Oosthuizen four ahead at the turn

Golf Betting Lines

07/18/2010 - St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - South African Louis Oosthuizen rolled in an eagle putt on the ninth hole Sunday to take a four-stroke lead to the back nine in the final round of the British Open Championship.

Oosthuizen, who is in contention for the first time in a major championship, has played a steady round so far in the final pairing with Paul Casey.

The 27-year-old Oosthuizen parred his first seven holes to maintain his lead. However, he stumbled to a bogey on the eighth to slip to 14-under.

Oosthuizen atoned for that mistake by pouring in an eagle effort on the ninth to get to minus-16. His lead could have dipped to two, but instead was four.

Casey came up short of the second green and was unable to save par from there. The Englishman was suddenly five back.

After three straight pars, Casey got that stroke back with a two-putt birdie on No. 6. He parred seven and eight, and was within three after Oosthuizen's bogey at the eighth.

Casey two-putted for birdie on No. 9, but lost a stroke to the leader and made the turn at 12-under par.

Not only was Casey not making a move on Oosthuizen, but the final six players combined for six birdies and an eagle on the front nine.

With three-quarters of the field finished, only seven players posted rounds in the 60s, with Rickie Fowler and Alvaro Quiros both carding 67s for the low round of the day.

Wwwmaximumexp Golf Betting News

<< Almagro denies Soderling in Sweden
Bastad, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spain's Nicolas Almagro denied Robin Soderling a second straight title in his native country with a three-set win in Sunday's final of the Swedish Open. Almagro earned a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 victory ove

<< Indians seek four-game sweep of Tigers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians go for a four-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers today, as the teams conclude their series at Progressive Field. Despite being well below .500, the Indians have come out of the All-Star break with

<< Jays hope to pin another sweep on O's
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays gun for their third consecutive three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles as the teams wrap up their series today at Camden Yards. On Saturday, Jose Bautista hit a two-run homer in the t

<< Pitcher's duel on tap between Rays/Yankees
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of All-Star pitchers go head-to-head today, as David Price and the Tampa Bay Rays conclude a three-game set with Andy Pettitte and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. The 24-year-old Price recently earned his

<< Boston's Lester takes mound vs. Rangers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jon Lester goes for his seventh straight home win today, as he leads the Boston Red Sox into the finale of a four-game series with the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park. Lester, who tossed a perfect inning in the All-Star

Marlins designate Lamb, recall OF Petersen >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins designated veteran infielder Mike Lamb for assignment on Sunday. The team will have 10 days to trade, waive or release Lamb. If he clears waivers, he can be outrighted to the minor leag

Indians recall Gomez to make ML debut on Sunday >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians recalled pitcher Jeanmar Gomez from Triple-A Columbus on Sunday to make his major league debut in a spot start against the Detroit Tigers. Gomez, who pitched a perfect game l

Woods, Mickelson finish well back at St. Andrews >>
St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top two players in the world were unable to make a charge Sunday at the British Open. Tiger Woods, a three-time Open champion, could only muster an even-par 72 in the final round Sunday. He fini

Montanes takes Stuttgart crown >>
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spain's Alberto Montanes won the Mercedes Cup on Sunday when Gael Monfils of France retired in the second set of the final because of an ankle injury. Montanes earned a 6-2, 1-2 triumph for hi

Burnett apologizes to Yankees for outburst >>
NEW YORK (AP) -A.J. Burnett says he has apologized to his New York Yankees teammates for a clubhouse fit that left him with cuts on both hands.Sporting a bandage on each palm, Burnett said he had no trouble playing long toss Sunday and the laceratio

Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional basketball lines can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.