Alfredsson fires career-low 62 for Sybase lead

Golf Betting Lines

05/14/2009 - Clifton, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It was only the first round, but Helen Alfredsson was still nervous standing over her last putt.

"I never shot 62 before," she said.

Until now.

Alfredsson, an 18-year veteran of the LPGA Tour, fired a career-best 10-under 62 in chilly, rainy conditions Thursday to take a two-shot lead at the Sybase Classic.

It was one of those days, the 44-year-old Alfredsson said, when the game seems easy.

"When [you] play good, you wonder why you don't do this all the time because it's so easy," she said. "It's not strenuous, your head is not going crazy, your body doesn't hurt. At my age all that stuff usually comes along with it. So you don't know why."

Alfredsson holed a 70-yard shot for eagle at her second hole -- the par-five 11th -- then collected nine birdies the rest of the way while only making one bogey.

She established a new tournament scoring record, but could have gone even lower. She had a three-putt par at No. 18.

"I was actually pretty close to the pin all day. I hit some good shots, kept myself out of trouble, which is nice for a change," said Alfredsson.

Brittany Lincicome's eight-under 64 was also a career-best, but it left her sitting alone in second place behind Alfredsson.

Suzann Pettersen shot a seven-under 65 for third place and Ji Young Oh had a six-under 66 for fourth.

Alfredsson's low score means many top stars will have to play catch-up over the next three rounds at Upper Montclair Country Club.

Karrie Webb (70), Michelle Wie (70), Natalie Gulbis (70), Paula Creamer (70) and defending champion Lorena Ochoa (71) all posted respectable numbers that paled in comparison to Alfredsson's 62.

"She's a streaky player. When she gets hot, she's hot," said Pettersen. "Obviously she played pretty good today."

Alfredsson followed her eagle at No. 11 with three consecutive birdies, including a chip-in from the edge of the green at the 13th.

She made her only bogey of the round at the 15th, where she three-putted, but followed that with two straight birdies to make the turn in just 30 shots.

At that point, a 59 was not out of the question.

Annika Sorenstam, who announced her retirement ahead of this tournament last year, is the only LPGA Tour player who has ever shot a 59 in competition.

Alfredsson's scoring barrage slowed down on the front nine, however, although she did manage to make four more birdies. A six-foot birdie putt at the par- three eighth -- and that "nervous" par putt on No. 9 -- secured her lowest round in 365 LPGA Tour events.

Last year was a comeback season of sorts for the seven-time LPGA Tour winner from Sweden.

After a herniated disk limited her to just 11 events in 2007 -- she also captained the losing European Solheim Cup team that year -- Alfredsson won twice in 2008, including the lucrative Evian Masters.

"I just wanted to give it two more years," she said. "I felt as good as I've done since I started playing, and it was just fun to get another chance at it.

"It would be nice to do it again."

Wwwlakings Golf Betting News

<< Inter's Crespo to play through pain
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hernan Crespo has vowed to play through the pain barrier in a bid to win a new Inter Milan contract. The veteran Argentine striker was expected to miss the remainder of the season after limping out of las

<< Bourn and Astros run past Rockies
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Bourn went 4-for-5 with a double and stole home, as the Houston Astros topped the Colorado Rockies, 5-3, in the rubber match of a three-game series at Coors Field. Carlos Lee homered and Hunter P

<< Cats loanees wait on Sbragia
Sunderland, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sunderland boss Ricky Sbragia will not discuss the futures of any of the clubs loan players until the season is over. The Black Cats remained haunted by fears of relegation and until the outcome of th

<< Santa Cruz still wants Rovers exit
Blackburn, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paraguay striker Roque Santa Cruz has reiterated his desire to leave Blackburn Rovers at the end of the season. Santa Cruz, 27, was the subject of several unsuccessful bids from Manchester City i

<< Lovenkrands eyes Toon stay
Newcastle, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Striker Peter Lovenkrands is the latest Newcastle United player to reveal his desire to remain at St James' Park beyond the end of the season. The Denmark international joined the Magpies on a short-term

MLB changes ruling on Kendrick homer >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball has reversed a scoring decision from last Friday's game between Kansas City and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, concerning Howie Kendrick's inside-the-park homer. In t

Mathis' hit lifts Angels past Red Sox in 12 innings >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Mathis' RBI single in the bottom of the 12th sent the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim over Boston, 5-4, in the rubber match of a three-game series. Facing Manny Delcarmen (1-1), Juan Rivera began the

Cubs' Bradley has suspension reduced to one game >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Cubs outfielder Milton Bradley has had his suspension, which was handed down last month, reduced from two games to one. On April 18, Major League Baseball suspended Bradley two games and fined

Leonard, Goydos share Texas Open lead >>
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justin Leonard and Paul Goydos both shot seven-under 63s on Thursday to share the first-round lead at the Texas Open. Leonard, the three-time Texas Open champion, chipped in from 62 feet for a birdie

Canucks re-sign Bernier; Demitra to have surgery >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks re-signed forward Steve Bernier to a contract extension on Thursday and announced that forward Pavol Demitra will have surgery. Bernier, who was to become a free agent, tallied 1

College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

MySportsbook.com refunds all bets on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay from NFL week one.

(September 14) – Week one of NFL action saw three teams go scoreless for the first time since 1977.  Another four were unable to get a touchdown and almost half of the underdogs covered the spread. Those three teams saved bettors at MySportsbook.com from losing out completely, thanks to the company’s unique NFL Shutout Rule -- which ensures that if the team you backed goes scoreless, your wager is refunded.

Sportsbook refunded tens of thousands of dollars to customers who bet on Oakland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay, the three teams that stunk up the field so badly that their fans and backers never had a chance to get up from their couches and cheer.  In the spirit of the low scoring start to the season, odds makers at the world’s largest online sportsbook and casino have set odds on how many total shutouts there will be this season. 

MySportsbook.com has posted updated sports betting lines for week two of the season.  Ben Roethlisberger’s health status is still questionable, so Willie Parker will try to lead Pittsburgh again as they travel to Jacksonville as a one point favorite.  After beating up on his little brother last week, Peyton Manning will look to lead the Colts to victory against Houston. Indianapolis is a whopping 13.5 favorite in the match-up.

Seattle, last year’s highest scoring team, showed the power of their defense with their gritty 9-6 win in Motown over the ravenous Lions.  They take their act back home to the comforts of Qwest Field where they will face the resurgent Arizona Cardinals.  The Seahawks are favored by a touchdown. 

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.