Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
02/22/2012 - Marana, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top overall seed and defending champion Luke Donald was eliminated Wednesday in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.
Donald drew no ordinary No. 64 seed.
Ernie Els, who only made the field thanks to withdrawals by Phil Mickelson and Paul Casey, trounced Donald, 5 & 4, at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club.
"Obviously playing against Luke, I needed to be on," Els said in a televised interview. "I knew had to play really well and I did. I kept it in play and made some big putts in the end."
Donald never trailed en route to victory last year and he never reached the 18th green. He didn't get there on Wednesday, either, but that was due to the play of his Hall of Fame opponent.
Donald never led in the match and Els built a 2-up lead at the turn. Donald fought gamely, but never won another hole. Els took the 11th, 12th and 14th holes to knock off the No. 1 player in the Bobby Jones bracket.
Donald was the only No. 1 seed to lose. Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and last year's runner-up, Martin Kaymer, were victorious.
Tiger Woods, a three-time champion, holed a gutsy 12-foot par putt to beat Gonzalo-Fernandez Castano. Woods, seeded No. 5 in the Sam Snead bracket, didn't have his best game, but hung tough and did better than last year when he was eliminated in the first round.
"We both made our share of mistakes; there's no doubt about that," said Woods. "But somehow I was able to move on."
Woods fell 2-down right out of the gate, but built a 1-up lead with wins at five, seven and eight. Woods stumbled badly with losses at 10 and 11, then made a tough par save just to halve the 12th and stay 1-down.
Woods squared the match with a birdie at 15 and Fernandez-Castano let one get away at 16. He had six feet to halve the hole, but missed to give Woods a 1-up lead.
After pars at 17, Woods' second flew into the back bunker at the last. He had a tough shot from the trap with little green to work with and did well to get it 12 feet past the flag.
Fernandez-Castano had a decent look at birdie, but missed and was conceded par. Woods needed to make his putt to avoid extra holes and did just that.
Woods will meet the fourth seed in the Snead bracket, Nick Watney, who advanced with a resounding 5 & 4 victory over reigning British Open champion Darren Clarke.
The top seeds moved on in Woods' part of the Snead bracket. Westwood defeated Nicolas Colsaerts, 3 & 1, while eighth-ranked Robert Karlsson trounced fellow Swede Fredrik Jacobson, 6 & 5.
The bottom portion of that bracket featured all upsets. Matteo Manassero, No. 15, eliminated the second seed, Webb Simpson, 3 & 2. Martin Laird knocked off Alvaro Quiros, 1-up, while Ryo Ishikawa won the 18th to upend last week's Northern Trust Open winner and third seed, Bill Haas, 1-up. Paul Lawrie, the 11th seed, beat Justin Rose, 1-up.
Kaymer, the highest seed in the Ben Hogan bracket, was steady in his win and drew David Toms in the second round after Toms, the 2005 winner and eighth seed this year, topped Rickie Fowler, 1-up.
The rest of that bracket almost totally went in form with higher seeds Steve Stricker, Louis Oosthuizen, Matt Kuchar, Bubba Watson and Hunter Mahan winning. The only major upset was 14th-seeded Y.E. Yang knocking off No. 3 Graeme McDowell, 2 & 1.
McIlroy, tops in the Gary Player bracket, earned a hard-fought victory over George Coetzee, 2-up. McIlroy will next meet Anders Hansen, who dusted Kyung-tae Kim, 5 & 3.
"I felt like I played pretty good," McIlroy said in his televised interview. "Thankfully I'm through to the second round."
Miguel Angel Jimenez upset fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia, 2 & 1, and "The Mechanic" next has Keegan Bradley, a playoff loser last week but a 4 & 3 victor over two-time Accenture winner Geoff Ogilvy.
The No. 2 seed in the Player bracket, Jason Day, won the last three holes in regulation, then the first playoff hole to beat Rafael Cabrera-Bello. Day's opponent Thursday will be John Senden, the 10th seed, who beat Simon Dyson, 4 & 3.
Masters champion Charl Schwartzel advanced on Wednesday and has a tilt with Sang-Moon Bae on Thursday after Bae handled 2010 winner Ian Poulter, 4 & 3.
Els will meet Peter Hanson on Thursday after Hanson topped Jason Dufner, 2 & 1.
Brandt Snedeker needed three extra holes to fend off Retief Goosen, setting up a re-match of the Farmers Insurance Open playoff against Kyle Stanley, who outlasted K.J. Choi, 2 & 1.
The other winners in the Jones bracket were No. 3 Dustin Johnson, No. 11 Francesco Molinari, 10th seed Mark Wilson and Robert Rock, the 15th seed, who beat No. 2 Adam Scott.
NOTES: It was the third time the No. 1 overall seed lost in the first round...There were 15 upsets in the first round, the second-most in tournament history...The second round is on tap for Thursday, and the third round will be played Friday. The quarterfinals are Saturday, then the semifinals Sunday morning, followed by the final and consolation match in the afternoon.
<< Durant added to 3-point contest
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant has
been added to the 3-point contest for this weekend's All-Star Game festivities
in Orlando.
Durant will take the spot of Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson, who wi
<< Celtics' Rondo added to All-Star roster
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo has been
added to the 2012 East All-Star team for this weekend's game in Orlando.
Rondo will take the spot of Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson, who will miss
All-Star w
<< UConn coach Calhoun to have surgery
Storrs, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Connecticut men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun
will miss at least two more games after having surgery to help alleviate the
spinal stenosis that forced him to take a medical leave of absence.
Calhoun will u
<< Bills restructure McGee's contract
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Bills on Wednesday
restructured the contract of cornerback Terrence McGee.
McGee, who was due $3.6 million next season, is coming off patella tendon
surgery. He suffered the
Rosenbach named Montana's offensive coordinator >>
Missoula, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former NFL quarterback Timm Rosenbach has been
named offensive coordinator at the University of Montana, Grizzlies head coach
Robin Pflugrad announced Wednesday.
Rosenbach, 45, also will serve as Montana's qua
Angels sign Isringhausen to minor league deal >>
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have agreed to
terms on a minor league contract with veteran right-handed reliever Jason
Isringhausen.
The 39-year-old Isringhausen appeared in 53 games last season for the
Notre Dame downs WVU, sets school record >>
South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jerian Grant scored 20 points and the 20th-
ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish set a school record for most consecutive Big
East wins with a 71-44 victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Scott Martin a
No. 23 Indiana rolls over NC Central >>
Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cody Zeller scored 17 points and Victor
Oladipo netted 16 as No. 23 Indiana rolled over NC Central, 75-56, at Assembly
Hall.
Will Sheehey added 12 points and seven rebounds, while Derek Elsto
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting