A step in the right direction for O'Hair

Golf Betting Lines

05/04/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods and Sean O'Hair text each other.

This is not news -- not when we have reporters texting soon-to-be NFL draft picks, congressmen "tweeting" from the floor of the house and Ashton Kutcher posting underwear pics of wife Demi Moore online.

We live in one hell of a well-connected world. If I wanted to, I could see the color of the roof on your house. But I don't want to.

Here at The Sportsbook Betting Lines, we've written about O'Hair a lot. We've spent more column space on him than other equally-deserving young golfers. Part of the reason is that we have a personal relationship with the young man, so...that's how that goes.

We live in one hell of a well-connected world.

O'Hair won the Quail Hollow Championship on Sunday for the third -- and by far biggest -- victory of his career and his first $1 million check. It's a whale of a tournament, won in the past by Woods, Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, David Toms and Anthony Kim.

In beating one of the best fields outside of the four major championships, O'Hair became the only American player under the age of 30 with three PGA Tour titles. Kim, Dustin Johnson, Charles Howell III and Boo Weekley each have two.

O'Hair also joined Sergio Garcia (seven victories) and Adam Scott (six) as the only under-30 players of any nationality who have won at least three times on the PGA Tour.

Now, we could write all we want about what that means: about how O'Hair, and not Howell or Kim, might be the real Next Great American Golfer. But it's way too early for any of that -- even if the victory moved O'Hair to No. 12 in the world rankings, ahead of Kim.

O'Hair won despite coughing up a two-shot lead with back-to-back bogeys on the last two holes. Only a bogey by Lucas Glover on 17 saved him.

Coming just five weeks after he lost a five-shot lead to Woods at the Arnold Palmer Invitational -- Woods beat him with a birdie on the last hole -- his victory on Sunday didn't come in convincing fashion.

Not the way we expect the Next Great American Golfer to win tournaments, at least.

Yes, O'Hair was the only player among the final groups to break 70, but his scrambling finish -- he three-putted from 26 feet at the 18th after missing a slippery downhiller from the back of the green -- didn't inspire waves of confidence in his closing abilities.

But it was a step in the right direction -- OK, a giant leap in the right direction.

Of course, there are other things to consider with O'Hair. Things like the estranged father who pushed him too hard; and that fact that, at age 26, O'Hair has already played professionally for a decade.

These are well-known and well-worn stories -- "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" stuff.

"It feels like a whole 'nother life," O'Hair said about his days playing the mini-tours. "My wife and I have been through a lot ... I remember being on the Gateway Tour in '04 and having $2,000 in our bank account and we didn't have enough money to play in any tournaments in the summer.

"It was basically we were playing for a meal ticket for the next week. I mean, it was actually that tough. We constantly talk about that stuff and reminisce. I think that's the stuff that makes this so sweet. It makes the hard work worth it, and it's just really nice to enjoy it with her, especially from where we came from."

O'Hair and Woods have struck up something of a friendship on tour -- Woods calls O'Hair "Chicago" after the Windy City airport -- and that shouldn't be overlooked.

Woods, 33, is a man whose professional golfer friends tend to be much older -- think 52-year-old Mark O'Meara or 51-year-old John Cook -- so it's eye-opening to see him embrace a youngster like O'Hair. Especially one who is on everybody's "Who will challenge Tiger?" radar.

The world No. 1, after finishing fourth, waited around to congratulate O'Hair on his victory.

"He's got all the talent. We know that," said Woods, who admitted being a friend -- and fan -- of O'Hair's. "We've seen how well he's played. It's just he's been through a lot off the golf course, and it's just a matter of time before all that settles in."

"He's got a great family," Woods continued, "and you can see now he's starting to gain confidence with what he's working on. I think he's gone back to his old coach, and things are working out pretty good for him."

When O'Hair arrived for Masters week two Mondays after losing to Woods at Bay Hill, he spotted Woods during a practice round.

"I saw Tiger, and he looked over and I kind of nodded, and he said something, and I'm like, 'That son of a b---h!'" O'Hair laughed. "The guy is a fierce competitor."

The fiercest.

A colleague is always harping on the topic of "learning how to win." He wrote often about how Michelle Wie was never given a chance to learn how to win, how she was thrust into the spotlight on the LPGA Tour and pushed to play against the men on the PGA Tour.

In some ways, her story could end up like O'Hair's. She could be -- there's a good chance she will be -- a three-time winner by the time she is 26. But she needs to learn how to win.

O'Hair is almost there. Three wins into his still-young career, a spot just outside the top-10 in the world rankings and a slew of good performances to start the season, and it's clear O'Hair is learning.

But he nearly gave away another win on Sunday.

Luckily for him, Lucas Glover is not Tiger Woods.

O'Hair talked more about seeing Woods at Augusta, so soon after he had become just the latest Sunday offering to the Best Player in the World.

"I just saw him, and he smiled and I smiled back. He's a good guy. You know, he texted me afterwards and said some nice words. The guy is just -- no matter how friendly you are with him, he wants to slit your throat on the golf course, and I respect that. That's a true competitor."

And that's where O'Hair needs to be.

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Super Bowl 2009 Betting

Super Bowl 2009 Betting propositions

Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.

Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.

Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.

If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.

Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.

By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.

In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.

So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.

While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.

There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.

In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:

SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.

XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.

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MySportsbook.com Releases World Series Championship Lines

New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox early favorites to win 2008 World Series
The Major League Baseball season starts this weekend and MySportsbook.com, a leading online sportsbook for over 8 years, is the first to offer baseball sports betting lines on who will win the 2007 World Series.

"The World Series is the biggest baseball event in the sports betting world and MySportsbook.com is excited that we are first to market with betting lines on every team," says Tim Dalton, Marketing Director, MySportsbook.com. "We are getting things ready for a great baseball season and our members are looking forward to our Player Payback Bonuses, as well as Dime Lines, all season long."

Going in to this weekend, MySportsbook.com's favorites to win the World Series are the New York Yankees at 7-2 and last year’s winners the Chicago White Sox at 9-2.

"These betting lines are ripe for the picking," Dalton added, "baseball fans know that the season is long and many factors, including players staying healthy, will affect these Future odds as the baseball season progresses. Betting on your favorite team in the beginning of the season could prove quite lucrative. We are seeing examples of this right now in the NCAA College Basketball Tournament with a lucky few that placed pre-season bets on George Mason to win it all. Anything can happen."

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