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06/14/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sitting down for his post-championship interview in 2000, Tiger Woods opened with a simple comment that summed up his historic victory at the U.S. Open.
"Well, I guess I won."
More than that, Woods dominated from start to finish in a record-setting rout at the year's second major.
Among the U.S. Open records Woods set that week were most strokes under par (12), largest margin of victory (15 shots), largest 36-hole lead (six shots) and largest 54-hole lead (10 shots).
In short, Woods may have reached the peak of his dominance during those four rounds at Pebble Beach, finishing the championship with a 12-under 272 that left his fellow competitors wondering what course he was playing.
Woods was the only player who finished under par.
"When you have a guy playing like that, you have no chance," said Ernie Els, who was paired with Woods for the final round.
Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez finished as distant runners-up that Sunday, and Els was left wondering how someone who was only 24 years old could be so much better than anyone else.
"It seems like we're not playing in the same ballpark right now," Els said afterward.
This week, the U.S. Open returns to Pebble Beach for the first time since that historic Sunday, but Woods doesn't look anything like the dominant player he was 10 years ago.
Following a sex scandal that dynamited his personal life and public image, and a neck injury that forced him to withdraw from The Players Championship, Woods' once-solid position as the No. 1 player in golf is suddenly open for attack.
He hasn't won a major since picking up No. 14 in dramatic fashion at the 2008 U.S. Open, where he beat Rocco Mediate in a Monday playoff at Torrey Pines while playing on a severely injured leg.
In the interim, six players have captured majors: Padraig Harrington, Angel Cabrera, Lucas Glover, Stewart Cink, Y.E. Yang and Phil Mickelson. Harrington has won two.
Woods' showed cracks in his armor at last year's PGA Championship, where Yang pulled off the previously impossible feat of defeating Woods at a major when Woods held the 54-hole lead.
Suddenly, Woods looked beatable. And with only one top-10 finish in four starts this season -- a fourth-place tie at the Masters, his 2010 debut -- he still does.
With Woods no longer a bullet-proof lock as the overwhelming favorite, this week's U.S. Open is setting up to be a wide-open championship with many contenders.
Mickelson won the year's first major when he captured his third Masters title and he has looked like the best player in golf many times this season. His history at U.S. Opens is a dubious one, of course, with a record-setting five runner-up finishes.
Lefty's latest runner-up came last year at Bethpage Black, where he was playing for the final time before his wife, Amy, began treatment for breast cancer. Mickelson was the favorite as always in front of the New York galleries, especially as he made a charge during the Monday finish, but the result was a familiar one: another runner-up, his fourth at a U.S. Open in New York.
Lee Westwood has never won a major, but the talented Englishman is the reigning European No. 1 and third-ranked player in the world behind Woods and Mickelson.
Westwood has too many good finishes at major championships to mention in detail -- the latest was a runner-up to Mickelson at this year's Masters -- but one in particular is often overlooked. We forget that he missed a birdie putt on the 72nd hole with a chance to join Woods and Mediate in the U.S. Open playoff in 2008.
And then there's this: Westwood is coming off a win at the St. Jude Classic, his first on the PGA Tour in 12 years. That's good momentum, but a bad historical omen. No player has ever won a PGA Tour event and then captured the U.S. Open the following week.
There are the usual top contenders in this week's field -- proven talent like Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk and Els -- as well as young stars like Rory McIlroy and Ryo Ishikawa, who will draw attention.
There has also been an English revival this season, led by Westwood, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and Luke Donald, who have all captured significant wins this season. Three of them -- Rose isn't in the field -- will be looking to snap an English drought at majors that goes back to Nick Faldo's win at the 1996 Masters.
This week's darkhorse pick isn't really a darkhorse at all: 29th-ranked Dustin Johnson, who has captured the regular PGA Tour stop at Pebble Beach in each of the last two seasons.
The sentimental favorite is 60-year-old Tom Watson, who was given a special exemption by the USGA to play in his first U.S. Open since 2003. The offer came on the heels of his tie for 18th place at this year's Masters, where he opened with a turn-back-the-clock 67 and remained in contention until tying for 18th place.
Of course, it might also have something to do with his playoff loss to Stewart Cink at last year's British Open, where Watson nearly gave us the greatest golf story of all time.
Watson captured his only U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in 1982, knocking off Jack Nicklaus with a chip-in birdie at the 17th hole on Sunday. Watson has played in all four U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach, making the cut in three of them.
While it is unlikely that Watson will win this week, the recent history of U.S. Opens has showed us that anything is possible at the year's second major.
The last four championships have given us Mickelson's 72nd-hole blunder at Winged Foot in 2006, when Geoff Ogilvy capitalized for the win; Angel Cabrera's chain-smoking victory at Oakmont in 2007; Woods' dramatic playoff triumph on one leg in 2008; and last year's rain-soaked, five-day marathon at Bethpage Black, where Lucas Glover scratched out his first major win.
With those finishes in mind, we like Watson in a Tuesday playoff over Westwood and 18-year-old Ishikawa, with Woods missing a three-footer for a spot in the playoff and Mickelson coming in dead last.
What? It could happen.
