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06/17/2007 - Oakmont, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Baddeley will carry a two-shot lead over Tiger Woods into the final round of the U.S. Open after shooting an even-par 70 Saturday at a tamer Oakmont.
Baddeley, an Australian transplant living in Arizona, is at two-over 212 -- the second straight year the 54-hole leader was plus-two at the U.S. Open.
Woods began the day five shots behind Angel Cabrera's overnight lead and shot a one-under 69, playing bogey-free until the 18th hole. He was at four-over 214.
Paul Casey followed his spectacular 66 Friday with a 72 in the second round and was tied for third place with Stephen Ames (73), Justin Rose (73) and Bubba Watson (74) at five-over 215.
Cabrera shot a 76 and fell back to six-over 216. He was joined there by Steve Stricker, whose 68 was the best round of the day, and 2003 U.S. Open winner Jim Furyk (70).
In 28 tries, Woods has never come from behind to win a major. Baddeley, who played with Woods at the Masters this year, will have a chance to extend that losing streak to 29 tournaments.
"I'll absolutely enjoy it," Baddeley, a two-time PGA Tour winner, said. "I'm comfortable playing with Tiger at the majors."
If he had seen Woods' round Saturday, he might not have been as comfortable.
Woods made 13 consecutive pars after posting birdies on two of his first four holes and hit every green in regulation through 17 holes. That run ended when he found a bunker with his tee shot at the 18th, only to blast out to the middle of the fairway.
He put his third shot over the hole and missed a a 15-foot par putt, ending a chance for the first bogey-free round of the week.
Woods was just the sixth player since 1983 to hit 17 greens in regulation during a round at the U.S. Open. He hit no more than 11 in either of the first two rounds.
"I felt like I was in control of my game today, which is nice to have on a Saturday afternoon of an Open," said Woods, a two-time U.S. Open winner.
His round was filled with a handful of agonizing near-misses on makable putts. If even three of them had rolled in, he would have equaled Casey's tournament- best 66 from Friday.
Casey's round was sensational, if not unbelievable. Woods' was workmanlike.
What a difference a few putts make.
"But, hey, I put myself right there in the tournament," Woods figured.
He began the round with a long drive at No. 1 that cut into the center of the fairway, then an approach shot to 20 feet to set up a routine par. He then made par from a bunker at No. 2 -- the first time he parred the first two holes this week.
Woods made his two birdies on back-to-back holes beginning at No. 3, where he rolled in an eight-foot putt. He two-putted from 20 feet at the fourth.
MORE TO FOLLOW.
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Phillies hold off Tigers >>
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In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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