Funk among leaders in South Korea

Golf Betting Lines

09/10/2010 - Songdo, South Korea (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tradition winner Fred Funk, Michael Allen and Jay Don Blake each posted rounds of three-under 69 on Friday to share the opening-round lead of the Posco E&C Songdo Championship.

This was the Champions Tour's first trip to Asia and the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea was the big winner. In addition to the three co-leaders, only John Cook and Sandy Lyle, who share fourth at two-under 70, and Sandy Lyle, who shot a 71 on Friday, broke par.

The field averaged a score of 74.428 in the first round, which was the fourth- highest average for an opening round. The three ranked higher were all major championships.

Two inches of rain fell since early Thursday night and the start of play was delayed for almost an hour and 45 minutes on Friday due to the wet conditions. The round was contested under lift, clean and place rules.

"The conditions were remarkably good with all of the rain," said Funk.

The Tradition winner started off well with a very long birdie putt at the second and a two-putt birdie at the par-five third. Funk followed with a pair of nice par saves at four and five, but dropped a shot at the par-three eighth when his five-iron came up short.

Funk wedged his approach to 15 feet at the ninth and poured in the birdie putt. He made another nice par save after the turn, but had a four-foot look at birdie at No. 11. Funk's putt stayed above ground and he stayed at two- under par.

Funk made some more great par saves on the back nine, including a nine-footer at the par-five 15th. He sank a 15-foot birdie putt at the 17th to join the lead at minus-three and he had a chance for first on his own, but his six-foot birdie try at the last missed the hole.

"I played solid," said Funk, who won the season's fourth major championship last month. "Hit a lot of good shots, especially on the difficult holes. Overall, really pleased."

Allen started on the 10th tee and flew out of the gate with four front-nine birdies, including a chip-in at the 10th. He fell to three-under par after a missed three-foot par putt at No. 2, but got back into sole possession of the leader with a 30-footer for birdie at eight.

Allen fell back into a tie for first when he missed a six-foot par save at his last hole.

Blake also began on the back nine Friday and notched two birdies. He bogeyed the first, but rattled off back-to-back five-foot birdie putts at the second and third holes to reach three-under par.

Blake missed a four-foot par save at the sixth, but an eight-foot birdie putt at the ninth earned him a share of the lead.

"It was a good to finish with a birdie at No. 9," said Blake. "Because of the rain, the course played very long today. Conditions were difficult, but fairways weren't that wet. Hit a lot of good shots."

Olin Browne, Nam-Sin Park, Denis Watson and Joe Ozaki share seventh place at even-par 72.

NOTES: Champions Tour leading money winner Bernhard Langer managed a one-over 73 on Friday and shares 11th place...Due to more rain in the forecast, players will once again go off split tees in threesomes for the second round.

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MySportsbook.com : Fortune Favors Favorites in March Madness betting?

Just like Day 1 of the “Sweet 16”, Friday’s games are chock full of some of the nation’s elite.  Unlike Thursday’s games, there is a little bit more of a “Cinderella” feel as #7 seed UNLV and #6 seed Vanderbilt will attempt to move on to the Elite Eight.  With powerhouses Florida, UNC and Georgetown looking to continue their momentum against lesser known teams, it isn’t surprising that once again the “betting public” is backing most of the favorites.  As the early coin rolls in, 56% of Sportsbook.com bettors prefer Georgetown (-7.5) as they take on Vanderbilt; 84% of the early money is backing Oregon (-3) as they square off against UNLV; and a slight majority (52%) of the early cash is on Florida (-10.5) against Butler as the Gators continue their quest for another National Title. The only favorite the public don’t seem confident in is UNC, as 59% of the cash is backing the underdog Trojans (+8).

