Jimenez keeps three-shot lead in Switzerland

Golf Betting Lines

09/04/2010 - Crans Montana, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miguel Angel Jimenez protected his three-shot lead at the European Masters Saturday with a three-under 68 in the third round.

Jimenez appeared to have shot a 67 after rolling in a long birdie putt at the 18th hole, only to call a one-shot penalty on himself after the round.

The infraction occurred eight holes earlier at No. 10 when Jimenez picked up his ball in the fairway, mistakenly believing he could lift and place it. The ball was near a sprinkler head.

Instead of signing for a par on the hole, Jimenez, who is chasing his third win of the season, gave himself a bogey. He new immediately that he had made a mistake.

"I thought 'What are you doing?'" Jimenez said. "But I'm still feeling good."

The 46-year-old Spaniard took a three-shot lead into the round after firing a 61 on Friday, and he remained ahead by the same count Saturday at 17-under 196.

Trailing him again was Edoardo Molinari, who also shot a 68 to stay three back at 14-under 199. Fellow Italian Matteo Manassero, 17, carded a 69 to share third place with Steve Webster (64) at 13-under 200.

No one else was within six shots of Jimenez's lead heading into the final round at the Crans-sur-Sierre course.

The final threesome of Jimenez, Molinari and Manassero was bothered all day by noise in the gallery. Jimenez's caddie repeatedly scolded spectators to keep quiet and put their cameras and cell phones away.

Molinari screamed at one shutterbug on the No. 7 tee, pleading for him to wait until after he hit the ball to take a picture. Molinari still knocked his tee shot onto the green at the 331-yard par four, but he missed the eagle putt.

He tapped in for a birdie instead, the first of three in a row for the talented Italian, who was named to his first Ryder Cup team last Sunday after winning the Johnnie Walker Championship for his second victory of the season.

Despite the birdie run by Molinari, Jimenez was still able to protect the three-shot edge he carried into the round as both players made four birdies on the front nine.

Jimenez's lead was cut to two strokes by a bogey at the par-four 12th, where he knocked his first two shots into the rough and then chipped through the green with his third.

Molinari bogeyed the 13th to again fall three behind, but Jimenez followed with a bogey at the 14th.

While Molinari parred his final five holes, Jimenez picked up birdies at the 15th and 18th to seemingly build a four-stroke lead.

That was, until the score for the 17-time European Tour winner changed moments after the round. He said he was still happy with a three-shot lead.

"We'll see what happens tomorrow," Jimenez said.

NOTES: Ten of Jimenez's 17 tour wins have come after the age of 40...Jimenez and Molinari are the only players from Colin Montgomerie's European Ryder Cup team in the field this week...Manassero was the 2009 British Amateur champion.

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NFL Football Betting : Odds on NFL Division to Win the Super Bowl

NFL Super Bowl Betting

The AFC South and the NFC East are the favorite divisions to have the next Super Bowl champ among them in the NFL betting odds. But more down to the point, these football odds are in favor of the Indianapolis Colts, by far the strongest team in the AFC South, and the Dallas Cowboys of the NFC East.

Most sports fans would agree that these two teams top the list to win it all before the season even begins. In the BetUS Sportsbook football futures, the Colts are +800 in the odds to win the Super Bowl, while the Cowboys are sitting at +1000 and the Super Bowl XLIV champions New Orleans Saints at +900. In the AFC South, the Colts won the division for five straight years after the 2002 realignment, before the Tennessee Titans won it in 2008. But the Colts came back strong in 2009 to win the division again en route to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys are the favorite to win the NFC East, as well as to advance far into the post season. The Cowboys won the division last season before their horrendous loss in the NFC Divisional playoff to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. But the ‘Boys will take that loss humbly and be ready for the playoffs this time around.

The NFC South is also very strong, at +600 in the NFL futures, considering that it is home to the defending Super Bowl champions. However, some predictions have the Atlanta Falcons with possibilities of claiming the divisional title this season in place of the Saints, as no team has won back-to-back division championships since the division realignment took place. Let’s not overlook the AFC North at +500. As TO goes to Cincinnati to join Chad OchoCinco and Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, this team looks to claim the division title again. And it is likely they will do so. The Bengals lost in the AFC Wild Card spot in a hard-fought battle against the New York Jets last season. Lest not forget the Pittsburgh Steelers, the XLII Super Bowl Champions… All these teams present interesting odds and matchups for the upcoming season, but the safest and surest bet seems to be with the Colts in the AFC South and the Cowboys in the NFC East. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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