<< World Cup neophytes New Zealand, Slovakia set to square off
Rustenburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of relative newcomers to
the world stage meet up at Royal Bafokeng Stadium on Tuesday as New Zealand
and Slovakia square off in the Group F opener for both sides.
Slovakia will be app
<< De Bakker exits Unicef draw
's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sixth-seeded Dutch
crowd favorite Thiemo De Bakker was a first-round upset victim Monday at the
Unicef Open, a final grass-court Wimbledon tuneup.
De Bakker gave way to wild car
<< Orioles reinstate RHP Simon from DL
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles have reinstated
right-hander Alfredo Simon from the 15-day disabled list.
Simon is 1-1 with a 2.92 earned-run average and six saves in 12 appearances
for the Orioles this se
<< Japan tames Indomitable Lions
Bloemfontein, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Japan earned a 1-0 victory in
its Group E match vs. Cameroon at Free State Stadium on Monday in what could
be considered the biggest upset to this point of the FIFA World Cup.
Cameroon, whi
This Week in Golf - June 17th through June 20th >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION - UNITED
STATES OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, California -
The major championship season continues this week as the best players in the
world h
Titans LB McRath suspended four games >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tennessee Titans linebacker Gerald McRath
has been suspended for the first four games of the regular season for
violating the league's policy on performance enhancing drugs.
The Tennessean conf
Indiana State hoops coach McKenna resigns >>
Terre Haute, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indiana State men's basketball coach
Kevin McKenna has resigned from his position Monday to take an assistant
coaching position at Oregon.
McKenna spent three seasons guiding the Sycamores,
Cards G Lutui signs qualifying offer >>
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arizona Cardinals guard Deuce Lutui signed his
one-year qualifying offer on Monday.
A four-year pro, he started all 16 games for Arizona last season.
Since coming into the league as Arizona's second-rou
American Idol Betting Season 6 Strategies
It's that time of year folks. Betting on American Idol Season 9. And we have plenty of American Idol Season 6 strategies appearing below. With the Top 24 finalists revealed, online gambling sites will be offering betting odds on each of them, including MySportsbook.com.
No other “event” has been growing as fast as wagering on American Idol. It has turned into a huge betting event with reasonably high limits and all sorts of profit-making potential for sharp bettors. Last year, MySportsbook.com experienced unprecedented traffic as a result of the American Idol betting craze.
Every week there will be odds to win American Idol, various elimination props and contestant versus contestant match-ups at the MySportsbook.com website.
Whether a fan of America’s top-rated show or watching only because of a wife or girlfriend, here are some of basic strategies to use when betting American Idol.
Odds to Win
There are a few things to consider when looking for the right win bet. First off, remember that this bet is for the long haul. Many people make the mistake of picking the performer who sang the best the previous week. This strategy leads to an underlay situation – betting a price, which is less than what it should be.
All Idol contestants struggle at some point in the competition, so you should always look for value. In last year’s competition alone, two performers who had some of the best performances early in the series were subsequently bet down to low prices - Lisa Tucker and Ace Young. After just a few weeks, Tucker had already been eliminated, while Young quickly became a huge long shot to win America’s largest talent search.
A better strategy is to look for performers who don’t necessarily get the praise from the judges, but show flashes of the talent necessary to go the distance.
Another important thing to remember when betting any contestant to win is the demographic breakdown of the voters, the viewing public and potential future CD purchasers. Unlike sporting events, American Idol is not decided on the field of play – it’s decided by the American public under the guiding influence of the shows producers.
Understand that the great state of Alabama has a mighty edge when it comes to American Idol.
Therefore, to be successful betting on American Idol, put any personal opinions or prejudices aside and think like the majority of the voting public. Remember that the typical voter is young, female and quite often, Southern.
If a contestant cannot appeal to this demographic, no matter how much talent he or she possesses, they’ll struggle for votes. Looks, demeanor and charisma are extremely important. And it’s no coincidence that every Idol winner so far has hailed from a Southern state.
Elimination Props
Every week MySportsbook.com anticipates offering a prop on who’ll be eliminated from the show each Wednesday night. A suggestion to handicap this is to gauge an overall feel for who’s the least popular contestant left in the competition. Generally the least popular performers have recently appeared in the bottom three and will have been the target of repeated criticism from the judges.
Last year, resources included dialidol.com and votefortheworst.com. Dialidol.com measures the volume of each contestant’s voting line. While by no means a perfect science, it does give a good indication of who is generating votes and who isn’t. Meanwhile, votefortheworst.com is a site that attempts to build support for the worst competitor to keep them in the competition for ‘entertainment’ value. The site has a proven track record of keeping performers around who most feel should have been voted off a long time ago.
Contestant vs. Contestant Match-ups
The best strategy for doing well on match-ups is to assess how close either of the contestants is to being eliminated. If neither is expected to be voted off of the show in the coming weeks, the value is almost always on the underdog. If both are expecting an imminent exit in the near future, the favorite in the match-up might offer value.
Watch for American Idol betting odds on each of the contestants shortly and good luck with these American Idol betting strategies.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
El Duque expected to throw Tuesday
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.
Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.
El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.
MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds.
Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.
New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.
Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''
Additional baseball lines and World Series odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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