McGrane, Elson lead in stormy South Africa
Golf Betting Lines
01/12/2012 - Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Damien McGrane and Jamie Elson posted impressive eight-under 63s on Thursday en route to the clubhouse lead at the opening round of the suspended Joburg Open.
Thunderstorms forced a lengthy delay of nearly five hours before darkness suspended play at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, where golfers are on both the East and West Courses over the first two rounds. For the last 36 holes, only the more difficult par-72 East Course is used.
With some gloomy weather forecasted over the weekend, it remains to be seen if there will be more delays ahead. The second round will resume at 6:45 a.m. local time, 11:45 p.m. (et).
The East Course lived up to its name in its brief usage on Thursday, with 19 of the top 21 players on the leaderboard playing on the par-71 West Course.
McGrane and Elson were two of them, though one of their closest competitors, Desvonde Botes, posted a seven-under 65 on the East Course. Reinier Saxton and Peter Karmis had a seven-under 64s on the West Course and share second, while Joel Sjoholm, David Drysdale, George Coetzee, George Murray, Carlos Del Moral and Shaun Norris posted six-under 65s on the West Course.
The week's storyline is reigning Masters champ Charl Schwartzel, who began his surprising 2011 season with his second straight Joburg Open title. The top- ranked player in the field by a considerable margin at No. 9, Schwartzel is even-par through 15 holes on the East Course.
It was McGrane and Elson, however, who stole the show Thursday. McGrane is looking for his first European Tour victory since the 2008 China Open, while Elson gained his tour card for this year by holing a 40-foot birdie putt on the final hole at qualifying school.
"I am delighted to be in a good position after round one," McGrane said. "For the last three or four years, Irish golf has been quite incredible, and I think we feed off each other. For a small nation, it sure is great to be there or thereabouts."
McGrane's day could have been even better if not for a bogey at the last. He had five birdies in a flawless front nine and added back-to-back birdies from the 11th to get to seven-under.
He moved to nine-under with an eagle at the par-five 15th, but lost a stroke at the last, one that could cost him with Botes hot on his tail.
"I stacked up a few birdies during the round, but that eagle really turned my round," McGrane said.
Elson started with four consecutive birdies and added two more at the sixth and ninth to make the turn at six-under. He began the back nine with two bogeys, but had four birdies in his last seven holes to tie McGrane.
Botes, who has 12 international victories but none on the European Tour, had five birdies and an eagle on the East Course, which means he'll have an opportunity to build on his score on the easier West Course.
His last victory anywhere came at the 2003 Parmalot Classic.
Schwartzel, who has not won since his Masters triumph, got off to a rocky start with bogeys at the first and fourth. His first birdie came at the sixth, but he followed with his third bogey of the day.
A birdie at the ninth put Schwartzel at one-over, but he finally got under par for the first time with birdies at the 12th and 14th. A bogey at No. 15 dropped him to even-par before the round was halted.
NOTES: After Schwartzel, the highest-ranked player is Retief Goosen at No. 50. He shot a five-under 66 on the West Course and is tied for 10th...Schwartzel is attempting to become the sixth European Tour player to win the same tournament three straight times.
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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.