Baddeley and Byrd lead; Woods one back at Cog Hill

Golf Betting Lines

09/07/2007 - Lemont, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Overnight leader Jonathan Byrd and Aaron Baddeley are tied atop the leaderboard after Friday's second round of the BMW Championship, but three-time winner Tiger Woods lurks only one shot back.

Byrd shot a 69 on Friday, while Baddeley fired a six-under 65 to finish 36 holes at nine-under-par 133.

Woods managed his second consecutive, four-under 67 to come in at minus-eight.

Woods collected his first birdie at the par-three sixth, then hit an amazing hook shot to the ninth to set up another birdie. He took advantage of the next par five, the 11th, with another birdie, but got derailed a bit at the par- three 14th when he left with bogey.

Woods responded with birdies at 15 and 17 to get within one of the lead.

"It was a very interesting round," acknowledged Woods. "I was hitting it close on every hole, then I felt terrible on the greens. Then in the middle of the round, I couldn't hit a shot but felt great on the greens. It was a weird combo."

Woods can move into first on the FedEx Cup Playoff Points race this week. Leader Phil Mickelson took over the top spot after his win last week at the Deutsche Bank Championship, but took the week off this week.

Steve Stricker is another player that can assume the lead of the Playoff Points race with a good week. He shot a five-under 66 on Friday and is tied with Woods, Justin Rose (69) and Camilo Villegas (69).

This is the third FedEx Cup Playoff event and the winner will be crowned next week at the Tour Championship when the field is cut to the top 30 on the Playoff Points list.

There was a 2 1/2 hour weather delay on Friday, but the entire field finished.

Byrd hit only one shot before the weather, a three-wood off the first tee, and made birdie on the hole. He added another birdie at the third, but bogeyed the eighth and 12th to fall back to even-par for the round.

Later in his round, Byrd got going, but it didn't look that way after an awful tee shot at 15. He had to pitch out and make a four-footer to save par at the par five.

At the 16th, Byrd hit his approach to a foot and tapped in for birdie. His ball landed three feet from the hole at the 17th, but it rolled to 12 feet. No matter for Byrd as he made the birdie putt and nearly chipped in for a birdie at the 18th before settling for par.

"I was kind of struggling in the middle of the round," admitted Byrd. "I was getting a little frustrated. I had two three-putts, which I never like doing that. I just wasn't hitting good putts. I was giving myself chances and giving myself 15- and 20-footers but I was misreading them by a foot."

Byrd has a lot to play for this week. He stands in 30th on the FedEx Cup Playoff points list, which is the cutoff number to get into the field next week at the Tour Championship.

"I don't really like talking about it because it probably puts more pressure on myself," acknowledged Byrd. "But that's just one of the byproducts of playing well; you just keep moving up the list."

Baddeley is all but assured a spot next week, ranking 11th on the list. He is playing well at the moment with 28 of 36 greens in regulation this week and was in the exact same position atop the leaderboard after 36 holes last week.

"I feel like I have very good control over the trajectory and the shape of the shot," said Baddeley. "I feel very comfortable with my golf swing."

Baddeley plodded along with one birdie in his first four holes, but the horn sounded as he was playing the 14th, his fifth hole of the day. After the stoppage, Baddeley birdied three in a row, but dropped a shot at 18.

"I came back and started nicely after the break with three birdies, so that was good," said Baddeley. "I was very pleased to start like that."

Baddeley tallied four birdies and a bogey on his second nine, including a 14- footer at his last to join the lead.

Pat Perez shot a two-under 69 and is alone in seventh place at minus-seven. Stuart Appleby managed a three-under 68 and has eighth at six-under-par 136.

Ryuji Imada (70), Hunter Mahan (68) and Tim Clark (69) are knotted in ninth at five-under 137.

There is no cut at this event.

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SPORTS BETTING

NFL Football Betting Online

In terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.

It is called the "pointspread."

Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.

But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.

A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.

In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.

The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere for online football betting .

Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.

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