Randhawa leads in China; Woods seven back

Golf Betting Lines

11/09/2006 - Shanghai, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - India's Jyoti Randhawa fired a seven-under- par 65 on Thursday to take the first-round lead of the HSBC Champions Tournament at Sheshen International Golf Club.

Tiger Woods, the No. 1 player in the world, played competitively for the first time in weeks and showed some rust. He only managed an even-par 72 and is tied for 27th place.

"It was to be had out there," acknowledged Woods. "This is my first full 18 holes since the AmEx (WGC-American Express Championship in late September.) I made a few mistakes out there."

Woods began on the back nine Thursday and birdied his first hole from four feet. He landed in a hazard at the 11th, took a drop and ultimately left with a double-bogey.

Woods got back to even par for the championship with a birdie at the short, par-four 16th. He recorded another birdie at two and reached two-under par thanks to a three-foot birdie putt at three.

The reigning British Open and PGA Championship winner missed a makeable birdie try at the fifth, then hit a terrible tee ball at the par-three sixth, followed with an awful chip and walked off with bogey.

Woods, who finished second in this event last year, bogeyed the par-five eighth to fall back to even-par.

"I was in position to get to four-under par," said Woods. "Unfortunately, I went the other way. I left myself an awful lot of work with three days to go and these guys all playing well."

Former U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell, Scotland's Marc Warren and Yong- Eun Yang are knotted in second place at six-under-par 66.

This is technically the season-opening event for the 2007 European Tour schedule, a few weeks removed from the Volvo Masters, which ended the 2006 campaign.

Padraig Harrington, who won the 2006 Order of Merit title recently, carded a five-under-par 67 on Thursday. He is tied for fifth place with Chawalit Plaphol.

Randhawa began his round on the first tee and tallied three birdies in his first five holes. He added another front-nine birdie at the par-five eighth to make the turn at four-under 32.

Randhawa birdied the 10th to get to minus-five for the championship. He took advantage of Sheshen International's final par-fives with birdies at 16 and a four-footer at the last to move into sole possession of the lead.

Campbell teed off on the back nine first and birdied the 11th and 14th holes. He closed his first nine with back-to-back birdies, including a six-footer at the last.

The 2005 U.S. Open winner at Pinehurst recorded birdies at five and nine to get within one of the lead.

Warren flew out of the gate on Thursday with six birdies in his first eight holes. He became the first player in the tournament to reach minus-seven with a birdie at the 11th.

Warren bogeyed 13, then fell victim to some bad fortune at 15. His ball was moved by a spectator, costing him a stroke, but Warren drained a 35-footer to save bogey.

He drained another long putt, this time for birdie at the 16th, but squandered makeable birdie chances at the final two holes.

Yang nearly made it through the opening round flawless, but a bogey at the par-three 12th tripped him. He collected three birdies after his lone miscue to tie for second place after round one.

Two-time U.S. Open winner Retief Goosen, K.J. Choi, John Bickerton, Alejandro Canizares and Johan Edfors are tied for seventh place at four-under-par 68.

World No. 2 Jim Furyk and defending champion David Howell both struggled on Thursday. The pair both shot rounds of one-over-par 73 and are part of a group tied for 38th place.

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MySportsbook.com : Fortune Favors Favorites in March Madness betting?

Just like Day 1 of the “Sweet 16”, Friday’s games are chock full of some of the nation’s elite.  Unlike Thursday’s games, there is a little bit more of a “Cinderella” feel as #7 seed UNLV and #6 seed Vanderbilt will attempt to move on to the Elite Eight.  With powerhouses Florida, UNC and Georgetown looking to continue their momentum against lesser known teams, it isn’t surprising that once again the “betting public” is backing most of the favorites.  As the early coin rolls in, 56% of Sportsbook.com bettors prefer Georgetown (-7.5) as they take on Vanderbilt; 84% of the early money is backing Oregon (-3) as they square off against UNLV; and a slight majority (52%) of the early cash is on Florida (-10.5) against Butler as the Gators continue their quest for another National Title. The only favorite the public don’t seem confident in is UNC, as 59% of the cash is backing the underdog Trojans (+8).

