Chris Wood takes Wales Open lead

Golf Betting Lines

06/03/2010 - Newport, Wales (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England's Chris Wood shot a six-under 65 to take the first-round lead Thursday at the Wales Open.

Wood collected six birdies in a bogey-free round on the Celtic Manor course to finish with a one-shot lead over Welshman Bradley Dredge and Australia's Andrew Dodt.

Edoardo Molinari, Richard McEvoy, Rhys Davies and Raphael Jacquelin were another stroke further back at four-under 67, while former U.S. Amateur champion Richie Ramsay led a large group at 68.

Wood rebounded nicely from his last round on the European Tour -- a 77 in the final round of the BMW PGA Championship two weeks ago. He held the 54-hole lead at the tour's flagship event, but finished four shots behind winner Simon Khan.

"It was just a really tough day for me," Wood said of his Sunday at Wentworth. "I thought the course played a lot harder than it did the previous three days. It was a new experience for me -- leading on Saturday night by a couple of shots."

At 22 years old and playing just his second full season as a professional, Wood has already made a name for himself as a rising star on tour.

He turned pro after tying for fifth place at the 2008 British Open, then shared third place at the '09 Open -- one shot out of the playoff between winner Stewart Cink and Tom Watson.

While he has yet to win, Wood continues to come close. He has three top-10 finishes in his last three starts, including a tie for third place at the Italian Open and a share of fifth in Mallorca.

Wood birdied just one par-five hole on Thursday -- the 562-yard 11th, which is the shortest of the four par fives at Celtic Manor.

Nevertheless, he felt like he put himself in position to shoot a good score by driving the ball so strongly.

"If you can set it up off the tee, it makes it a hell of a lot easier on the next few shots," he said.

The birdies that Wood made -- three on both sides of the course -- were set up by good approach shots, and he rarely found himself needing to make long putts.

"I struggled a little bit with the pace of uphill putts, but I had some really good shots and gave myself quite a lot of chances," he said.

"No bogeys is always pleasing," he said.

With Celtic Manor set to host the Ryder Cup in October, European captain Colin Montgomerie had his eye on several players in the field. Among them was Spain's Alvaro Quiros, who had a hole-in-one Thursday at the 189-yard third hole.

The long-hitting Spaniard, who captured a win earlier this season in his home country, opened with a 71 and was tied for 40th place.

"Someone who hits the ball that far, what an asset that is," said Montgomerie, who had a 70.

NOTES: Defending champion Jeppe Huldahl of Denmark opened with a 72...Khan (71), Paul Lawrie (72), Paul McGinley (72) and Scott Strange (79) are the other former Wales Open champions in the field this week...Richard Green and Paul Waring withdrew from the tournament.

Wwwsportsterminal Golf Betting News

<< Anybody's choice in 142nd Belmont Stakes
Elmont, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pick the horses out of a hat for Saturday's running of the $1 million Belmont Stakes. Any of the 12 horses has a good chance of winning the third jewel of racing's Triple Crown. The two second-place

<< In the FCS Huddle: Top 10 FCS Receivers
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The dry erase board hanging in Tysson Poots' apartment lists his receptions, receiving yards and touchdown receptions during his first three seasons as a wide receiver at Southern Utah: - Freshman: 29, 433

<< Oakland P Anderson leaves game
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oakland Athletics starter Brett Anderson left Thursday's game against the Red Sox with an undisclosed injury. Anderson had allowed two runs and five hits in two full innings before leaving. Vin Mazzaro took ove

<< Selig will not reverse umpire's blown call
NEW YORK (AP) -Bud Selig won't reverse an umpire's admitted blown call that cost Armando Galarraga a perfect game.Selig says Major League Baseball will look at expanded replay and umpiring, but not the botched call Wednesday night.Umpire Jim Joyce s

<< Chicago's Asllani named WPS Player of Week
Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Red Stars forward Kosovare Asllani was named Women's Professional Soccer Player of the Week for Week 7. Asllani lifted the Red Stars to their second win this season,1-0 over first- place FC Gold

Warfield retires from Browns front office >>
Berea, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Warfield has retired as the senior advisor to the Cleveland Browns general manager, a position he had held since 2004. The Browns selected Warfield in the first round of the 1964 draft and he spen

Golf Tidbits: American women struggling >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - To quote The Guess Who, "American woman gonna mess your mind." The LPGA Tour is one-third of the way through its season, and there has only been one American winner, with that lone victory coming in an uno

MLB decides against overturning Joyce's call >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball has decided not to overturn the call umpire Jim Joyce made Wednesday to take a perfect game away from Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga. Galarraga retired the first 26 batters in

Benitez leaves Liverpool >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool has confirmed that manager Rafael Benitez will leave the club by mutual consent following a disappointing seventh-place Premier League finish last season. The club lost 11 league games

Wade given temporary custody of sons >>
MIAMI (AP) -Dwyane Wade has gotten temporary custody of his two young sons, ordered by a court in Chicago after ongoing issues regarding visitation schedules between the Miami Heat star and his estranged wife.It's a significant step for Wade, who is

Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

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 MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards