10/19/2008 - The Woodlands, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bernhard Langer used a pair of back-nine birdies on Sunday to hold on for victory and a successful title defense at the Administaff Small Business Classic.
Langer finished the championship at 12-under 204 thanks to a final-round three-under 69 and won by two strokes over second-round co-leader Lonnie Nielsen at The Woodlands Country Club Tournament Course.
"These kind of moments, winning tournaments and lifting the trophy, that's what we practice for and work for," said Langer, who earned his fourth Champions Tour win and third this year. "It never gets old."
Langer pocketed $255,000 and vaulted past Jay Haas and into first place on the Champions Tour money list. He closed the gap behind Fred Funk and moved to second on the Charles Schwab Cup list with only next week's AT&T Championship before the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Nielsen held the lead on the front side, but stumbled around the turn. He posted a one-under 71 and took second at minus-10, which was one shot better than Funk, who came in third after a three-under 69 on Sunday.
Dave Stockton (70) and Denis Watson (72) shared fourth place at eight-under 208.
Langer and Nielsen were tied for the overnight lead with Brad Bryant and it was Langer that broke ahead first. He tapped in a short birdie putt at the par-five opening hole, but Nielsen answered with an eight-footer for birdie at two.
The third hole became pivotal in the early stages. Langer was on the fringe and attempted to mark his ball and clean it, forgetting that Sunday's final round was not played under lift, clean and place rules. He was assessed a one- stroke penalty and walked off the green with a bogey.
"Another senior moment," joked Langer. "I walked up thinking I can get a club length. As soon as I picked up my ball I said, 'oh, what have you done now?"
Nielsen was two ahead until Langer birdied the seventh hole to cut the margin in half. Nielsen began to sputter a bit with a bogey at eight to fall into a tie for the lead with Langer, but it was short-lived. Nielsen sank a 15-foot birdie putt at nine to reclaim the lead.
Both players bogeyed No. 10, but Langer, the two-time Masters champion, rolled in an eight-foot birdie putt at the 11th to tie Nielsen atop the leaderboard.
At the par-five 13th, Langer drove into the rough and laid up with his second. His third shot stopped 11 feet from the stick and the German converted for birdie. Nielsen had a chance to keep pace with Langer, but missed an eight- footer for birdie.
One hole later, Langer's tee ball at the par three landed nine feet from the hole. He made that birdie putt and Nielsen scrambled for a par, meaning the defending champion was two ahead with four to play.
It appeared Langer would come back a bit at the par-five 15th. He was short of the green putting for birdie and hit the hole. Langer's ball still rolled 10 feet past, but he converted the clutch par save. Nielsen had a birdie try from inside Langer's par putt, but missed his eight-footer to get within one.
Instead of a possible two-shot swing that would even things, Langer played the last three with a two-shot cushion. It was all he needed. Both players parred out giving Langer his third trophy of the year.
Haas (71), Loren Roberts (69), Bob Gilder (69), Tim Simpson (70), Nick Price (71) and Andy Bean (72) shared sixth place at seven-under-par 209.
Hal Sutton shot an even-par 72 and tied for 23rd place at minus-three in his Champions Tour debut.
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Irving, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After consecutive convincing victories in a
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Wins over
MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect
LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.
Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.
Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.
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The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
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