Haas extends lead in Des Moines

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06/09/2007 - West Des Moines, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jay Haas, the reigning Champions Tour Player of the Year, overcame a double-bogey on Saturday with six birdies in a seven-hole span to increase his lead at The Principal Charity Classic.

Haas shot a four-under 67 in the second round and is three ahead at 10-under- par 132.

David Edwards shot a three-under 68 on Saturday and is alone in second place at minus-seven. Denis Watson, who won the Senior PGA Championship last month, posted a four-under 67 and has third place at six-under-par 136.

Haas, who held a one-shot lead over Dave Eichelberger at the start of the second round, bogeyed the par-three second hole. He got that stroke back with a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-three fifth, but trouble loomed.

At the par-four eighth, Haas drove his ball well to the right. His second shot remained in the tall grass and he finally reached the putting surface with his fourth shot. Haas missed the 35-footer for bogey and found himself trailing the lead.

That was short-lived for Haas, an eight-time winner on the Champions Tour, including two this year. He reached the par-five ninth green in two and two- putted for a birdie from 25 feet. Haas made it two in a row with a sensational seven-iron tee ball that rolled back to a foot.

"The next hole was big, the ninth hole," said Haas. "It's a relatively easy par five, if you drive it well and I did. I hit one of my best drives of the day and managed to get a two-putt birdie. That kind of settled me down a bit."

Haas stayed hot, although he parred the par-five 11th when his second left him with a difficult bunker shot. After the par at 11, Haas rattled off four consecutive birdies.

At the 12th, Haas drained a 17-footer for birdie to reach seven-under par and get within one of the lead. He holed a 45-foot birdie putt at the 13th to tie for the lead, then kicked in a three-footer at 14 to move in front for good.

He gave himself a good look at eagle at the par-five 15th, but his 20-footer stayed above ground. Haas tapped in for birdie, then moved three clear when Edwards could not make par from the right rough at 17.

Haas parred 16 and 17 in relative ease, but hit a strong approach to the closing hole at Glen Oaks Country Club. He had 14 feet to extend the lead, but missed the putt.

Now, Haas will take a three-shot lead into Sunday, although one week ago, he was in a similar position and lost. He held a one-shot advantage last week at the Boeing Championship at Sandestin, but lost to Loren Roberts after a final- round 73 and tied for fifth place.

"I try not to get ahead," said Haas, who is competing in this event for the first time. "We'll see. I'm hitting some good shots, but there's a long way to go."

Brad Bryant (65) and Mark James (70) are tied for fourth place at five-under- par 137.

Eichelberger struggled to a one-over 72 on Saturday and is knotted in sixth place with Jay Sigel (66) and Morris Hatalsky (68). The trio came in at four- under-par 138.

Tom Jenkins (67), Mike McCullough (67), Hale Irwin (66), Chip Beck (68), Wayne Levi (68), Dave Stockton (69), John Jacobs (70) and Tom Purtzer (71) share ninth at minus-three.

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

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