Els and Schwartzel share first at Doral

Golf Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ernie Els was joined atop the leaderboard by fellow South African Charl Schwartzel after Saturday's third round of the WGC- CA Championship.

Els, the second-round leader, managed a two-under 70 at the TPC Blue Monster at Doral, while Schwartzel, the first-round leader, fired a five-under 67 on Saturday. The pair is knotted at 12-under 204.

Padraig Harrington, like Els, a three-time major winner, bogeyed the Blue Monster 18th on Saturday. That hiccup cost him a share of the lead, but his five-under 67 has him alone in third at minus-11.

Robert Allenby carded a one-under 71 and is fourth at 10-under 206.

The field is chasing a pair of South African co-leaders, who did most of their damage on the front nine Saturday.

Schwartzel birdied the first and third holes, then rattled off back-to-back birdies at five and six. The last birdie at six tied him with Els, who was one-under after birdies at one and five and a bogey at two.

Els rolled in a nine-foot birdie putt at the sixth to move ahead by one, but Schwartzel, playing in the group ahead of Els, hit a fat shot out of a bunker to lose a stroke at seven.

Els unfortunately couldn't take advantage. His approach came up short of the green and he could no better than seven feet with his third. The Big Easy missed the par putt, but was still one clear of his younger friend.

Both players birdied the par-five eighth to keep Els a stroke in front. Two holes later, Els knocked his third to seven feet and converted the birdie effort to move two clear.

At the next par five, the 12th, Els missed a makeable birdie putt and at the next hole, the par-three 13th, had a four-footer for par go all the way around the hole and stay out.

"I was really starting to look good," acknowledged Els. "The ball horse-shoed out of the hole. That put some doubt in my mind down the stretch, which wasn't nice."

Schwartzel himself made a pair of amazing pars at 13 and 14 to keep his momentum going. At the short, par-four 16th, Schwartzel drove into a greenside bunker and converted an eight-foot birdie putt to match Els in the first.

Els hit into a bunker at the 16th and his sand shot stopped three feet from the hole. His swipe at it badly pushed the ball to the right and it stayed above ground.

The pair was knotted in the lead with Harrington, who three-putted from 40 feet at the last to fall one behind.

Schwartzel made a routine par from the right rough at the Blue Monster, then Els two-putted from 25 feet to set up the final-round pairing of the veteran and the kid.

"Obviously going to be a fun day playing with Ernie," said Schwartzel. "I've played quite a few rounds with him. I always enjoy playing with him. It actually helps my rhythm looking at him."

The two have a long history despite the 15-year age difference.

Els used to golf with Schwartzel's father and when Schwartzel didn't get into the field at last week's Honda Classic, he stayed with Els.

On Sunday, the two are adversaries. One is a certain Hall of Famer with three major titles. The other won twice this year on the European Tour and is primed for a breakthrough in a significant championship.

"You know you can win," said Schwartzel. "You still have to play the same golf down the stretch."

Bill Haas shot a two-under 70 and is fifth at nine-under 207, which is one better than Martin Kaymer, who fired a 66 on Saturday to get into sixth place.

Matt Kuchar (67), Paul Casey (68), Vijay Singh (70) and Soren Hansen (71) are knotted in seventh place at minus-seven.

NOTES: Defending champion Phil Mickelson managed an even-par 72 on Saturday, but grimaced and clutched his elbow at the end of his round. He released a statement saying basically it was a stinger and he should be fine...Els has one WGC title and that came at the 2004 American Express Championship.

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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

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

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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