Amateur Lowry on top in Ireland

Golf Betting Lines

05/15/2009 - Beltray, Ireland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Irish amateur Shane Lowry fired a 10-under 62 on Friday to vault atop the leaderboard after the second round of his national championship, the Irish Open.

Lowry, the 16th-ranked amateur in the world, finished 36 holes at 15-under 129 and that matched the tournament record. Patrik Sjoland set the original mark in 2000 and he went on to victory.

Lowry wouldn't be the first amateur to visit the winner's circle this season on the European Tour if he holds on Sunday. Danny Lee captured the Johnnie Walker Classic, but no matter what, it was a big two rounds for the 22-year- old Lowry.

"I'll never forget this day as long as I live," said Lowry.

The groups in the early wave were once again met with difficult conditions. Rain and cold temperatures didn't exactly hinder scoring, but when the rain subsided, players went very low.

Lowry's 62 wasn't even the best round of the day on Friday. Graeme McDowell set a new tournament and course record with an 11-under 61 that only got him into a tie for 36th at minus-six after a poor 77 on Thursday.

"Yeah, 61, low score of my career," said McDowell. "I think I shot 61 one other time in practice. You know, 77 wasn't really what I was looking for. I was extremely disappointed, obviously to come here in front of my home fans and disappoint the way I did. But I took a lot of positives away at the same time because I knew I had not played that badly."

Robert Rock and Jamie Donaldson both shot rounds of seven-under 65 and are tied for second place at 13-under 131 at County Louth Golf Club.

Paul Lawrie, the 1999 British Open champion, posted a six-under 66 and that was aided by an ace at the par-three 17th. He won an Audi for his effort and got into fourth place at minus-12.

"It was 196 yards, a little downhill, a little downwind off the left, and hit a beautiful shot," said Lawrie. "As soon as I hit it, it was straight down the pin. You've obviously always got to get a little lucky for it to go in, but it was a nice shot."

Lowry's day was filled with nice shots.

He flew out of the gate on Friday with three birdies in his first four holes. Lowry eagled the par-five sixth to reach 10-under par for the championship and get within striking distance of the lead.

At the par-four ninth, Lowry sank a seven-foot birdie putt to join a group in first place. He tapped in a short birdie putt at the 10th that kept him tied for the lead after Lawrie's ace.

Lowry couldn't save par from a bunker at 11, but he got back to 12-under thanks to a 12-footer for birdie at the 12th. That kept him tied atop the leaderboard, but his play late gave him a cushion.

He birdied the 14th and 15th holes to find himself two clear. Rock and Donaldson got to 13-under par, but a birdie from Lowry at the last gave him the 36-hole record and a two-shot lead.

"It's like a dream, really, the way I putted," said Lowry. "It's an unbelievable feeling to be leading by two shots over a field like this. I didn't expect it coming into the tournament, but I expected to do well."

Lowry stated that his tentative plan is to play for the Great Britain & Ireland team at this year's Walker Cup, then turn professional. He wants to go to European Tour Q School in the fall.

Nick Dougherty (67), Roope Kakko (67) and Thomas Levet (66) are knotted in fifth place at minus-11.

Johan Edfors (70), Soren Kjeldsen (67), Lee Westwood (66) and Oliver Wilson (68) share eighth place at 10-under 134.

The 36-hole cut fell at four-under 140 and local hero and two-time major champion in 2008 Padraig Harrington, last year's winner Richard Finch and John Daly all missed the weekend.

One player who also has the weekend off is first-round leader Francesco Molinari. After he shot a one-over 73, Molinari signed an incorrect scorecard and was disqualified.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

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

Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

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