12/01/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA TOUR - PGA TOUR NATIONAL QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT, PGA West (Nicklaus Tournament and TPC Stadium Courses), La Quinta, California - The final stage of the PGA Tour's Q-School will be contested over 90 holes running from Wednesday to Monday.
In a rare occurrence, last year's Q-School winner Frank Lickliter is back to defend his title. He opened with back-to-back 62s last year and cruised to a four-stroke win.
There are plenty of known players trying to gain their 2009 PGA Tour cards at PGA West this week. Among them are Ricky Barnes, Notah Begay III, 1996 PGA Champion Mark Brooks, Robert Gamez, Jason Gore, John Huston, Bob May and Chris Riley.
After 108 holes of action at Q-School, the top 25 and ties will earn their PGA Tour cards for 2009.
Players will compete on both the Nicklaus and TPC Stadium course three times. The final three stages will be televised on the Golf Channel.
There are two more off-season events for the PGA Tour. Next week is the Merrill Lynch Shootout, where Woody Austin and Mark Calcavecchia were victorious last year.
LPGA TOUR
LPGA TOUR FINAL QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT, LPGA International (Champions and Legends Courses), Daytona Beach, Florida - LPGA Q-School kicks off Wednesday and this year's version has a little added star power.
Michelle Wie is one of the 140 players teeing it up at LPGA International this week. Wie made the cut in four of seven starts in 2008.
Wie's last top-10 finish was in 2006 when she tied for second at the Evian Masters. That year, she finished in the top five in the season's first three majors.
Joining Wie in the field will be Shiho Oyama, a standout on the LPGA of Japan. Oyama is currently ranked 40th in the world.
Also in the field are former LPGA Tour winners Jackie Gallagher-Smith, Patricia Meunier-Lebouc and Stacy Lewis, whose win at the 2007 NW Arkansas LPGA Championship was unofficial because the event was shortened to 18 holes by rain.
The five-day marathon will be played on the Legends and Champions courses at LPGA International. The field will play two rounds on each course before the cut to the low 70 and ties. The final round will be played on the Champions Course.
The top 20 will gain LPGA status for the 2009 season.
This is the final LPGA event of the year. The tour will return to action February 12-14 with the SBS Open at Turtle Bay.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
DEL WEBB FATHER-SON CHALLENGE, ChampionsGate Golf Club (International Course), ChampionsGate, Florida - Ryder Cup captains Paul Azinger and Nick Faldo will be in the field for the Del Webb Father-Son Challenge this weekend, facing each other three months after Azinger's United States team rolled to a five- point win over Faldo's European squad.
Azinger and Faldo will both be appearing at the non-official Champions Tour event for the first time -- Azinger with the late Payne Stewart's son Aaron, and Faldo with his own son Matthew.
Among the other father/son teams in the field will be two-time winners Bernhard and Stefan Langer, Jack Nicklaus and Jack Nicklaus II, Arnold Palmer and grandson Sam Saunders, Greg and Gregory Norman, Vijay and Qass Singh and Raymond Floyd and Raymond Floyd, Jr., who have won the tournament three times together.
Last year, Larry Nelson became the second father to win the event with two different sons when he combined with Josh Nelson for a second consecutive 12- under 60 in the final round on Sunday. Larry will play this year with Drew, who won the tournament with his father in 2004.
The tournament will take place Saturday and Sunday on the International Course at ChampionsGate. It will be covered by NBC and is the final event on the Champions Tour's 2008 schedule.
CANADIAN TOUR
ARGENTINE MASTERS, Olives Golf Club, Buenos Aires, Argentina - The Canadian Tour remains in South America for its second event of the 2009 season.
Angel Cabrera, the 2007 U.S. Open champion, is scheduled to headline the field in his native country.
Also expected to play this week at Olives Golf Club are reigning U.S. Senior Open champion Eduardo Romero and four-time Champions Tour winner Vicente Fernandez, both from Argentina.
The Canadian Tour's 2009 season kicked off last week at the Sport Frances Open in Chile. Rafael Gomez claimed a one-shot win over Daniel Im to earn a two- year exemption on the North American tour.
The circuit remains in warmer climates next week for the Costa Rica Classic, its last event until the third week in March.
<< Donaldson, Edwards, Landers Named as Payton Finalists
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Running back Herb Donaldson of Western
Illinois, Appalachian State signal caller Armanti Edwards and quarterback
Rodney Landers of James Madison were announced on Monday as the three
finalis
<< Browns' injury woes continue, Dorsey to start vs. Titans
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ken Dorsey will be the Browns starting
quarterback when Cleveland travels to take on the Tennessee Titans next
Sunday, while the team will be without both quarterback Derek Anderson and
tight end Kellen Winslow.
<< Cardinals cut Johnson, sign Graham
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Cardinals signed punter Ben Graham
to replace Dirk Johnson, who was released earlier Monday.
Graham is a former Australian rules football player who began the 2008 season
with the New York Jets,
<< Kinnear and Newcastle have become a good match
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The abrupt resignation of manager Kevin
Keegan in September left some big shoes to be filled at Newcastle, and not too
many people were thrilled that Joe Kinnear would be the one attempting to fill
them.
Boston recalls Boychuk, Lashoff from Providence >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins recalled defensemen Johnny
Boychuk and Matt Lashoff from their American Hockey league affiliate, the
Providence Bruins, it was announced on Monday.
Boychuk, 24, has posted four goals
Christensen to take over at Wyoming >>
Casper, WY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wyoming is reportedly set to name Dave
Christensen its new head football coach.
According to the Casper Star Tribune, Christensen will leave his job as the
Missouri offensive coordinator to take ove
Rivet, Kaleta out but Kotalik returns for Sabres >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Sabres will miss a pair of players
but also will get one back for Monday's home game against Nashville.
Defenseman Craig Rivet was a late scratch due to an undisclosed upper body
injury while
Astros agree to deal with Hampton pending a physical >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros have reportedly come to an
agreement on a deal with free agent starting pitcher Mike Hampton pending a
physical.
According to MLB.com, the 36-year-old Hampton will travel to Houston
American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout
An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.
Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off. Randy was not impressed though. Paula thought he started off fantastic. "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either.
Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed. Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact. He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition.
Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula. Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.
Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next. Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential. Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell. He sang "Careless Whisper".
22 year old Chris Richardson was up next. He was listed with +1100 odds coming in. He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great.
Nick was boring and pitchy. Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week. Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition.
Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds . These of course were the early odds. He was considered original for picking an "odd song". He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night.
Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good.
Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds. Great voice and a great sense of humor. He's a real standout. Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit. Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig".
Jared Cotter followed. He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition. The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good.
22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next. "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon. Though the judges felt he performed okay. Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.
Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition. He was the last to perform. He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start.
Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys. Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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