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12/05/2011 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The drought lasted 749 days, 107 weeks and 27 starts.
Tiger Woods is finally a golfing champion once again. His win Sunday at the Chevron World Challenge was his first since the infamous car crash that derailed his personal life.
Some thought the crash would never derail his professional life, but it did. Woods left Hank Haney, fired Steve Williams and, with Sean Foley and Joe LaCava, got back to the winner's circle.
Is Woods back to being the dominant Woods, the 2000s Woods?
It would be very naive to surmise that based on Sunday's victory.
The Chevron World Challenge is not an official event, although it does award world ranking points. The win actually moved Woods up 31 places to No. 21. No matter how crazy it seems for an event of such little magnitude to carry such large weight, Woods is on the cusp of the top 20.
This event can alter the world rankings completely as we know it, the fact is that one can not be declared "out of a slump" with a victory at a tournament that boasts 18 players.
The world rankings weighted this championship heavily, but the real tournaments of the week were half a globe away.
Four players in the Chevron field are ranked in the top 10 on this Monday morning. Three of the top four players in the world were at the Nedbank Challenge in Sun City, South Africa. The missing player from that quartet, Rory McIlroy, won a full-field event in Hong Kong on the European Tour.
Woods' game held up brilliantly against Zach Johnson down the stretch, but that wasn't the same as getting into a dogfight with Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, McIlroy or Martin Kaymer.
The Nedbank is one of the most lucrative events in the sport. The Hong Kong Open was the final full-field tournament on the European Tour schedule. Players were trying to get into the top 60 on the money list so they could get into the field this week at the Dubai World Championship.
That took away from the quality of the Chevron field, thus, took away some from the quality of Woods' victory.
"This is a tough date right before the Race to Dubai," Woods said after his victory Sunday. "I'm ecstatic the field we got. Got a lot of good players here. Generally in the past we've had more international players that play; this year was basically an American kind of field. We'll see. It's all schedule. The Race to Dubai is now part of a new reality for us, and maybe we can work around it somehow."
Without the greatest field in the world, Woods did come out on top and that's important. A first win has to come somewhere and at some time. Woods couldn't control this field, or who would emerge at the top of it. Johnson played decently for a few days, then Tiger blew by him with birdies at the end.
That's why this victory can't be considered anything more than a nice, positive step. You have to test your game in the most pressure-packed of situations. Due respect to Johnson and Sherwood Country Club, but that glorified pro-am won't be confused with the back nine Sunday at Augusta.
Woods won't be back all the way until he wins a major championship. He's based his entire career on those four championships, so until he captures another one of those, then you'll see a different column.
That's an incredibly high and possibly unfair bar to reach, but Woods set it. Remember, the 2009 PGA Tour season saw Woods win six times and he took home the FedExCup for a second time.
Injuries happen. Age catches up to all of us, but Woods was the player he always had been before the car accident. We all knew he'd get back to winning, but this doesn't signify he's all the way back.
You can't be back when your only victory is an unofficial one with 17 of your buddies in the field.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
- As explained to me by Doug Ferguson of the AP over twitter, Woods' big jump in the world rankings is based more on his number of events over two years than the field or size. The rankings seemed flawed.
- Luke Donald will go for history Sunday. He can become the first player to win the money title on the PGA Tour and European Tour in the same year. Rory McIlroy is trying to put some heat on him with a win in Hong Kong, but young Mr. McIlroy will need a really high finish to inch past Donald.
- The Geoff Ogilvy/Robert Allenby near fight over their Presidents Cup play seems a tad trivial. Allenby had to be upset at such a bad performance at his home course. Heated words, an offer to go outside over a spilled drink really isn't much, but it passes for serious action in the buttoned-up world of professional golf. That happens at your local bar, everyone's back playing darts in no time.
- Movie moment - Caught "The Descendants" the other day and that Clooney cat has a bright future. It's a great movie alternating between a comedic road trip and a sad tale of a broken family.
<< Kentucky still No. 1; Harvard ranked for first time
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky remained the top team in the latest
Associated Press men's college basketball poll, while Harvard is ranked for
the first time and is among the four newcomers this week.
The Wildcats kept the to
<< Ibagaza out for Arsenal clash
Piraeus, Greece (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Olympiacos midfielder Ariel Ibagaza will
miss his team's final Champions League Group F match against Arsenal on
Tuesday because of a thigh injury.
The 35-year-old sustained the problem in
<< Parx Racing gaining stakes recognition
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Each year the American Graded Stakes
Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association re-evaluates all
the stakes races in the United States with a minimum purse of $75,000. Stakes
can be
<< Bears' Forte has MCL sprain
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte could
be sidelined for at least a couple of weeks with a sprained medial collateral
ligament in his right knee.
Forte was hurt during the first quarter of Sunday's g
FAU makes Pelini head football coach >>
Boca Raton, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida Atlantic named Carl Pelini head
football coach during a Monday press conference.
Pelini takes over for Howard Schnellenberger, who coached his last game before
retirement this past weekend. Sc
2011 LPGA Tour Year In Review >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There's really only one way to look at the
LPGA Tour in 2011:
The Year of Yani.
That means Yani Tseng, of course. Tseng began the year as the No. 5 player in
the world, nearly a full point off the avera
Lady Bears are unanimous No. 1 >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baylor remained the top team in the latest
Associated Press women's college basketball poll.
The Lady Bears received all 39 first-place votes for a total of 975 points
from a nationwide media panel.
Thank goodness college basketball has a maniac playoff >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - What if Saturday was the knife striking
through the heart of North Carolina's national championship dreams?
What if it set up a reeling spiral of losses before conference play? To flip
the script, w
Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game
How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.
A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.
The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).
Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.
The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).
Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.
New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.
His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.
HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.
The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.
RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.
First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.
The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.
These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.
New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.
You can find these lines and all of the NFL betting lines , so be sure to login and get your wagers down before kickoff!
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines .
To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sports betting
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