Atwal shoots 61 to lead Wyndham Championship

Golf Betting Lines

08/19/2010 - Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arjun Atwal fired a nine-under 61 to take the first-round lead Thursday at the Wyndham Championship.

Atwal birdied three of his last four holes to match the Sedgefield course scoring record and take a two-shot lead over 2007 champion Brandt Snedeker.

Snedeker snapped a streak of five straight birdies when he bogeyed the 18th for a 63.

The leaderboard was bunched up behind them at the end of a low-scoring day aided by rain-softened greens and lift, clean and place conditions.

Six players -- David Toms, Boo Weekley, Lucas Glover, Kevin Streelman, John Rollins and Jeev Milkha Singh -- were tied at 64. Six more shot a 65 and there were 23 players knotted at 66.

While everyone in the field is focused on a win this week, many are also thinking about next week.

The top 125 players on the FedEx Cup points list after the tournament will make the field for The Barclays next week and the start of the playoffs.

Michael Letzig is 125th on the points list -- last man in at the moment -- and he shot a four-under 66. Mike Weir, who is 126th on the list, opened with a three-under 67.

"This game is always about pressure, whether it's getting into the playoffs, trying to get in the Tour Championship, trying to win the tournament," said Weir. "There's different levels of pressure and this week it's -- I want to play and keep playing."

While it's difficult for a player with a high ranking to make it all the way to the end of the playoffs -- the fields are pared down weekly until there are only 30 players for the Tour Championship -- it is by no means impossible.

Last year, Heath Slocum made the playoffs as the 124th player and won The Barclays, moving to No. 3 on the points list behind Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker.

Slocum made it all the way to the Tour Championship, the playoff finale, and finished eighth on the final points list. He was one of only seven players ranked outside the top 30 on the 2009 points list to advance to the Tour Championship.

One player who no longer has to worry about his standing on the points list is Atwal, who was informed Thursday that he is not eligible for the playoffs.

Atwal failed to earn enough money while playing on a medical extension he received after missing more than four months last season due to a shoulder injury. He had eight tournaments to earn $586,007 to gain full-time playing status for the rest of the year. He has made only $350,490 in nine starts.

Toms broke a six-way tie for the lead when he rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt at the 17th hole to become the first player to reach seven-under par.

Birdies were dropping in every corner of the course, however, and no one was making more than Snedeker, who tied Toms five minutes later with a nine-foot birdie putt at the 16th.

Snedeker then moved into sole possession of the lead at eight-under when he knocked his 126-yard approach to a foot at the 17th, collecting his fifth straight birdie and sixth in seven holes.

As quickly as Snedeker reached the top of the leaderboard, he was joined by Atwal, who made back-to-back birdies, capped by an eight-foot putt at No. 7 to reach eight-under.

Snedeker bogeyed No. 18 from the rough, dropping a shot back, and Atwal built his two-shot lead with a seven-foot birdie putt at No. 9, his last hole.

Atwal matched the course record set by Carl Pettersson during his winning run in 2008. It was the eighth round of 61 or better on the PGA Tour this season.

Defending champion Ryan Moore opened with a 68. Moore birdied the third playoff hole last year to beat Kevin Stadler and Jason Bohn.

Tiger Woods (not playing this week) is 108th on the FedEx Cup points list. It is unlikely he will drop out of the top 125, but he could mathematically fall as low as 132nd. Woods announced Thursday that he would play in The Barclays.

MORE TO FOLLOW.

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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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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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