Els moves ahead at rainy CA Championship

Golf Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ernie Els fired a six-under 66 on Friday to move in front after the second round of the WGC-CA Championship at a rainy TPC Blue Monster at Doral.

Els, a three-time major winner, finished 36 holes at 10-under 134 and is one stroke clear of Robert Allenby, whose second-round 67 included an ace, an eagle, six birdies, three bogeys and a double-bogey.

Much like Thursday, heavy winds were the story. Officials moved Friday's tee times up in anticipation of forecasted storms, and they almost got the round in without a major incident.

Almost.

The skies opened and with six groups still on the course, play was stopped.

It wasn't until almost 2 1/2 hours later that golf resumed with everyone completing round two.

"I'm just pleased we got it done," said Els after his round and during the delay. "The weather is changing a lot. We played the last three holes very fast to get done."

Els began on the 10th tee Friday and immediately broke into red figures. His second at the par-five hole landed in a bunker, but he got up and down for a birdie.

After three straight pars, Els hit a poor drive left into a bunker, but hammered a seven-iron from 180 yards to four feet to set up a birdie. That started a great run for the South African. He birdied his next two holes for three in a row and was eight-under for the championship.

Els, who bogeyed the par-four Blue Monster 18th on Thursday to fall out of the lead, parred his last two on the front side to leave the back nine unscathed.

At the par-five opening hole, Els reached the green in two with a seven-iron and two-putted from 25 feet for another birdie. He parred his next six in a row, but had to battle a change in winds.

"Stood on the fourth tee and the wind was blowing out of the south before I played my shot and went total opposite way, came out of the normal and the temperature dropped," said Els. "Very, very strange. I think the only other time I had that happen was in Scotland when the tide changed. I think it was at St. Andrews. Other than that, I've never seen that happen."

Els' final birdie of the round came at the par-five eighth. He laid up with a nine-iron, then hit a sand-wedge to 10 feet. The Big Easy rolled home the birdie putt to take his first second-round lead on tour since his victory at the 2008 Honda Classic.

"Putted quite nicely and managed my game quite well," said Els, who won at Doral in 2002 when it was a regular tour stop. "It's in the books, and we were pretty lucky to get done. I mean, we ran the last two holes just to get it in the house. But looking forward to the weekend."

Els beat the weather, but he's been battling his game lately. He started the PGA Tour year with four straight top-20 finishes, but last week at the Honda Classic, tied for 67th.

"I didn't have it last week, so I worked really hard," said Els. "I feel really good mentally this year. I feel a little bit more fresh than I have been. I feel like I'm up for it a little bit more this year. I'm a bit more excited about my whole game."

While Els had a steady, bogey-free round on Friday, Allenby's was nothing like that.

He also started on 10 with a birdie, then holed a "perfect" five-wood for an ace at the 13th.

"Saw it all the way," he joked.

Allenby birdied 14, but double-bogeyed No. 16. The Aussie birdied 17 and reached the par-five first green in two with a seven-iron and drained an 18- foot eagle putt.

Over his next seven holes, Allenby recorded three birdies and two bogeys. He was tied for the lead with Els, but three-putted the ninth green for a bogey to fall into second.

"The conditions were pretty tough, and they weren't so bad probably for the first sort of three hours, but then that cool front, that change sort of came through and everything sort of changed," said Allenby. "The whole golf course changed."

First-round leader Charl Schwartzel finished off his final hole after the delay and had a two-under 70. He is tied for third place with Bill Haas, who shot a six-under 66, at seven-under 137.

Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington (68) and Soren Hansen (69) share fifth at minus-six.

Vijay Singh (71), Yuta Ikeda (68), Mike Weir (66), Tim Clark (69), John Senden (70) and J.B. Holmes (70) are tied for seventh at five-under 139.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson carded a three-under 69 and is part of a group tied for 13th at minus-four.

NOTES: In addition to the long weather delay, there was a 13-minute lightning stoppage earlier in the second round...While tee times were moved up on Friday to try and beat the rain, the forecast calls for sun on Saturday, so players will be in pairs off just the first tee...Last week's Honda Classic winner Camilo Villegas posted a four-under 68 Friday and is tied for 13th at four- under par.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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