12/04/2008 - La Quinta, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Nitties fired a nine-under 63 Thursday to grab a one-shot lead after two rounds at the Final Stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School.
Nitties completed 36 holes of the 108-hole tournament at 12-under-par 132.
Robert Garrigus and Harrison Frazar both carded eight-under 64s Thursday to move into a share of second place at minus-11. Those three all entered round two tied for 36th.
The low-25 scores and ties will earn PGA Tour cards for 2009. The next number of finishers nearest 50 after the Qualifying Tournament graduates will earn fully exempt Nationwide Tour cards for 2009 and the remainder of the field will receive conditional Nationwide Tour status.
Each player competes on the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course and Stadium Course at PGA West three times.
Nitties played his round on the Nicklaus Tournament Course and opened with a birdie on the first. He then poured in three birdies in a four-hole span from the fourth.
That spurt moved him to minus-seven. Around the turn, Nitties birdied 10, 13 and 15 to jump to 10-under. Nitties closed with back-to-back birdies to lead by one after two rounds.
Garrigus collected four birdies in the first 13 holes, then flew up the leaderboard by making birdie at each of the last four holes at PGA West.
Frazar, who started on the back nine at PGA West, birdied the 11th, then carded three birdies in a four-hole stretch from the 14th to move to minus- seven.
The 37-year-old Frazar drained three consecutive birdie efforts from the second to climb to 10-under. His final birdie came on the par-five eighth.
James Oh (63), Bryan DeCorso (68), Geoffrey Sisk (65), Tyler Aldridge (66), Gary Woodland (64) and Diego Vanegas (64) are tied for fourth at 10-under 134.
Major Manning, Craig Kanada and Joey Lamielle shared the first-round lead at minus-seven.
Manning managed a two-under 70 and is tied for 11th at nine-under-par 135, while Lamielle stumbled to a two-over 74 that dropped him into a share of 50th at minus-five. Kanada struggled to a six-over 78 to tumble into a tie for 113th at minus-one.
Among those outside the top 25 and ties are Chris Riley (138), Olin Browne (139), Ricky Barnes (140), Bob May (141), defending champion Frank Lickliter (142), Notah Begay III (142) and Jason Gore (143).
<< Barry to remain tight-lipped until end of season
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry is
not planning to make any more comments on his future until the end of the
season.
The England international was widely expected to leave Villa Park and si
<< NFLPA files lawsuit to block suspensions
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NFL Players Association filed a
lawsuit Thursday, challenging the suspensions of five players levied earlier
this week for violations of the league's steroids policy.
New Orleans' Charles Gr
<< Saints place S Kaesviharn on IR
Metairie, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints placed veteran safety
Kevin Kaesviharn on the reserve/injured list Thursday with a neck injury,
effectively ending his season.
Head coach Sean Payton described the injury as a s
<< Wolfsburg eliminates Portsmouth from UEFA Cup
Wolfsburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zvjezdan Misimovic stole the ball off the
feet of Portsmouth and England goalie David James to score the winning goal in
Wolfsburg's 3-2 UEFA Cup win Thursday that sent the Germans into the next round
and
Hoffenheim's Ibisevic shuns Bayern link >>
Hoffenheim, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hoffenheim star striker Vedad Ibisevic
has committed his immediate future to the Bundesliga's surprise leaders, having
been linked with a move to Bayern Munich.
The 24-year-old Bosnia international
Goya leads Canadian event by two shots >>
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Estanislao Goya fired a six-under
65 Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Argentine
Masters at Olivos Golf Club.
Josh McCumber is alone in second place at minus-four.
NFL Inactives (Thursday, December 4, 2008) >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The following is a list of inactive
players for tonight's NFL game.
OAKLAND RAIDERS AT SAN DIEGO CHARGERS, 8:15 P.M. (ET)
Raiders - 3rd QB Marques Tuiasosopo, LB Ricky Brown, CB Michael Waddell, C Jake
Simpkins cleared by NCAA to play for Memphis >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Simpkins was cleared by the NCAA on
Thursday to join the University of Memphis basketball team.
Simpkins, a 6-foot-9 freshman forward, signed a national letter of intent with
Memphis in the spring.
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.”
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards
Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.
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