09/06/2008 - Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nationwide Tour rookie Brendon Todd fired a six- under 65 on Saturday to take the lead after three rounds of the Utah Championship.
Todd finished his spotless round with three birdies on his final five holes, closing out his third consecutive low score with a flourish to get into the clubhouse at 18-under 195.
He held a one-shot advantage over second-round leader Marc Leishman, who carded a 68 to reach 17-under 196.
"I've played great all three days," said Todd, who went 64-66 over the first two rounds. "Today I was able to stay patient and eliminate the bogeys."
Kyle Thompson was in the thick of things following a 68 that left him two shots off the lead at 16-under 197, while Jonathan Fricke (64) stood at 13- under 200 as the only other player within five strokes of Todd.
Todd, who entered the tournament ranked 53rd on the money list, picked a good week to challenge for his first Nationwide Tour win.
The Georgia native currently sits almost $60,000 outside the 25th position on the money list with just four events remaining before the season-ending Tour Championship.
The top 25 money winners at the end of the season will earn PGA Tour cards for next year -- a reward that could have Todd playing on a much different level in 2009.
But one thing at a time. The youngster is still adjusting to the high altitude of the Willow Creek course, and what effect it has on the distance his shots travel.
"In the mornings and evenings it's a five-percent difference," said Todd, who has posted four top-1o finishes in his rookie season. "In the middle of the day it's a full 10-percent.
"This is a great course for me."
Rob Grube (63), Jimmy Walker (65), Jeff Curl (67) and Bubba Dickerson (67) shared fifth place at 12-under 201, with six players sitting another shot further back at 202.
<< Tide rolls past Green Wave
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The No. 13 Alabama Crimson Tide used two
special teams touchdowns to get a 20-6 win over the Tulane Green Wave at
Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Javier Arenas and Chris Rogers both scored touchdowns for
<< Cust homers twice to power A's past O's
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jack Cust tallied two homers and three RBI
as the Oakland Athletics topped the Baltimore Orioles, 5-1, at Camden Yards.
The teams were supposed to play a day/night doubleheader but Tropical Storm
Hanna
<< Reesing stars for Jayhawks in shutout of Bulldogs
Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Todd Reesing completed 32 of 38 passes for 412
yards and three touchdowns, two of which went to Daymond Patterson, to lead
14th-ranked Kansas to a 29-0 romp over Louisiana Tech.
Patterson caught eight pas
<< Tigers maul Redhawks
Columbia, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chase Daniel was near perfect behind center
and Derrick Washington scored three touchdowns as the sixth-ranked Missouri
Tigers wiped the floor with the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 52-3.
In less tha
Houston's Oswalt dazzles in one-hitter against Rockies >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roy Oswalt threw his first shutout of the
season as the Houston Astros downed the Colorado Rockies, 2-0, in the middle
portion of a three-game series at Coors Field.
Oswalt (14-9) gave up just one hi
Nats blow lead in ninth, but top Braves in extras >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Elijah Dukes hit a pair of solo homers and
Ryan Langerhans had a pinch-hit go-ahead homer in the 10th inning, as the
Washington Nationals edged the Atlanta Braves, 8-5, in the third contest of a
four-ga
No. 17 South Florida nips UCF in OT >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Grothe threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to
Taurus Johnson in the only overtime and the 17th-ranked South Florida Bulls
held off the UCF Knights, 31-24.
Grothe completed 23-of-40 passes for 346 yards w
Cruz, Rangers defeat Red Sox in slugfest >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nelson Cruz homered twice and tied a career-
high by knocking in five runs, and the Rangers finally beat Boston, 15-8,
preventing the Red Sox from gaining ground in the AL East.
Josh Hamilton continue
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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