Choi 3 ahead of Tiger at windy Chevron

Golf Betting Lines

12/01/2011 - Thousand Oaks, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - K.J. Choi fired a six-under 66 in windy conditions Thursday to take the first-round lead at the Chevron World Challenge.

Tournament host Tiger Woods gutted out a three-under 69 and shares second place with his playing partner on Thursday, Steve Stricker, at Sherwood Country Club.

Wind gusts were expected close to 50 mph on Thursday. They never got that high, but when the last group teed off, wind was a substantial factor.

For example, Stricker lined up a 30-foot birdie putt on the final hole to get a share of second place. He stepped off when the wind carried a candy wrapper into his site line.

Stricker made the putt to join Woods in second.

Woods almost missed his own event. He was 49th in the world rankings when the qualification period ended, so he got in and didn't have to use an exemption on himself and possibly cost the tournament its world-ranking points.

His first round was a mixed bag.

He rattled off four birdies in his first five holes, then the gusts arrived and the birdies blew away.

"It didn't start blowing till we were on sixth green. It was dancing all over the place," Woods said in a televised interview. "It was tough. It's hard to hit the ball pin-high. It's weird out there."

It got weird out there for Woods.

He bogeyed the ninth when he advanced his second shot from the side of a hill about 10 yards. Woods made two birdies and two bogeys on the back nine, including an ugly six at the par-five 16th.

One of those birdies came at the par-three 17th, getting him his share of second and a date with Choi in Friday's second round.

And Woods, for one, was very impressed with Choi's performance.

"That's one hell of a round," Woods said of the man atop the leaderboard.

If Woods' start was good, Choi's was great.

Choi birdied the first five holes, including a long one at three, an eight- footer at four and a tap-in at the par-five after a beautiful chip from over the green.

After seven consecutive pars, Choi knocked his approach to six feet to set up another birdie at the par-five 13th. He missed the green at the par-three 15th and dropped a stroke, but got it back one hole later when he played his third to tap-in range at the par-five hole.

Choi encountered some trouble at the last, but hit his third to four feet. He rolled in the par-saver to stay three clear of Woods and Stricker.

Nick Watney, Jim Furyk and Rickie Fowler share fourth place at one-under 71.

Matt Kuchar and Hunter Mahan are knotted in seventh at even-par 72, while Gary Woodland, Webb Simpson and Zach Johnson are tied for ninth at one-over 73.

NOTES: Heavy winds are in the forecast for much of Friday as well...Although it offers world-ranking points, this is an unofficial PGA Tour event...Woods has won the title four times and was runner-up to Graeme McDowell last year. McDowell is not in the field this week.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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