Byrd nests atop the leaderboard

Golf Betting Lines

09/06/2007 - Lemont, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jonathan Byrd fired a seven-under-par 64 on Thursday to take the first-round lead of the BMW Championship, the third FedEx Cup Playoff event.

Camilo Villegas, who held the first-round lead last week at the Deutsche Bank Championship, and Justin Rose share second place at six-under 65. Stewart Cink, Troy Matteson and Pat Perez are tied for fourth at minus-five.

Tiger Woods, who lost a final-round duel with Phil Mickelson last week in Boston, double-bogeyed the seventh hole, his 16th hole of the round. He shot a four-under 67 and is part of a group tied for seventh.

"I felt like I hit the ball decent today, but putted a lot better," said Woods, a three-time winner here. "Just had one bad hole at seven, but other than that, it was a pretty good day."

Woods reached six-under par thanks to six birdies, including a pair of birdies to open his round. He rattled off three birdies in a four-hole span early on his back nine, the front nine at Cog Hill, then disaster struck.

Woods missed the fairway at seven, then hit a pitching-wedge over the green. He ended up with a double-bogey and fell three off the pace.

There is some room to move to the top of the Points list for Woods this week. Mickelson is in the lead, but withdrew from the tournament on Tuesday to be with his family. Only Woods, Steve Stricker and K.J. Choi can assume the lead heading into next week's final playoff event, the Tour Championship.

With the field getting reduced to the top 30 on the FedEx Cup Playoff Points list next week at the Tour Championship, Byrd is officially on the bubble. He ranks 30th and is certainly aware of his standing.

"I try not to put any extra pressure on myself this week," said Byrd. "If I get in next week, I get in next week. I knew I would have to stay aggressive this week. I can't say I've got to finish 15th this week or I'm not getting in or I've got to finish 30th. I don't know what that's going to be because I don't know how the other guys are going to play."

Due to some nasty weather forecast for Thursday and Friday afternoon, the tee times were moved up to try and avoid the problem. Lift, clean and place was in place for the first round and Byrd took advantage with 12 fairways hit out of 14.

Byrd began on the back nine Thursday and rolled in a 25-footer for birdie at the 10th. He drained a six-footer for birdie at 12 and collected back-to-back birdies from the 15th, including a 20-footer at the par-five 15th.

Byrd saved par from 12 feet at the 17th to make the turn at four-under par. At the par-three second, Byrd hit it through the putting surface and did not have a good stance near a bunker. He made bogey, but got the stroke back with a 20- foot birdie putt at the third.

As Rose was wilting late in his round, Byrd got going. Byrd landed in the back shelf with his tee ball at six, but sank the 35-foot putt for an unlikely birdie.

He hit his approach 15 feet left of the hole at the sixth and converted the birdie putt. Byrd matched Rose at minus-seven at the eighth when his wedge approach stopped eight feet from the hole.

When Rose bogeyed the 18th, Byrd walked off with the first-round lead.

"I went out just trying to play the golf course today and felt good about my game and made a few extra putts today, and here I am," said Byrd, who won this year's John Deere Classic.

Woods was joined in seventh place by Ryuji Imada, Ken Duke, Nathan Green and Woody Austin.

Stricker and Choi are part of a group tied for 12th at three-under 68.

Last year's winner at Cog Hill when the event was called the Western Open, Trevor Immelman, posted a one-under-par 70 on Thursday. He is tied for 29th place.

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NFL Football Betting : Odds on NFL Division to Win the Super Bowl

NFL Super Bowl Betting

The AFC South and the NFC East are the favorite divisions to have the next Super Bowl champ among them in the NFL betting odds. But more down to the point, these football odds are in favor of the Indianapolis Colts, by far the strongest team in the AFC South, and the Dallas Cowboys of the NFC East.

Most sports fans would agree that these two teams top the list to win it all before the season even begins. In the BetUS Sportsbook football futures, the Colts are +800 in the odds to win the Super Bowl, while the Cowboys are sitting at +1000 and the Super Bowl XLIV champions New Orleans Saints at +900. In the AFC South, the Colts won the division for five straight years after the 2002 realignment, before the Tennessee Titans won it in 2008. But the Colts came back strong in 2009 to win the division again en route to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys are the favorite to win the NFC East, as well as to advance far into the post season. The Cowboys won the division last season before their horrendous loss in the NFC Divisional playoff to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. But the ‘Boys will take that loss humbly and be ready for the playoffs this time around.

The NFC South is also very strong, at +600 in the NFL futures, considering that it is home to the defending Super Bowl champions. However, some predictions have the Atlanta Falcons with possibilities of claiming the divisional title this season in place of the Saints, as no team has won back-to-back division championships since the division realignment took place. Let’s not overlook the AFC North at +500. As TO goes to Cincinnati to join Chad OchoCinco and Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, this team looks to claim the division title again. And it is likely they will do so. The Bengals lost in the AFC Wild Card spot in a hard-fought battle against the New York Jets last season. Lest not forget the Pittsburgh Steelers, the XLII Super Bowl Champions… All these teams present interesting odds and matchups for the upcoming season, but the safest and surest bet seems to be with the Colts in the AFC South and the Cowboys in the NFC East. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.

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