Leonard, Goydos share Texas Open lead

Golf Betting Lines

05/14/2009 - San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justin Leonard and Paul Goydos both shot seven-under 63s on Thursday to share the first-round lead at the Texas Open.

Leonard, the three-time Texas Open champion, chipped in from 62 feet for a birdie at the 18th hole to tie Goydos for the lead.

"A very good finish," said the Dallas-born Leonard.

Goydos knocked his drive at the 18th hole into a fairway bunker and made his only bogey of the round.

"I kind of made a mess out of the last hole," said Goydos, "but all in all it was a good day."

Jeff Maggert, Marc Leishman and Ted Purdy are tied for third place behind the co-leaders at six-under 64, while Englishmen Brian Davis and Greg Owen share sixth at five-under 65.

Former major champions Lee Janzen, David Duval and Corey Pavin are part of a large group at four-under 66.

Defending champion Zach Johnson opened with a two-under 68 and is tied for 32nd place. Johnson won last year's Texas Open when it was part of the PGA Tour's Fall Series.

Goydos looked to have a stranglehold on first place after posting his 63 in an early group. But Leonard, playing in an afternoon threesome, caught fire on his back nine, collecting four birdies over his final six holes to join him in the lead.

Leonard drained a nine-foot birdie putt at the 16th to move within a stroke, then made his chip-shot at the 18th to tie Goydos.

"When somebody goes out and shoots seven-under in the morning, in the afternoon you know you need to play a good round because you don't want to have to play catchup too much," said Leonard, who is looking to become the first four-time winner in tournament history. "I was able to stay patient."

Goydos scorched the front nine of La Cantera's Resort Course for a sparkling 29. He collected six birdies in that span -- but it was a par at No. 2 that really got things going.

He knocked his tee shot into a bunker, then ended up 20 yards short of the green on his second shot. Left with a difficult up-and-down for par, Goydos pitched it to 10 feet and holed the putt.

"And from that point on everything went pretty smoothly," said Goydos.

He cruised through the next 15 holes, making three straight birdies from No. 4, then back-to-back birdies twice -- at the eighth and ninth and the 12th and 13th holes.

But a messy 18th hole ended Goydos' spotless round. He drove into a fairway bunker on the way to his only bogey of the day.

"You can't have everything good happen for every moment of your life," said Goydos.

A two-time PGA Tour winner, Goydos took a leave of absence at the beginning of this season following the sudden death of his ex-wife, Wendy, in January. He cares for their two teenage daughters.

Thursday marked his best round of the season by three shots.

"I've been on tour for 17 years. I'm sure there's plenty of other people been on tour for 17 years who have had difficult times," said Goydos. "It's just something you have to deal with in life, and it's part of the growing and maturing process, not only for me but for my girls, too."

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.

It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.

As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.

Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.

Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.

Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.

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