Claxton still 2 clear at Q School

Golf Betting Lines

12/03/2011 - LaQuinta, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Will Claxton shot a two-under 70 on Saturday to keep his two-stroke lead after four rounds of PGA Tour Q School.

Claxton started the tournament with a 64 and has held at least a piece of the lead since. He ended 72 holes at 15-under-par 273.

Marco Dawson, in his 11th appearance at Q School, fired a five-under 67 to climb into second place at 13-under 275. He has earned his card five times via this event, the last time in 2006.

Seung-yul Noh (72) and Harris English (70) are tied for third at minus-11. Noh was challenging for the lead, but bogeyed 17 and quadruple-bogeyed 18 to drop five strokes. English won this year on the Nationwide Tour as an amateur, but has never appeared in a PGA Tour event.

Bobby Gates, who finished 126th on the PGA Tour money list in 2011, ended 72 holes at 10-under 278 after tripping to a 73 on Saturday.

Brett Wetterich, who won the Byron Nelson Championship in 2006, and 2002 PGA Champion Rich Beem both were in position to regain their tour cards entering the fourth round.

Wetterich faltered to a 13-over 85 and tumbled from a tie for ninth into a share of 125th. Beem struggled to an eight-over 80 and slid from a share of 33rd into a tie for 102nd. Wetterich is plus-five, while Beem is plus-three.

With two rounds to go, five-under par is the number players need to be at to be inside the top 25, which will give them their PGA Tour card for 2012.

The next number of finishers nearest 50 after the Qualifying Tournament will earn fully exempt Nationwide Tour cards for 2012 and the remainder of the field will receive conditional Nationwide Tour status.

The field has now played two rounds apiece on the Nicklaus Tournament Course and TPC Stadium Course at PGA West. Everyone will play both courses one more time. The leaders will play the Stadium Course in round five and the Nicklaus Tournament Course in round six on Monday.

Claxton had a steady round. He opened with a birdie on the second and moved to 15-under with a birdie on the par-five seventh on the Nicklaus Tournament Course.

Claxton tripped to a bogey on the ninth, but atoned for that error with a birdie on the par-three 12th. Claxton parred out to end at minus-15.

Dawson had a bogey-free round with three birdies in a four-hole span from the fourth. Around the turn, he also birdied 11 and 14 to move within two of Claxton.

NOTES: Claxton has one previous PGA Tour start at the 2011 Transitions Championship, where he tied for 67th...Dawson and Ryan Yip shared low round of the day honors with their 67s...Andre Stolz and Matt McQuillan withdrew after the third round, while Nate Smith and Cliff Kresge withdrew during the fourth round.

Jazzsportd Golf Betting News

<< Safety the difference as Lehigh surprises Towson
Towson, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An offensive shootout came down to a defensive play as Lehigh knocked off Towson, 40-38, in the second round of the FCS playoffs Saturday. Defensive end Tom Bianchi tackled Towson quarterback Grant Enders in the

<< It wasn't the Dukes: North Dakota State downs JMU
Fargo, ND (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.J. McNorton ran for 154 yards and a score, while Sam Ojuri gained 61 yards on the ground with two touchdowns as North Dakota State defeated James Madison, 26-14, in the second round of the FCS playoff

<< No. 15 Kansas routs South Florida
Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyshawn Taylor scored 24 points and dished out five assists, as the 15th-ranked Kansas Jayhawks used a huge second half to beat the South Florida Bulls, 70-42. Thomas Robinson, who had six consecutive dou

<< Johnson leads Woods by 1 at Chevron
Thousand Oaks, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zach Johnson holed out for eagle on the par-four 18th Saturday to grab a one-stroke lead after 54 holes of the Chevron World Challenge. Johnson, who did all of his scoring on the back nine, shot four

<< Montana State squeaks past New Hampshire
Bozeman, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - DeNarius McGhee rushed for 96 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries, as Montana State squeaked past New Hampshire, 26-25, in the second round of the FCS playoffs on Saturday. Cody Kirk rushed for 96 yards

In the FCS Huddle: Lehigh finally breaks through against CAA >>
Towson, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Entering Saturday's FCS second-round playoff bout with Towson, Lehigh had lost seven straight meetings with teams from CAA Football. On Saturday, that streak finally ended as the Mountain Hawks not only knocked

LSU downs Georgia in SEC title game >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyrann Mathieu slipped past one defender and followed a pack of blockers, zig-zagging his way to the end zone. Whether or not the ball crossed the goal line with Mathieu is a matter for a different day.

Northern Iowa holds on to defeat Wofford >>
Cedar Falls, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tirrell Rennie threw a pair of touchdown passes and added 95 yards on the ground, as Northern Iowa held on for a 28-21 victory over Wofford in the second round of the FCS playoffs Saturday. Rennie compl

Boise State shuts out New Mexico >>
Boise, ID (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kellen Moore threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns, as No. 9 Boise State earned a dominating 45-0 win over New Mexico in the regular season finale for both teams. Doug Martin carried the ball 22 time

In the FCS Huddle: Defenses set to change playoff dynamic >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defense wins championships? It hasn't been intimated through two rounds of the FCS playoffs. The big boys arrived on the scene in the second round Saturday and all eight winning teams scored at least 26

Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Odds

Will he or won't he?  Now that the Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach in Wade Phillips, the big question will be: Does Terrell Owens stay with the team.

Jerry Jones continues to suggest that Terrell Owens will remain with the team.

"I've said that he's back, he's here, he's under contract," Jones said. "In the interviews I've just been through (to hire a new coach), it was very clear to me how highly he's thought of and how much of an impact he had on our offensive success."

Just to be sure though, Terrell Owens cleared out his locker and removed his name plate.

Terrell Owens was among the Cowboys most productive players this past season, catching 85 passes for 1,180 yards and a league-best 13 touchdowns.

But T.O. is due a $3 million roster bonus in June, then a $5 million salary this season. Cutting him before then would save a lot of money and headaches.

Aside from the questions surrounding Terrell Owens, the oddsmakers at MySportsbook.com have concerns over starting quarterback Tony Romo's state of mind and whether he will remain a starting quarterback.  It is also not known how players will adjust to new head coach, Wade Phillips.

Here are the football odds as seen at MySportsbook.com and subject to change after February 10, 2007 if not locked in prior to that date.
Arizona Cardinals 60-1


Atlanta Falcons 50-1


Baltimore Ravens 15-1


Buffalo Bills 50-1


Carolina Panthers 18-1


Chicago Bears 10-1


Cincinnati Bengals 15-1


Cleveland Browns 100-1


Dallas Cowboys 15-1


Denver Broncos 15-1


Detroit Lions 100-1


Green Bay Packers 50-1


Houston Texans 100-1


Indianapolis Colts 6-1


Jacksonville Jaguars 30-1


Kansas City Chiefs 30-1


Miami Dolphins 40-1


Minnesota Vikings 75-1


New England Patriots 10-1


New Orleans Saints 18-1


New York Giants 20-1


New York Jets 30-1


Oakland Raiders 100-1


Philadelphia Eagles 18-1


Pittsburgh Steelers 10-1


Saint Louis Rams 60-1


San Diego Chargers 6-1


San Francisco 49ers 75-1


Seattle Seahawks 20-1


Tampa Bay Buccanneers 75-1


Tennessee Titans 40-1


Washington Redskins 50-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook credit cards needs.

Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.