Funk among leaders in South Korea

Golf Betting Lines

09/10/2010 - Songdo, South Korea (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tradition winner Fred Funk, Michael Allen and Jay Don Blake each posted rounds of three-under 69 on Friday to share the opening-round lead of the Posco E&C Songdo Championship.

This was the Champions Tour's first trip to Asia and the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea was the big winner. In addition to the three co-leaders, only John Cook and Sandy Lyle, who share fourth at two-under 70, and Sandy Lyle, who shot a 71 on Friday, broke par.

The field averaged a score of 74.428 in the first round, which was the fourth- highest average for an opening round. The three ranked higher were all major championships.

Two inches of rain fell since early Thursday night and the start of play was delayed for almost an hour and 45 minutes on Friday due to the wet conditions. The round was contested under lift, clean and place rules.

"The conditions were remarkably good with all of the rain," said Funk.

The Tradition winner started off well with a very long birdie putt at the second and a two-putt birdie at the par-five third. Funk followed with a pair of nice par saves at four and five, but dropped a shot at the par-three eighth when his five-iron came up short.

Funk wedged his approach to 15 feet at the ninth and poured in the birdie putt. He made another nice par save after the turn, but had a four-foot look at birdie at No. 11. Funk's putt stayed above ground and he stayed at two- under par.

Funk made some more great par saves on the back nine, including a nine-footer at the par-five 15th. He sank a 15-foot birdie putt at the 17th to join the lead at minus-three and he had a chance for first on his own, but his six-foot birdie try at the last missed the hole.

"I played solid," said Funk, who won the season's fourth major championship last month. "Hit a lot of good shots, especially on the difficult holes. Overall, really pleased."

Allen started on the 10th tee and flew out of the gate with four front-nine birdies, including a chip-in at the 10th. He fell to three-under par after a missed three-foot par putt at No. 2, but got back into sole possession of the leader with a 30-footer for birdie at eight.

Allen fell back into a tie for first when he missed a six-foot par save at his last hole.

Blake also began on the back nine Friday and notched two birdies. He bogeyed the first, but rattled off back-to-back five-foot birdie putts at the second and third holes to reach three-under par.

Blake missed a four-foot par save at the sixth, but an eight-foot birdie putt at the ninth earned him a share of the lead.

"It was a good to finish with a birdie at No. 9," said Blake. "Because of the rain, the course played very long today. Conditions were difficult, but fairways weren't that wet. Hit a lot of good shots."

Olin Browne, Nam-Sin Park, Denis Watson and Joe Ozaki share seventh place at even-par 72.

NOTES: Champions Tour leading money winner Bernhard Langer managed a one-over 73 on Friday and shares 11th place...Due to more rain in the forecast, players will once again go off split tees in threesomes for the second round.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game

How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.

A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.

Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.

The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).

Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.

The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).

Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.