Finch leads by one at Gleneagles

Golf Betting Lines

08/26/2010 - Perthshire, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Richard Finch opened with a six-under 66 Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.

Four of Finch's fellow Englishmen are tied for second place at minus-five. Gary Boyd, Richard Bland, David Lynn and Robert Rock share second with Scotland's Stephen Gallacher.

The European Ryder Cup team will be finalized after Sunday's final round. Several players are fighting for the last two automatic spots or trying to play well enough so that captain Colin Montgomerie will add them to the team.

Miguel Angel Jimenez and Peter Hanson have the final two spots on that team at this point, but could be bumped off. Hanson is tied for 18th at three-under 69. Jimenez, who passed up a family commitment to play this week, is one stroke further back at minus-two.

Simon Dyson, one of the players that could play his way onto the team, opened with a 68. He and Francesco Molinari, who is also at minus-four, headline a group of 11 players tied for seventh.

Ross McGowan, who was hoping to play his way onto the team, or at least play well enough to gain a captain's pick, had to withdraw after shooting 77 due to a shoulder injury. Molinari secured a spot on the European Ryder Cup team with McGowan's withdrawal.

"Unfortunately, I won't be able to make the team now, but I've got a few years left in me, so hopefully I'll make it in a couple of years' time," McGowan stated. "I'm pretty gutted. I had a great opportunity to make the team after having such a good finish to last year."

Finch got his round going with a birdie on the second. After four straight pars, he converted back-to-back birdie chances from the seventh to move to three-under par.

The Englishman ran off five straight pars from the ninth before dropping in his fourth birdie of the day at the par-four 14th.

Finch grabbed a share of the lead with a birdie on 16, then moved atop the leaderboard with a birdie at the last.

"The scorecard doesn't really tell the whole story I suppose, but to go bogey- free was quite remarkable," said Finch, who won twice during the 2008 season.

"I took the slightly scenic route at times, and I'm delighted with the result. Six-under par anywhere is a great score. I think I was one-under after five holes, and I one-putted every hole to get to that point and thought I was going to be in for a long, difficult day."

Lynn also had a bogey-free round with five birdies and 13 pars. Rock and Gallacher carded six birdies and a bogey. Bland mixed nine birdies and four bogeys through his round, while Boyd had four bogeys, an eagle and seven birdies.

NOTES: Defending champion Peter Hedblom posted a three-under 69 and is tied for 18th...David Drysdale and Rafa Echenique both withdrew during their rounds.

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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.

Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.