Vaughan leads Senior Open by two

Golf Betting Lines

07/29/2010 - Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bruce Vaughan carded a four-under 66 Thursday to grab a two-stroke lead after the opening round of the U.S. Senior Open Championship at Sahalee Country Club.

Vaughan's lone win on the Champions Tour was a playoff victory over John Cook at the 2008 Senior British Open.

Loren Roberts, a four-time major winner on the Champions Tour, and amateur Tim Jackson share second place at two-under 68. Jackson, a two-time U.S. Mid- Amateur champion, was the 36-hole leader last year before fading into a share of 11th.

Bernhard Langer, who won the Senior British Open last week, posted a one-under 69. He was joined in fourth place by Mark Calcavecchia, Tom Lehman, Joe Ozaki and Michael Allen.

Vaughan played the back nine first on Friday. After hitting a tree with his tee shot, Vaughan still managed to birdie the par-five 11th. He gave that back at the 14th, where he found a bunker off the tee and came up short of the green with his second.

The 53-year-old was unable to get up and down for par from there. Vaughan got back into red figures with a birdie on the 16th. He turned at two-under after making another birdie on No. 18.

Around the turn, Vaughan rolled in back-to-back birdie efforts from the second to jump to minus-four.

Vaughan was alone atop the leaderboard at five-under after a birdie on the par-four sixth. He closed with a bogey at the last to cut his lead to two.

"I birdied probably two of the hardest holes on the golf course, Nos. 18 and 6," stated Vaughan, who is the solo leader after the first round for the first time in his Champions Tour career. "Those were probably two of the hardest holes on the golf course and I made birdie on them. That's like picking up three or four shots on everybody."

Vaughan is having a tough season, with just one top-five and four top-20 finishes. He turned his fortunes around on Thursday by hitting a lot of fairways.

"I did everything you're supposed to do, hit a lot of fairways, a few greens and made some putts," said Vaughan, who hit 12-of-14 fairways and 14-of-18 greens in regulation.

Roberts, who played five groups ahead of Vaughan, opened with four straight pars. He birdied two of the next three holes to get to minus-two.

After three straight pars around the turn, Roberts got to three-under with a birdie on the par-five second. He gave that stroke back with a bogey on the sixth. Roberts parred the last three to end two back.

"I was happy with the way I played. I hit a lot of good shots," Roberts said. "I only hit one bad tee shot at six, and made a bogey, and bad tee shot at nine, my last hole, but got it up and down. All in all, I played as solid as I played in a while today."

Jackson parred the first four holes, then dropped in a birdie effort on the par-three fifth. He followed that with a birdie on the seventh.

Jackson remained at minus-two until the 16th. He stumbled to a bogey on the par-four 16th, but fought right back with a birdie on 17 to end at minus-two.

"We have to do what we did last year, play one side at a time here, because the trees are hanging out and the hole locations are right over the mounds and you've got to be pretty precise," Jackson explained. "You've got to be patient."

Tom Watson, a three-time runner-up at this championship, posted an even-par 70. He was joined in ninth place by Jay Haas, Scott Simpson and local favorite Fred Couples, who was born in Seattle.

NOTES: Defending champion Fred Funk opened with a six-over 76 and is tied for 68th with among others Ben Crenshaw, Andy Bean and Gil Morgan...The last first-round leader to win this title was Peter Jacobsen in 2004...Corey Pavin's streak of 12 straight rounds in the 60s was snapped as he shot 72.

Footall Golf Betting News

<< Young, Teagarden help Rangers beat A's
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Young finished 4-for-4 with three runs scored, and Taylor Teagarden hit a two-run homer, as the Texas Rangers defeated the Oakland Athletics, 7-4, in the rubber match of a three-game series.

<< A-Rod homereless but still helps Yanks crush Tribe in Cleveland
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez didn't hit his 600th career home run, but drove in three runs while both Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson added two RBI as the New York Yankees used a late burst of offense to down Clevela

<< Eagles sign top pick DE Graham
Bethlehem, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Eagles have inked top pick defensive end Brandon Graham to a five-year contract. He is expected to be available for the team's afternoon practice on Friday. Financial terms were not disc

<< Castro leads home run parade as ChiSox extended home win streak
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ramon Castro homered twice and Juan Pierre stroked a two-run double, as the Chicago White Sox beat Seattle, 9-5, to sweep a four-game series and extend their home winning streak to 11 games. Paul Konerko

<< Cobourne, Als crush Argonauts
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Avon Cobourne racked up 231 total yards and scored a pair of rushing touchdowns ,as the Montreal Alouettes trounced the Toronto Argonauts, 41-10, at McGill Stadium. Cobourne rushed for 115 yards on 20 ca

Bartoli, Sharapova move on in Stanford >>
Stanford, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marion Bartoli and Maria Sharapova were both second-round winners in Thursday's action at the $700,000 Bank of the West Classic tennis event. The fourth-seeded and defending champion Bartoli notched a

O's edge Royals in 11 innings >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ty Wigginton hit two sacrifice fly balls, including the game-winner in the 11th, helping the Baltimore Orioles snap a five-game losing streak with a 6-5 win over the Kansas City Royals. Nick Markakis

Castro leads home run parade as ChiSox extend home win streak >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ramon Castro homered twice and Juan Pierre stroked a two-run double, as the Chicago White Sox beat Seattle, 9-5, to sweep a four-game series and extend their home winning streak to 11 games. Paul Konerko

Report: Saints sign first-round pick Robinson >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints have reportedly signed rookie cornerback Patrick Robinson to a five-year contract. According to the Times-Picayune, Robinson is expected to report to training camp on Friday o

Murray needs three sets to advance in Los Angeles >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Murray notched a three-set victory to advance to the quarterfinals at the $700,000 Farmers Classic tennis event. Murray, the top seed, defeated American Tim Smyczek 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, in just under

Online Sportsbook Football Betting

The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

MySportsbook is considered one of the finest football sportsbooks according to several surveys performed by independent industry analysts considering such factors as payout accuracy and timeliness, overall quality of website, and bettor satisfaction.

MySportsbook is a large company with strong financial backing. Considered the best sportsbook for betting football online You will find their customer service is second to none and their web site is extremely user friendly and easy-to-use. All major professional sports games are available. Once you signup with MySportsbook, you may never use another online sportsbook again.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your nfl football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

MySportsbook is considered one of the finest football betting sportsbooks according to several surveys performed by independent industry analysts considering such factors as payout accuracy and timeliness, overall quality of website, and bettor satisfaction.

MySportsbook is a large company with strong financial backing. Considered the best sportsbook for betting football online You will find their customer service is second to none and their web site is extremely user friendly and easy-to-use. All major professional sports games are available. Once you signup with MySportsbook, you may never use another online sportsbook again.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football wagering needs.