Lawrie pulls away for Qatar Masters title

Golf Betting Lines

02/05/2012 - Doha, Qatar (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Lawrie staved off challenges from Jason Day and Sergio Garcia on Sunday to win the Qatar Masters in comfortable fashion.

Lawrie, the second-round leader, fired a seven-under 65 on Sunday. The Scotsman was tied for the lead after eight holes, but played the last 10 in six-under par to earn a four-shot win.

"I don't think I can play much better than that," said Lawrie. "I've been playing well for a long, long time, but it's just nice to come out one ahead and shoot seven-under."

Day (65) and Peter Hanson (67) shared second at 11-under 205.

John Daly carded a five-under 67 and took fourth alone at minus-nine.

Garcia, who was tied for the lead with Lawrie after a birdie at the 10th, notched one birdie and two bogeys the rest of the way. He fell into a tie for fifth with Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (65), Soren Hansen (66) and Ricardo Gonzalez (70) at eight-under par.

The victory was Lawrie's seventh on the European Tour. He captured the 1999 British Open, but earlier in that season, he won this championship.

"Now wouldn't that be nice to get that again?" he asked.

Lawrie returned to the winner's circle for the first time in nine years when he won last year's Open de Andalucia.

But Sunday's victory was a big one based on the strength of the field, which included world No. 2 Lee Westwood, who tied for 12th, and No. 4 Martin Kaymer, who shared ninth.

Lawrie is expected to move into the top 45 in the world rankings based on this win. He hasn't been in that position since 2003.

The tournament was shortened to 54 holes when most of Friday's action was called off due to high winds.

Lawrie grabbed the second-round lead with a 67 in round two, then birdied his first hole Sunday morning. He parred his next seven and Garcia took that opportunity to vault up the leaderboard.

Garcia birdied one, five, seven and eight to get within one. His birdie at the par-five 10th tied him for the lead with Lawrie at nine-under par, but Lawrie chipped in for eagle at the par-five ninth to move two clear.

Garcia got one back with birdie at the 11th, but that was the last threat the Spaniard mounted. He three-putted the 13th for a bogey, dropped a shot at 15 and fell several behind Lawrie.

The leader played the best golf of the round after the eagle at nine. Lawrie ran home a six-footer for birdie at the 11th and was three in front of Garcia and Day, who birdied four in a row from the 10th.

Day, the No. 10 player in the world, trimmed the gap to two, and Lawrie began to spray the ball off the tee. He had a decent look at birdie at the 13th, but extended his cushion back to three with a birdie at 14.

Lawrie missed a good opportunity for birdie at 15, but cashed in at 16. He drove into the left rough at the drivable par four, then chipped to three feet to set up the easy birdie.

Four ahead with two to play, Lawrie birdied the par-three 17th and the final margin of victory became four only when Day birdied the par-five last.

With a four-shot edge to play with, Lawrie laid up at the closing hole and made a par to secure the trophy.

"When you've got a chance to win a tournament you don't sleep as well the night before and things go racing through your mind," said Lawrie. "You've got to get back to basics and I did that. I hit some nice shots coming in."

Kaymer was joined in ninth place by Victor Dubuisson (69) and Nicolas Colsaerts (72). The trio finished at seven-under 209.

NOTES: Lawrie has three top 10s in his first three starts of the season...European Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal celebrated his 46th birthday Sunday with a three-under 69. He tied for 12th, his second top-15 finish of the season...Last year's winner Thomas Bjorn posted a four-under 68 on Sunday and tied for 25th at four-under...Next week, the tour hosts the Dubai Desert Classic, where Alvaro Quiros won the 2011 event.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting - Super Bowl 2009

Super Bowl 2009, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds and the betting line and figure out where they’ve been and where they are going to go.

MySportsbook.com put up the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds late on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 6.5 points and a total betting line at 47.5 points.

Since then, however, the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds have seen a good deal of movement and you’ll want to be on top of where they are likely to move to make sure you get the best line value for the big game.

Since opening, the Super Bowl 2009 betting lines went to Steelers -7 in the span of roughly 3 hours but were quickly bought back down just minutes later to 6.5 again.

After that is took about 5-6 more hours before the betting line went back to -7 where it has sat for a while now and is likely to remain. The opening betting total of 47.5 was bet down right after the line became available and went to 47 within minutes.

Roughly a day later it has been bet even further down to the 46.5 tally it currently is set at.

Roughly 60% of gamblers seem to be on the Cardinals here so the point spread will be bet down and a 7.5 would not last very long at all with many taking the early 6.5 in hopes of finding a potential middle in the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds.

If you like Arizona and see a 7.5, I’d take it as soon as possible because it’s unlikely to last. For Pittsburgh backers, the -7 might be the best you’ll be able to find but a 6.5 is definitely possible close to game time.

Regarding the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds for the total, most tracked gamblers are already on the over and with those who took the under 47.5 already securing a middle on the over 46.5, the only way I see it moving is back up to 47 so if you like the over, I’d recommend betting now.

Get free Super Bowl XLIII Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting with credit cards