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05/21/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If you watch as much golf as someone in my position does, sure enough you will hear an announcer every week say something about a player's caddie being a good golfer himself.
And they aren't kidding. There are several tour caddies that gave up trying to make it to the PGA Tour after years playing the mini-tours. They stay close to the big leagues by lugging golf bags around for a living. It is a rare occasion when one of those caddies gets to play an official PGA Tour event.
Last weekend, Lance Ten Broeck pulled off an historic doubleheader. Ten Broeck, a former regular on the PGA Tour, was listed as an alternate for the Texas Open. Thursday morning, he saddled up for his normal gig as Jesper Parnevik's caddie.
Upon completion of Parnevik's first round, a tour official tracked down Ten Broeck and told him he was in the field after David Berganio had withdrawn with a back injury. Ten Broeck had a little more than 90 minutes until he teed off.
In that time, Ten Broeck went to a nearby mall to get some pants, borrowed Richard S. Johnson's clubs, Tag Ridings' putter, David Duval's shoes and Lee Janzen's glove.
He then headed to the first tee, where he was paired with D.A. Points and Darron Stiles. Ten Broeck went out and carded a one-over 71.
"It's the first time I have done it," Ten Broeck said after his round. "In Mexico a few years ago, I had an opportunity, but it was the same [tee off] time as Parnevik's so I chose to work. I didn't have my clubs then, but then again I didn't have them this time either. I had to borrow clubs."
Ten Broeck is in an exclusive group, as it is believed to be the only time anyone has ever done such a thing.
The 53-year-old followed his 71 with an even-par 70 on Friday to finish two rounds at one-over-par 141. He did miss the cut, which fell at one-under-par 139.
After playing the first round with one set of clubs, he had to piece together another set for the second round because Johnson had to use his clubs Friday afternoon.
"I played with a different set today than I did yesterday because the set I used yesterday, they're Richard Johnson's and he had to use those this afternoon," Ten Broeck said on Friday. "I couldn't use them, so I had to get another set. So it was a little difficult, actually."
Ten Broeck missed the cut by two shots playing with two different sets of clubs, and he still managed to caddie 31 of Parnevik's 36 holes. Ten Broeck's son took his place for the first few holes of Parnevik's second round, while the elder Ten Broeck completed Parnevik's second round.
Not a bad week for any professional golfer. But just how good was it? He beat his boss, Parnevik, by three strokes. Parnevik went 70-74 to miss the cut at plus-four. Ten Broeck also bettered 51 other pros that teed it up at LaCantera last week.
Parnevik told Golfweek magazine, "(Ten Broeck) beat half the field hung over and tired."
The next time an announcer says that someone's caddie is a very good golfer himself, don't doubt the revelation as I used to do.
LUCIDI CARRIES ON AFTER SCARY INCIDENT
To this day, there is a one golf course I will never play again. It has nothing to do with the condition of the course, or how I played the course. The reason is what I saw on the 18th green that day.
My friends and I were on the 14th or 15th hole -- can't remember which -- when someone frantically stopped us asking if we knew CPR. The reason was that a golfer was felled on the 18th green by a heart attack. We kept playing knowing we wouldn't finish our round.
When we reached the 17th tee, paramedics were tending to the gentlemen on the 18th green. The 17th tee overlooks the final green and when we were walking to the tee, I watched as paramedics shocked the gentleman with a defibrillator in hopes of reviving him. Seeing that was not a pleasant site and unfortunately, they were not successful.
Last weekend cameras caught Becky Lucidi on the ground on the 12th hole during Saturday's third round of the Sybase Classic. Things were not nearly as dire for the 2002 U.S. Women's amateur champion.
Lucidi, who has a heart condition, remained on the ground for several minutes as she was tended to. Defying the odds, she bounced back to finish her round.
The 25-year-old has a pacemaker for her condition, but it was not known whether that existing ailment led to her collapse. The tour does not release personal information about its players.
No matter the cause, Lucidi managed to also complete the final round the following day. She ended in a tie for 23rd place, which was her only made cut in six starts this season.
MINI-TIDBITS
- Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Amy Mickelson, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Her husband, three-time major champion Phil Mickelson, will take a leave of absence from the tour to support his wife as her treatments begin.
- Pat Perez will be out of action for up to two months with an ankle injury. He was running with his dog and missed a curb as the dog pulled him one direction as Perez tried to go another. He tore two of three ligaments in his ankle.
