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08/09/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - This year's PGA Championship at Whistling Straits is historic.
Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time since 1997, it's impossible to realistically see Tiger Woods contending for a major championship.
You know how some people just unilaterally take Tiger whenever the prop bet is Tiger versus the field? I know one of them. Johnnie Pie is his name and so I asked if he would take Woods against the field for the PGA?
"No way," was the text reply.
There we have it. "No way."
Woods' game is in tatters the likes of which we've never seen. We have no clue where his ball is going, but worse, neither does Woods. Hank Haney is no longer a factor. He's off with Rush Limbaugh on the Golf Channel talking about clubhead speed and capital gains.
The true tale of Woods' woes manifested itself at last week's Bridgestone Invitational. He's won that championship seven times and what transpired had to be the most discouraging professional week of his career.
Woods' 78th-place finish was his worst as a professional since the 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open. That was his first professional start, by the way. Woods' 18-over par was his worst score in relation to par as a pro.
This is a tournament he won seven times, remember.
What made the performance all the more troublesome was that Woods appeared to be uninterested at times. On Saturday, Woods hit some shots without taking so much as practice swing. He'd walk right into a bunker, hit it, hand the club to caddie Stevie Williams and move on to the green.
On Sunday, his tee shot barely sailed right en route to hitting a spectator in the mouth before Woods started walking after it. He tried to reach the 16th green in two, which Nick Faldo called on Sunday "a suicide shot." Woods never used to do that.
Yes, Woods has had to endure personal problems all year and constant questions from the media. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. Woods brought everything on himself and he has to endure it.
No one knew exactly what to expect from Woods on the golf course, but no one could have reasonably suspected Woods would actually regress through the schedule.
Some, like The Sportsbook Betting Lines's own Roger Farrell, believed Woods would gain freedom by just playing golf now that his sordid secrets were out in the open. Golf could be the sanctuary, but that theory appears to have been debunked with prejudice.
Remember that Woods' 2010 season started with actual promise. He tied for fourth at the Masters and the U.S. Open. Sure, he had a missed cut and a withdrawal in between, but Woods had a pair of top-fives in majors, and that's nothing to sneeze at.
But, as colleague Gerard Gallagher pointed out, those scores appear to be the anomaly. Woods didn't break 70 at the AT&T National. He shot a 67 at St. Andrews, then didn't break 72. Woods is just nowhere with his game right now.
That has to terrify Woods a little. He's had some slowish periods in his career, but nothing remotely close to this. Woods has no swing coach to fix things and who knows what the status of his personal life is.
Woods is completely lost in the game of golf for the first time ever. Fixing it at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits is not a rosy proposition, so it's tough to think he has any reasonable chance.
At least Woods was able to hold on to the No. 1 world ranking, although through very little fault of his own. He tied for 78th. Had Phil Mickelson shown anything on Sunday, Lefty would be No. 1 this week.
With Woods already on a plane to Wisconsin, Mickelson needed a fourth or better to finally be recognized statistically as the game's best. He was tied for 10th at the start of the final round, but a front-nine 41 meant another week at No. 2.
Mickelson won this year's Masters and hasn't done much of anything else. He contended at the U.S. Open, but faltered on Sunday and hasn't really flirted with the top of the leaderboard since.
Ernie Els is in a great spot. He's a two-time winner this year on the PGA Tour and leads the FedEx Cup points list. Els' 64 on Saturday in Akron showed his mid-season mini-rut was a thing of the past.
Luke Donald has put together a season almost as good as anyone this year. Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk are both multiple winners on the PGA Tour in 2010. Justin Leonard is finally playing decent golf based on last week and was a runner-up to winner Vijay Singh at Whistling Straits in 2004.
As is the case with the PGA Championship, international teams are to be decided. Corey Pavin's automatic eight on the American Ryder Cup side will be finalized come Sunday.
Does Woods vault into the top eight and spare Pavin from the potentially embarrassing scenario where he asks Woods and Tiger says "no thank you?"
See, even the Ryder Cup questions revolve around Tiger.
This really is historic.
<< UTEP suspends two players for season opener
El Paso, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - UTEP has reportedly suspended cornerback
Travaun Nixon for the season opener and wide receiver/kick returner Marlon
McClure for the first two games of the 2010 campaign.
According to the El Paso Ti
<< This Week in Golf - August 12th through August 15th
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, Whistling Straits,
Kohler, Wisconsin - The season's final major championship is on tap this week
with the golf world slightly tipped on its side.
Tiger Woods had his worst profe
<< Cowboys TE Phillips sidelined with torn ACL
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Cowboys tight end John Phillips will
reportedly miss the entire 2010 season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament
in his right knee.
The second-year pro was hurt during the Cowboys' 16-7 win over
<< Chicagoland to host first race in 2011 Chase
Joliet, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicagoland Speedway will kick off the Chase for
Sprint Cup championship in 2011. The speedway, located roughly 50 miles
southwest of downtown Chicago, will hold its event on September 18.
Officials from
Sky Blue FC keeps playoff hopes alive >>
Kennesaw, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sky Blue FC earned an all important road win
at the Atlanta Beat, 2-1, on Saturday in Women's Professional Soccer action to
stay within striking distance of a playoff spot.
The win put an end to a five-
Hart won't be allowed to leave City >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini
has no intention of allowing Joe Hart leave the club on a temporary or
permanent basis this summer.
Hart enjoyed an extremely successful campaign on l
Like the Queen, Woods a symbolic No. 1 >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods' 611th week as the world No. 1 was his worst.
Clarification: It was his worst week as a golfer. He's had many bad weeks as a
man since last November.
But Woods has never been so bad between the ropes as a pro
Mariners fire Don Wakamatsu >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners have fired manager Don
Wakamatsu and replaced him with Daren Brown on interim basis.
Wakamatsu was in his second season with the Mariners, who are just 42-70 this
season entering Mond
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.
Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.
According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).
Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.
''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.
Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.
''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''
Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.
”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.
For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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