Stricker still 5 clear at Kapalua

Golf Betting Lines

01/08/2012 - Kapalua, HI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Stricker needed a late rally to keep his comfortable lead on Sunday.

The 44-year-old Wisconsin native birdied the final four holes to keep his five-stroke lead after three rounds of the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

Stricker carded a four-under 69 to end 54 holes at 19-under-par 200.

He will go for his 12th PGA Tour title on Monday at Kapalua. Stricker has won five of the last six times he has owned at least a piece of the 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour.

Defending champion Jonathan Byrd and Scotland's Martin Laird both shot six- under 67 Sunday to move into a share of second at minus-14. They were joined there by Webb Simpson, who posted a four-under 69 in round three.

Bryce Molder (67) and Kevin Na (71) are tied for fifth at 11-under-par 208.

Stricker led by five entering the round, but got off to a slow start with six consecutive pars. He posted his first birdie on the seventh as he drained a 20-footer.

However, he gave that stroke right back with a three-putt bogey on the par- three eighth.

Stricker was still three clear at that point, but as he parred the next six holes Simpson inched within one of the lead.

Much like he did in the first two rounds, Stricker caught fire down the stretch. He two-putted for birdie on the par-five 15th. Stricker spun his short approach off the front edge on 16.

No worries, though. He chipped in for birdie to push his lead back to three strokes.

Stricker stuffed his approach within four feet at 17 and poured that birdie putt in. At the 18th, he came up just short with his second, but rolled an eagle effort within two feet. Stricker kicked that in for birdie to finish his second straight round with a five-stroke cushion.

"It was a struggle today. Not a lot of good things happened," admitted Stricker in a televised interview. "I stayed patient, I really did. I kind of stole one with the chip in on 16.

"When you're leading a golf tournament, it is so hard to keep the momentum. I had such a good day [Saturday], and when you're not making birdies, you feel like you're letting things slip away. And that's what I was feeling like. Fortunately, I had a good finish."

Stricker has played the 15th through 18th at 11-under with nine birdies, an eagle and two pars.

Byrd stumbled to bogeys on the second and third to tumble nine strokes back at the time. He got those strokes right back with a birdie on the fourth and an eagle on No. 5.

After three straight pars, Byrd birdied five of seven holes from the ninth to soar to 14-under. He parred the last three to share second.

"I had a rough start. I made two poor bogeys starting out. I hit a good wedge on four near that accessible pin, then eagled five," Byrd explained on television. "I hadn't played the par-fives real well, so making that eagle got me back in it feeling like I was playing good again."

Laird had four birdies on the front nine before faltering to his only bogey on No. 11. He erased that mistake with a birdie at 12. Back-to-back birdies from the 15th moved Laird to minus-14. He parred the last two.

"It was tough to make some putts out here. The greens are grainy with lots of slopes, so it takes a few holes to get used to the reads," Laird said in a TV interview. "That was kind of the case today."

Simpson had one birdie through seven holes. He carded three birdies in a five- hole span from the eighth to get to 14-under. Simpson was just one back, but the 16th proved to be a tough turning point.

Like Stricker, Simpson spun his approach off the green. Simpson failed to get it up and down, and his bogey dropped him four back. He did two-putt for birdie at the last to get back to minus-14.

It may have only been a four-under 69 for Simpson, but it was pretty impressive as he put a new driver in his bag moments before the round started. Simpson cracked the face of his old driver on the practice range, but was able to get a new one before his round began.

Harrison Frazar had the low round of the day with his seven-under 66. He jumped three spots into seventh place at 10-under-par 209.

NOTES: Stricker is 7-of-13 in his PGA Tour career with at least a piece of the 54-hole lead...Americans own 18 of the top 21 spots on the leaderboard...The event has a scheduled Monday finish with the tee times pushed up two hours so that the round ends prior to the start of college football's national championship game.

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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.)

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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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