Midwest

#1 Florida vs. #5 Butler

The defending National Champs have been on a mission since last April.  Joakim Noah and Al Horford turned down millions of dollars for one reason, to REPEAT.  After a late season hiccup which saw them lose three out of four, the Gators have won six straight by an average of 20.3 points. More importantly, they covered in five of those six games.  Behind their stymie defense that yields only 56.9 PPG, Butler has been a very pleasant surprise this season.  As their 20-11 ATS record will indicate, “surprise teams” like Butler are often good bets for gamblers.  Playing in an average conference, Butler wasn’t and underdog too often but when they were, they covered (6-0 ATS).  Butler’s defense will have its hands full against a Gators offense which averages 80.1 PPG on an amazing 52.9% shooting from the field.  With Florida’s tournament experience over the last few years, it isn’t surprising that they are 5-1 ATS this season, 20-4 ATS over the last three seasons and 38-20 since 1997 in tournament action.

#3 Oregon vs. #7 UNLV

As a #7 seed, UNLV is the closest thing to a “Cinderella” we have this year.  If you bet on UNLV this season with any regularity, you most likely cashed in. Behind their guard oriented attack, the Rebels are an impressive 20-11 ATS this season.  As an underdog they covered in 8 out of their ten games which isn’t surprising since they are 52-30 ATS as a ‘dog since 1997. The Rebels have been a consistent cover during the month of March as well.  This March they are 6-0 ATS, 11-3 ATS over the last three seasons and 24-11 since 1997. Their impressive ATS trends don’t end there; versus teams with a winning record they are 15-6 ATS this season and 41-21 over the last three seasons.  Although Oregon hasn’t been as generous to gamblers as UNLV this season, they have been covering consistently as of late.  There is no question that they are playing their best ball of the season having won their last 8 straight up (SU) by an average of 14.5 points. Not surprising they covered in 7 of those games.  It is interesting to note how similar these teams are in regards to scoring and scoring defense. UNLV averages 75 PPG while giving up 66.5 PPG and Oregon scores 75.8 PPG while yielding 65.5 PPG.

East

#6 Vanderbilt vs. #2 Georgetown

“Hoya Paranoia” is officially back! After a decent start, Georgetown has rolled through the second half of the season.  Over their last 18 games, they are 17-1 SU.  They have definitely improved ATS as the season has progressed as well. After opening the season 1-4-1 ATS, the Hoyas have covered 78.3% of their games.  With their great interior play of Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, the Hoyas as a team shoot 50.5% from the field.  Like the Georgetown teams from years ago, they also excel on defense.  Hoya opponents averaged only 56.8 PPG on 38.2% shooting from the field and an extremely low 30.4% from beyond the arc.  The last stat could be of some concern to Vanderbilt considering they shoot 37.7% from long-range.  Ranking second to last in the SEC in rebounding margin, Vanderbilt will have its work cut out for them against the Hoya trees. As far as covering is concerned, Vanderbilt has been almost a “sure thing” (7-1 ATS) versus good defensive teams that allow less than 64 PPG.

#1 UNC vs. # 5 USC

The Tar Heels are as talented and as deep as any team in the country.  Going ten deep and chock full of HS All-Americans, UNC averages 86.1 PPG and scored 100+ seven times.  Led by All-American forward, Tyler Hansbrough (18.6 PPG 7.9 RPG) UNC has a very balanced attack which can kill you on the inside as well as on the perimeter.  UNC only real concern is their youth as eight of their rotation players are either sophomores or freshmen.  UNC was a reliable cover this season going 20-13 ATS.  An intriguing covering trend for the Tar Heels in recent years has been how they fared after non-conference games.  This season they are 11-3 ATS after non-conference games and over the last three seasons they are 31-13 ATS.  USC is also a pretty deep team which is loaded with swingman types.  An match-up to keep an eye on will be freshman forward Taj Gibson (12.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG) as he squares off against the AA Hansbrough.  USC has been a covering machine this season achieving a 21-10 record ATS.  They have thrived in the underdog role, having covered 10 out of 12.  When playing a team with a winning record, the Trojans are an incredible 20-6 ATS. Keep in mind, USC dedicated their season to former star to Ryan Francis who passed away before the season so as they get closer to the ultimate goal, emotion could definitely be on their side.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at this sportsbook “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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