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05/02/2008 - Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Finally free of the burden that came with worrying about his playing status, Jason Bohn can now focus on other things.
Like winning for the first time in three years.
Bohn shot a five-under 67 on Friday to take a two-shot lead after two rounds of the $6.4 million Wachovia Championship, holding off a host of challengers at Quail Hollow with a round that included six birdies and a bogey.
He was at nine-under 135 for a slim cushion over Anthony Kim, who matched Bohn with a five-under 67 to move into second place at seven-under 137.
Former champion Jim Furyk, George McNeill and Dudley Hart also posted 67s of their own and were tied for third place at six-under 138, while former winner Vijay Singh, Geoff Ogilvy and Camilo Villegas were among the other players within five shots of Bohn's lead.
Phil Mickelson had two late double bogeys and fell seven shots off the lead.
Bohn began this season playing on a major medical exemption after missing the last six months of 2007 due to a rib injury he suffered at the Memorial.
By finishing sixth and winning $198,000 at last week's Verizon Heritage, he earned enough money to be granted a medical extension for the remainder of this season.
Which means Bohn can just relax and play -- beginning this weekend when he will carry a lead into the weekend with a chance to win more than $1.15 million, and continuing next week at the lucrative Players Championship.
"I'm totally freed up," said Bohn. "It was a big thing to make sure I got my medical situation taken care of and another huge thing to play in the Players Championship. Now I just want to play some good solid golf. And I've actually been doing that the last couple of weeks."
Mickelson flirted with the top of the leaderboard until two double-bogeys on his last four holes derailed him. He had a two-over 74 that left him seven shots back at minus-two.
The top-ranked player in the field with 2007 champion and world No. 1 Tiger Woods still recovering from knee surgery, Mickelson was just three shots off the lead when he drove behind a tree at the 15th hole.
He needed three more shots to reach the par-five green, eventually taking a double-bogey that dropped him five strokes behind Bohn. He hit into the water and made another double-bogey at the 18th hole.
The rest of Mickelson's scorecard reflected a solid, if not spectacular, round from the game's second-ranked player: three birdies and a bogey at the par- three second hole.
While Mickelson drove his round off a cliff late in the round, Bohn moved in and out of the lead.
McNeil had it after making a 32-foot birdie putt at the 11th hole, but Bohn tied him moments later when he knocked his tee shot to four feet at the par- three 13th to set up his fifth birdie.
Bohn then moved ahead with a three-foot birdie putt at the 15th, his sixth, and he saved par from a bunker at the tough 16th to stay in front.
McNeil tied him after that, two-putting from 24 feet for a birdie at the 15th, but he bogeyed his last three holes.
With a steady short game and sure putter, Bohn was able to avoid stretches of bad play on Friday. He finished the round with six birdies and just one bogey.
"I'm putting unbelievable," said Bohn. "I'm chipping it to 10, 12 feet and some of these pins are pretty tough. And I'm able to hole those par-saving putts, which totally keeps the round going."
Bohn's only PGA Tour win came at the 2005 B.C. Open, which played opposite the British Open and had a watered-down field. It's a much different situation this week.
Besides Woods, all the heavy hitters are at Quail Hollow.
"I'm looking forward to a great weekend," said Bohn, "and if I keep my putter hot, who knows?"
Among the top players who finished outside the plus-one cut line were world No. 4 Steve Stricker, Masters champion Trevor Immelman, Luke Donald, Stuart Appleby, Chris DiMarco, Justin Rose, Paul Casey, Jose Maria Olazabal, Davis Love III, Woody Austin, Mike Weir and Tim Clark.
David Toms, the 2003 champion and Thursday's overnight leader, stumbled to a 75 and dropped into a tie for 25th place at two-under 142.
<< Yankees' Posada expects to miss over a month
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada expects to
miss at least five weeks because of an injured right shoulder.
The veteran catcher was placed on the 15-day disabled list for the first time
in his career earl
<< Hometown favorite wins Cup pole in Richmond
Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chesterfield, VA native Denny Hamlin won the
pole for Saturday night's Crown Royal presents the Dan Lowry 400 at the
Richmond International Raceway. The No.11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver
circled
<< Huggins signs extension with Mountaineers
Morgantown, WV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - West Virginia University and head men's
basketball coach Bob Huggins have agreed to a contract extension through the
2018-19 season, the school announced Friday.
Financial terms of the agreement will
<< Proud Spell romps in the Kentucky Oaks
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Proud Spell, second in last year's Breeders'
Cup Juvenile Filly race, stalked the pace before running away from the field
in Friday's $581,650 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. The 134th edition of
the com
Rangers' Jennings placed on 15-day DL >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers have placed pitcher Jason
Jennings on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 1, with a strained
right elbow.
The 29-year old right-hander is 0-5 this season with an 8.56 ear
DeCorso two up in Valdosta >>
Valdosta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bryan DeCorso carded a three-under 69 Friday
to take a two-stroke lead after two rounds of the South Georgia Classic.
DeCordso completed 36 holes at seven-under-par 137 at Kinderlou Forest.
Marco Dawson (
Twins' Gardenhire to miss Tigers' series >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire
will miss the team's three-game series against the Detroit Tigers due to the
death of his brother, Mike Gardenhire.
Mike Gardenhire, 55, unexpectedly passed
Price leads FedEx Kinko's Classic >>
Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three-time major champion Nick Price fired a
seven-under 65 on Friday to take the first-round lead at the FedEx Kinko's
Classic.
Mark O'Meara was one shot back at six-under 66, while defending champion S
The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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