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05/09/2009 - Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If Alex Cejka is going to earn his first PGA Tour victory on Sunday, he will have to contend with his playing partner before all else.
That would be Tiger Woods.
Cejka only managed an even-par 72 on Saturday, but it was enough to extend his cushion to five shots over Woods and five other players after the third round of The Players Championship at the Stadium Course at the TPC at Sawgrass.
Cejka, who birdied the last to finish at 11-under 205, will now be paired with Woods in Sunday's final group in his quest to get his first win inside the United States.
While Cejka may not have the PGA Tour victory yet, he's certainly no slouch. He owns four European Tour titles, and three of those came with at least a piece of the 54-hole lead.
This isn't Cejka's first third-round lead on tour. He shared a piece of the 2001 British Open third-round lead before a final-round 73 left him in a tie for 13th, six behind eventual winner David Duval.
His five-stroke advantage is the largest third-round lead in Players Championship history and Cejka may need all of those strokes come Sunday afternoon.
Woods is the most intimidating player in the sport and six weeks ago, toppled Sean O'Hair down five at the beginning of the final round at Bay Hill. Five shots is the largest comeback in tournament history and Cejka has not visited the winner's circle in almost seven years, so he could be shaky.
No matter what, this should make for an interesting Sunday.
"If you want to win a big event like this, you have to beat everybody," acknowledged Cejka. "It doesn't matter who you play with. It's going to be a challenge tomorrow. I've played with him before. He's the best golfer in the world and we'll see what I can match."
Woods posted a two-under 70 to finish at six-under 210 and was joined in second by two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen (71), Jonathan Byrd (71), Ben Crane (72), Henrik Stenson (73) and Ian Poulter (75).
Woods was only one-under par through his first 10 holes, then found trouble with a drive at the par-five 11th. His tee ball landed against a tree and Woods was forced to go left-handed with his second shot.
He was just trying to hit it back in the fairway, but with an inverted club face and a surprisingly proficient technique, Woods knocked it back into play.
"I don't have a problem hitting shots left-handed," said Woods. "I actually hit it too good and I was stymied there for my third shot."
Unfortunately, Woods couldn't save par at 11, but he got the stroke back at the next hole with a short birdie putt. The best in the game drove into a bunker at 15 and failed to make par. He took advantage of the next few holes to get back into contention.
At the par-five 16th, Woods knocked it on the green in two and lagged his 45- footer inside two feet. He birdied that hole, then delighted the crowd with a nine-iron tee ball to eight feet at the famous 17th.
Woods made that, then sank a spectacular par from the right rough at 18 to give himself a chance on Sunday.
"This is basically our fifth major, and that's how it's playing. It's playing just like a major championship," said Woods, who has not finished inside the top 10 since his only win here in 2001. "It's fast, it's hard, it's dry. And you just have to keep plodding along."
That's exactly what Cejka did on Saturday.
He made four pars in his first four holes and he had to scramble for some. At the fifth, Cejka rolled in a 14-foot birdie putt to get to 12-under par, but found trouble before the turn.
At the par-four seventh, Cejka three-putted from 35 feet for a bogey and two holes later, at the par-five ninth, Cejka made a mess of the hole and missed a nine-footer for par.
That bogey still left Cejka one ahead and he got it together at the par-five 11th. He knocked his second in a greenside bunker, then blasted out to four feet. Cejka converted the birdie putt and sank a six-footer for birdie at 12 to reclaim his three-stroke cushion.
That margin didn't last long.
Cejka missed a five-foot par save at the 13th and a 10-footer at 14, but was still two ahead thanks to mistakes by his closest competitors, most notably Stenson, who bogeyed three of his last five, and Kevin Na.
Na got within three after an eagle at 16, but back-to-back bogeys at 17 and 18 dropped him down the leaderboard.
Cejka was comfortably ahead. He made a curious decision at the par-five 16th with a poor lay-up, but survived with a par. He was four in front and made a two-putt par at the island 17th.
At the last, Cejka hit a spectacular shot to five feet. He calmly rolled in the birdie putt to match the largest 54-hole lead in tournament history.
"Every birdie is important out here, but I'm very pleased with the way I finished," said Cejka, who defected from Communist Czechoslovakia with his father when he was nine years old. "I went out there and tried to enjoy today's round and not really think too much ahead."
A Poulter birdie at the last would have put him in the final pairing Sunday, but now it'll be Cejka and the world's best golfer. It will be Cejka's biggest stage and he seems poised to prevail with a calm approach that worked on Saturday.
"My goal is to take it out there and take it easy," he said. "Wait for my chances."
Na had an eagle, four birdies, five bogeys and a triple-bogey for a round of 74. He is tied for eighth with Brian Davis (71) and John Mallinger (74) at minus-five.
Masters champion Angel Cabrera, who complained of pace of play problems with partner Na, posted a five-over 77 and fell into a tie for 28th at two-under 214.
Phil Mickelson shot a one-under 71 and is part of a group knotted in 41st at minus-one. That puts the 2007 champion two ahead of the 2008 winner, Sergio Garcia, who could only muster a one-over 73 on Saturday.
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Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar did not
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Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lyle Overbay went 2-for-3 with a home run and
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Johnson, Horford start against Cavs >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson, and forwards
Al Horford and Marvin Williams all played in Saturday's Game 3 of the Eastern
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Johnson missed practice
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Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carmelo Anthony drained a game-winning three-
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Maveric
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Darlington, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR announced on Saturday they have
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Diamondbacks place Petit on DL >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks placed pitcher
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“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football wagering needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.
As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.
Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.
Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.
Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey betting needs.
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