:42 a.m. et) on Thursday and will play at 1:53 p.m. local time (8:53 a.m. et) Friday.

Watson, the five-time winner of the Claret Jug, is back again and will play the first two rounds with 2007 and 2008 Open winner Padraig Harrington and Japanese teenager Ryo Ishikawa. The group will tee off Thursday directly after Woods' group at 9:20 a.m. local time (4:20 a.m. et).

Reigning Masters champion Phil Mickelson will try for his first British Open title and will play his opening two rounds with two-time U.S. Open winner Retief Goosen and European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie. They have a 2:20 p.m. local time (9:20 a.m. et) start on Thursday.

Graeme McDowell, who captured the U.S. Open title last month, will play with fellow U.S. Open champs Jim Furyk and Geoff Ogilvy, starting at 1:53 p.m. local time (8:53 a.m. et).

Steve Stricker, coming off his win at the John Deere Classic this past weekend, is paired with Sergio Garcia and Hiroyuki Fujita. They'll start at 2:09 p.m. local time (9:09 a.m. et) on Thursday.

Gambling-online-sportsbook Golf Betting News

<< Report: Suns close to acquiring Turkoglu, Childress
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns are reportedly close to replacing Amare Stoudemire with a combination of Hedo Turkoglu and Josh Childress, according to The Arizona Republic. The report states that the Suns wo

<< Ferreira equalizer forces Seattle to share points with Dallas
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas got a late goal from Colombian midfielder David Ferreira to earn a 1-1 draw vs. the Seattle Sounders FC in Major League Soccer action in front of over 36,000 fans at Qwest Field on Sunday

<< Cuban: NBA should examine how Heat got Big 3
LAS VEGAS (AP) -Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says the NBA should examine how free agents LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade all ended up with the Miami Heat.Cuban tells a group of reporters at the NBA's summer league in Las Vegas that he

<< Padilla, Dodgers shut down Cubs
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vicente Padilla pitched eight innings of shutout ball, and the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the Chicago Cubs, 7-0, in the finale of a four-game set from Dodger Stadium. Padilla (4-2) allowed just two hi

<< Nets add G Farmar
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets have agreed in principle to a contract with free agent guard Jordan Farmar. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released, but the Newark Star-Ledger reports t

Mural of LeBron James removed in Cleveland >>
CLEVELAND (AP) -LeBron James has left the building.Workers have removed a gigantic Nike banner featuring James, a sign that hung on the side of a downtown building for years and served as a background for the Cleveland Cavaliers' success during the

NL Rookie Pitcher Gets All-Star Snub >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For those of you still wrapped up in Strasburg- mania, I have to regretfully inform you that he's not the pitcher referred to in the above headline. As impressive as the Nationals' rookie has been, and as much as

Pacers reach agreement with Indianapolis >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indiana Pacers and the city of Indianapolis have reportedly reached an agreement that will keep the team in Conseco Fieldhouse for at least three more seasons. According to the Indianapolis

139th British Open Championship Preview >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Golf's most historic championship heads to its most historic venue for the 139th playing of the British Open Championship. The championship is celebrating its 150th anniversary -- it was no

American League mid-term grades >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There have been plenty of storylines to keep us busy during the first half of the American League schedule, and a number of surprising ones at that. From the travels of Cliff Lee to the exploits of Robinso

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.