Midwest

#1 Florida vs. #5 Butler

The defending National Champs have been on a mission since last April.  Joakim Noah and Al Horford turned down millions of dollars for one reason, to REPEAT.  After a late season hiccup which saw them lose three out of four, the Gators have won six straight by an average of 20.3 points. More importantly, they covered in five of those six games.  Behind their stymie defense that yields only 56.9 PPG, Butler has been a very pleasant surprise this season.  As their 20-11 ATS record will indicate, “surprise teams” like Butler are often good bets for gamblers.  Playing in an average conference, Butler wasn’t and underdog too often but when they were, they covered (6-0 ATS).  Butler’s defense will have its hands full against a Gators offense which averages 80.1 PPG on an amazing 52.9% shooting from the field.  With Florida’s tournament experience over the last few years, it isn’t surprising that they are 5-1 ATS this season, 20-4 ATS over the last three seasons and 38-20 since 1997 in tournament action.

#3 Oregon vs. #7 UNLV

As a #7 seed, UNLV is the closest thing to a “Cinderella” we have this year.  If you bet on UNLV this season with any regularity, you most likely cashed in. Behind their guard oriented attack, the Rebels are an impressive 20-11 ATS this season.  As an underdog they covered in 8 out of their ten games which isn’t surprising since they are 52-30 ATS as a ‘dog since 1997. The Rebels have been a consistent cover during the month of March as well.  This March they are 6-0 ATS, 11-3 ATS over the last three seasons and 24-11 since 1997. Their impressive ATS trends don’t end there; versus teams with a winning record they are 15-6 ATS this season and 41-21 over the last three seasons.  Although Oregon hasn’t been as generous to gamblers as UNLV this season, they have been covering consistently as of late.  There is no question that they are playing their best ball of the season having won their last 8 straight up (SU) by an average of 14.5 points. Not surprising they covered in 7 of those games.  It is interesting to note how similar these teams are in regards to scoring and scoring defense. UNLV averages 75 PPG while giving up 66.5 PPG and Oregon scores 75.8 PPG while yielding 65.5 PPG.

East

#6 Vanderbilt vs. #2 Georgetown

“Hoya Paranoia” is officially back! After a decent start, Georgetown has rolled through the second half of the season.  Over their last 18 games, they are 17-1 SU.  They have definitely improved ATS as the season has progressed as well. After opening the season 1-4-1 ATS, the Hoyas have covered 78.3% of their games.  With their great interior play of Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, the Hoyas as a team shoot 50.5% from the field.  Like the Georgetown teams from years ago, they also excel on defense.  Hoya opponents averaged only 56.8 PPG on 38.2% shooting from the field and an extremely low 30.4% from beyond the arc.  The last stat could be of some concern to Vanderbilt considering they shoot 37.7% from long-range.  Ranking second to last in the SEC in rebounding margin, Vanderbilt will have its work cut out for them against the Hoya trees. As far as covering is concerned, Vanderbilt has been almost a “sure thing” (7-1 ATS) versus good defensive teams that allow less than 64 PPG.

#1 UNC vs. # 5 USC

The Tar Heels are as talented and as deep as any team in the country.  Going ten deep and chock full of HS All-Americans, UNC averages 86.1 PPG and scored 100+ seven times.  Led by All-American forward, Tyler Hansbrough (18.6 PPG 7.9 RPG) UNC has a very balanced attack which can kill you on the inside as well as on the perimeter.  UNC only real concern is their youth as eight of their rotation players are either sophomores or freshmen.  UNC was a reliable cover this season going 20-13 ATS.  An intriguing covering trend for the Tar Heels in recent years has been how they fared after non-conference games.  This season they are 11-3 ATS after non-conference games and over the last three seasons they are 31-13 ATS.  USC is also a pretty deep team which is loaded with swingman types.  An match-up to keep an eye on will be freshman forward Taj Gibson (12.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG) as he squares off against the AA Hansbrough.  USC has been a covering machine this season achieving a 21-10 record ATS.  They have thrived in the underdog role, having covered 10 out of 12.  When playing a team with a winning record, the Trojans are an incredible 20-6 ATS. Keep in mind, USC dedicated their season to former star to Ryan Francis who passed away before the season so as they get closer to the ultimate goal, emotion could definitely be on their side.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at this sportsbook “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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