Els moves ahead at rainy CA Championship

Golf Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ernie Els fired a six-under 66 on Friday to move in front after the second round of the WGC-CA Championship at a rainy TPC Blue Monster at Doral.

Els, a three-time major winner, finished 36 holes at 10-under 134 and is one stroke clear of Robert Allenby, whose second-round 67 included an ace, an eagle, six birdies, three bogeys and a double-bogey.

Much like Thursday, heavy winds were the story. Officials moved Friday's tee times up in anticipation of forecasted storms, and they almost got the round in without a major incident.

Almost.

The skies opened and with six groups still on the course, play was stopped.

It wasn't until almost 2 1/2 hours later that golf resumed with everyone completing round two.

"I'm just pleased we got it done," said Els after his round and during the delay. "The weather is changing a lot. We played the last three holes very fast to get done."

Els began on the 10th tee Friday and immediately broke into red figures. His second at the par-five hole landed in a bunker, but he got up and down for a birdie.

After three straight pars, Els hit a poor drive left into a bunker, but hammered a seven-iron from 180 yards to four feet to set up a birdie. That started a great run for the South African. He birdied his next two holes for three in a row and was eight-under for the championship.

Els, who bogeyed the par-four Blue Monster 18th on Thursday to fall out of the lead, parred his last two on the front side to leave the back nine unscathed.

At the par-five opening hole, Els reached the green in two with a seven-iron and two-putted from 25 feet for another birdie. He parred his next six in a row, but had to battle a change in winds.

"Stood on the fourth tee and the wind was blowing out of the south before I played my shot and went total opposite way, came out of the normal and the temperature dropped," said Els. "Very, very strange. I think the only other time I had that happen was in Scotland when the tide changed. I think it was at St. Andrews. Other than that, I've never seen that happen."

Els' final birdie of the round came at the par-five eighth. He laid up with a nine-iron, then hit a sand-wedge to 10 feet. The Big Easy rolled home the birdie putt to take his first second-round lead on tour since his victory at the 2008 Honda Classic.

"Putted quite nicely and managed my game quite well," said Els, who won at Doral in 2002 when it was a regular tour stop. "It's in the books, and we were pretty lucky to get done. I mean, we ran the last two holes just to get it in the house. But looking forward to the weekend."

Els beat the weather, but he's been battling his game lately. He started the PGA Tour year with four straight top-20 finishes, but last week at the Honda Classic, tied for 67th.

"I didn't have it last week, so I worked really hard," said Els. "I feel really good mentally this year. I feel a little bit more fresh than I have been. I feel like I'm up for it a little bit more this year. I'm a bit more excited about my whole game."

While Els had a steady, bogey-free round on Friday, Allenby's was nothing like that.

He also started on 10 with a birdie, then holed a "perfect" five-wood for an ace at the 13th.

"Saw it all the way," he joked.

Allenby birdied 14, but double-bogeyed No. 16. The Aussie birdied 17 and reached the par-five first green in two with a seven-iron and drained an 18- foot eagle putt.

Over his next seven holes, Allenby recorded three birdies and two bogeys. He was tied for the lead with Els, but three-putted the ninth green for a bogey to fall into second.

"The conditions were pretty tough, and they weren't so bad probably for the first sort of three hours, but then that cool front, that change sort of came through and everything sort of changed," said Allenby. "The whole golf course changed."

First-round leader Charl Schwartzel finished off his final hole after the delay and had a two-under 70. He is tied for third place with Bill Haas, who shot a six-under 66, at seven-under 137.

Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington (68) and Soren Hansen (69) share fifth at minus-six.

Vijay Singh (71), Yuta Ikeda (68), Mike Weir (66), Tim Clark (69), John Senden (70) and J.B. Holmes (70) are tied for seventh at five-under 139.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson carded a three-under 69 and is part of a group tied for 13th at minus-four.

NOTES: In addition to the long weather delay, there was a 13-minute lightning stoppage earlier in the second round...While tee times were moved up on Friday to try and beat the rain, the forecast calls for sun on Saturday, so players will be in pairs off just the first tee...Last week's Honda Classic winner Camilo Villegas posted a four-under 68 Friday and is tied for 13th at four- under par.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

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