- Shane Lowry, the 22-year-old Irishman who became the third amateur to win on the European Tour last week, turned pro on Thursday and will compete next week at the European Open. Lowry had planned on playing in the Walker Cup in September, but the lure of playing for big paychecks was too much.
- Cheyenne Woods, Tiger's niece, will compete in her first LPGA Tour event during the last weekend of June. Cheyenne accepted a sponsor's invitation to play in the Wegmans LPGA.
<< Rangers' Broadfoot has foot surgery
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rangers defender Kirk Broadfoot has
confirmed he will miss the start of next season after undergoing surgery
on a foot injury.
The 24-year-old faces at least five months out of action
<< Boro's Downing 'frustrated' by injury
Middlesbrough, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A second scan on the foot injury
suffered by Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing has failed to show the full
extent of the problem.
The results of further tests on the 24-year-old England
<< Youzhny ousts Melzer in Austria
Kitzbuhel, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seventh-seeded Russian Mikhail
Youzhny upended second-seeded Austrian crowd favorite Jurgen Melzer 6-4, 6-4
in Thursday's quarterfinal action at the clay-court Austrian Open.
Melzer, who re
<< Sharapova exits Warsaw
Warsaw, Poland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - On-the-mend superstar Maria Sharapova
came up a quarterfinal loser Thursday at the $600,000 Warsaw Open, a final
clay-court French Open tune-up.
Eighth-seeded Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko bounced
Tigers activate Robertson from DL >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers activated pitcher Nate
Robertson from the 15-day disabled list on Thursday.
The move, which was retroactive to May 6, was made because of a low back
muscle strain.
Robertson h
Nationals call on Stammen for Thursday start, move Cabrera to pen >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals have recalled
right-hander Craig Stammen to make Thursday's start against Pittsburgh.
Stammen will be making his major league debut in place of Daniel Cabrera, who
was slated
Hamilton's Reid expects major changes >>
Hamilton, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hamilton Academical manager Billy Reid is
expecting to make major changes to his squad this summer.
The likes of James McCarthy and James McArthur are expected to move on at the
end of the current ca
Inter's Crespo set for Viola switch >>
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Inter Milan striker Hernan Crespo is believed
to be on the verge of sealing a free transfer switch to Fiorentina.
Crespo, 33, is out of contract at the San Siro this summer after another season
of few first-
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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Sportsbook betting odds favor Europe in Ryder Cup
September 19, – Despite holding a decided edge in the all-time series, with 24 wins, 2 ties and 10 losses, Team USA is the underdog again heading into the Ryder Cup in Kidare, Ireland this weekend, according to MySportsbook.com. The Europeans have captured four of the past five editions, including their largest victory ever, an 18 ½ to 9 ½ thumping in Michigan in 2004. Current Ryder Cup betting odds favor the Europeans to continue their winning ways; they are a 4-5 bet to take the title, compared to 6-5 for the Americans.
Despite being knocked out in the first round of World Match play by Shaun Micheel, Tiger Woods is predicted to lead the US charge and be their highest point scorer for the week, with odds listed at 9-4 that he outpoints all other American players, including Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco to name a few. Team USA has four relatively unknown players on the roster but all four are 2007 tournament winners and have posted some of season’s best performances, each earning over $1.5 million on the PGA TOUR. They include Zach Johnson, Vaughan Taylor, JJ Henry and Brett Wetterich.
The experienced European squad includes the likes of Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Jose Maria Olazabal and Darren Clarke, who’s emotions will be tested after the passing of his wife to a battle with cancer. Donald and Garcia are in particularly good form and each is a 5-1 bet to lead the European squad in the points race. Donald has proven he can go head to head with Woods at a major event after a run for the $1.2 million purse at the PGA Championship. Garcia’s Ryder Cup credentials prove he’s ready for battle too.
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Ryder Cup Odds| Europe Tie USA |
4-5 10-1 6-5 |
| Tiger Woods Jim Furyk Phil Mickelson Chris DiMarco David Toms Stewart Cink Chad Campbell Scott Verplank Zach Johnson Vaughan Taylor JJ Henry Brett Wetterich |
9-4 4-1 5-1 7-1 8-1 12-1 15-1 15-1 25-1 30-1 30-1 50-1 |
| Sergio Garcia Luke Donald Padraig Harrington Colin Montgomerie Darren Clarke David Howell Lee Westwood Paul Casey Henrik Stenson Jose Maria Olazabal Paul McGinley Robert Karlsson |
5-1 5-1 6-1 13-2 8-1 9-1 9-1 11-1 12-1 12-1 20-1 25-1 |
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