Byrd looking for repeat performance in Hawaii

Golf Betting Lines

01/06/2012 - Kapalua, Hawaii (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When all the champions get together, it seems as though Jonathan Byrd shines the brightest.

Byrd, attempting to defend his title at the PGA Tour's season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions, began with a six-under 67 on Friday and sits alone atop the leaderboard.

His only victory of 2011 came in a playoff win over Robert Garrigus at Plantation Course at Kapalua, but Byrd is looking to make it two in a row after eight birdies and two bogeys. If he were to go on to victory, Byrd would have six PGA Tour wins in his career.

The season-opening event is four rounds like most other tournaments, except it will end Monday evening as opposed to the traditional Sunday finish. Invitations are extended only to those who won a tournament in the previous year, and, after Lucas Glover's withdrawal earlier in the day, 27 entrants teed off on Friday.

Byrd will have to keep up his hot play if he is to hold off a host of contenders, as four players share second at five-under 68. Among those is Webb Simpson, who is coming off a second-place performance in last year's FedEx Cup Playoffs.

The others include 11-time PGA Tour champ Steve Stricker, Michael Bradley and Martin Laird. PGA Champion Keegan Bradley is sixth at minus-four.

Byrd was in the final pairing with FedEx Cup champ Bill Haas, but while Haas struggled all afternoon, Byrd wasted no time.

After two opening pars, Byrd ran off six straight birdies, but it was the final three that were the most impressive.

He broke into red figures with a five-foot birdie putt at the third and followed with birdies at Nos. 4 and 5 from about the same length. The streak appeared over at the sixth, when his approach sat 28 feet away from the pin, but Byrd sank the putt to move to four-under.

Byrd, who made only 12 putts from over 25 feet in all of 2011, followed with a 26-footer at the seventh for birdie and a 29-footer for birdie at the eighth. At six-under, even the defending champion was a bit stunned.

"That's it?" Byrd said on television when informed of his 12 made putts from long distance in 2011. "It's something I practiced this offseason. I tried to improve on 10 to 25 feet after looking at the stats."

Unfortunately for Byrd, he was unable to maintain the momentum all the way through. He missed a nine-foot par putt at the ninth, and he found a greenside bunker at the par-three 11th en route to another bogey.

After dropping back to four-under, Byrd responded with an eight-foot birdie putt at the 12th. At the 16th, he made his fourth long putt of the round, draining a 29-footer for birdie to get back to six-under.

He had a chance to move two clear with a birdie at the last, but his 12-foot chance barely missed. Still, Byrd was optimistic about his play.

"I felt good out there," Byrd said on TV. "My misses were good. I only hit a few loose shots. For the most part, I'm really pleased. I gave myself a lot of opportunities and made a few putts."

K.J. Choi is in seventh at three-under 70, while D.A. Points and Bryce Molder share eighth at minus-two.

NOTES: In 2011, Brandt Jobe, Hunter Mahan, Cameron Tringale and Johnson Wagner tied for the most putts made of over 25 feet with 28. Wagner is the only one of the four in the field this week, and he shot a one-under 72...Byrd ranked 130th on that list with his 12 makes in 2011...Glover withdrew due to a knee injury suffered in a paddleboard accident earlier in the week...This is the fewest number of players in the field since the tournament moved to Kapalua in 1999.

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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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