Overton three ahead at Wyndham Championship

Golf Betting Lines

08/18/2007 - Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Overton posted a six-under 66 on Saturday to emerge from a crowded leaderboard after three rounds of the Wyndham Championship.

Overton, one of three overnight co-leaders, finished 54 holes at 18-under-par 198 and is three clear of four players in his pursuit for a first victory on the PGA Tour.

Billy Mayfair fired an eight-under 64 on Saturday. That great score vaulted him into a tie for second place with Anders Hansen, Carl Pettersson and Tim Petrovic, all of whom shot 68s in the third round. The group came in at minus-15.

Overton did not get off to a great start on Saturday as he hit an awful wedge over the green at one. He could not save par there, but drained a 12-footer for birdie at the second.

He hit a six-iron right at the flag at four and tapped in for birdie. Overton made it two in a row thanks to a four-footer at the fifth and found himself at 14-under par for the championship.

Overton barely missed the fairway at the seventh, but hit a lob-wedge to nine feet. He holed that birdie effort and closed his front nine with a six-foot birdie putt at nine.

Overton hit a nine-iron to 12 feet to set up birdie at the 10th. He played a seven-iron to 20 feet at the par-three 12th and rolled in the birdie putt to get to minus-18.

Things did not go well for Overton at the par-five 13th. He missed the green with his second, then hit a poor pitch that never reached the green. Overton's fourth stopped four feet from the flagstick, but he missed the putt and fell to 17-under par.

Thanks to a large mistake by a competitor, Overton was alone in the lead. He padded the margin at 16 when his wedge approach stopped three feet from the hole.

Overton sank that birdie try and made a clutch five-footer to save par at the last to keep his three-stroke edge.

"It's better than being three shots back," said Overton. "I don't think 18- under is going to win this tournament. We cant' go out there tomorrow and just play bad."

If Overton can hang on Sunday afternoon, it would be his first PGA Tour victory. He's never held the 54-hole lead on tour and his best finish was a tie for ninth at last year's 84 Lumber Classic.

Overton can also guarantee a spot in the FedEx Cup playoffs, which start next week at the Barclays. He is currently 165th, outside the top 144, which gets you automatic entrance to next week. If Overton wins, he will move to 49th and guarantee himself two weeks of play.

"We're trying to achieve a level and hopefully we can go out there and play well tomorrow," said Overton. "We can take the experience and continue down the same path in the future."

Lucas Glover, who was named to Jack Nicklaus' U.S. Presidents Cup team on Monday, shot a six-under 66 and is tied for sixth place with Shigeki Maruyama, who carded a 67 on Saturday. The pair is knotted at 14-under-par 202.

Craig Kanada was near the top of the lead until a disastrous triple-bogey at the 16th. He followed that up with a birdie at 17, en route to a two-under-par 70.

At 16, Kanada drove out of bounds, then three-putted for his triple. One hole later, at the par-three 17th, Kanada three-putted again for another bogey to almost squash his chances.

He is tied for eighth place with overnight co-leader Steve Marino (71), Brandt Snedeker (66) and Will MacKenzie (68) at minus-13.

John Huston, the final second-round leader, only managed an even-par 72 and fell into a tie for 12th place at 12-under par.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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