Trio on top at Toshiba Classic

Golf Betting Lines

03/05/2010 - Newport Beach, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former PGA Champion Bob Tway, Mark Wiebe and Chien-Soon Lu each fired six-under 65s on Friday to share the first-round lead of the Toshiba Classic.

Fred Couples, already a winner after two Champions Tour starts and the leading money earner this year, Olin Browne, Lonnie Nielsen and Mike Goodes are knotted in fourth place at five-under 66.

Tway first broke into red figures with a short birdie putt at the par-five third. At the fifth, Tway hit a good seven-iron to 20 feet and poured in the birdie effort. He tapped in two more short birdie putts at six and seven to make three in a row.

Tway made another little birdie at the 10th, but dropped a shot at No. 11 when he missed a very short putt. Two holes later, Tway rolled in a 12-footer for birdie to get back to five-under par.

At the par-five 15th, Tway reached the green in two and two-putted for birdie. He had a good look at birdie at the 17th, but his nine-footer stayed above ground.

Tway missed the green at the par-five closing hole and "fluffed" his chip. He pitched his fourth to six feet and converted the par putt to stay atop the leaderboard.

"I played pretty well today," said Tway, an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour. "I hit my irons exceptionally well. I hit a few wayward drives. I was able to kind of recover from those and get them on the green and take advantage of the good iron shots I had."

Wiebe, a Champions Tour winner in 2007 and 2008, started on the 10th tee Friday and promptly birdied his first two holes, both from around 15 feet. He rattled off back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15 and the one at the par-five 15th was amazing.

He drove into a fairway bunker and had to choke down to the metal on a five- iron. Wiebe's ball was at waist-level and he punched it down the fairway. He hit an eight-iron to 10 feet and cashed in on the birdie putt.

"It was not looking very well," admitted Wiebe of the 15th hole.

Wiebe made a short birdie putt at the 18th and his lone birdie of the front side came from 25 feet at the third. He parred his last six for his share of the lead.

"I'm extremely happy," said Wiebe, who played sick with a sore throat on Friday. "I'm real, real happy to be bogey-free on this golf course. I kind of kept my game plan and kept it in the fairway and get it on the green."

Lu, a Champions Tour rookie who tied for ninth at the Allianz Championship, tallied five birdies and a bogey through his first 10 holes. He birdied the par-three 13th and par-five 18th for his piece of first.

Defending champion Eduardo Romero, Wayne Levi, Ronnie Black, Loren Roberts, Tom Lehman, D.A. Weibring, Bobby Wadkins and Gary Hallberg are knotted in eighth place at four-under 67.

NOTES: Bernhard Langer, who holed out for eagle to defeat John Cook in a playoff at the Allianz Championship, shot a one-under 70 and is tied for 26th place...Tom Watson, who won the season-opener in Hawaii, posted a two-under 69 and shares 20th.

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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.

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Academy Award Betting Odds for Best Picture Offer Great Value

If there is any category that is not an obvious win for any one nominee in this year's Academy Awards, it would be for Best Picture.  Sure the Departed is a 5/7 favorite, but that's hardly anything when we look at Helen Mirren and her "out-of-reach" 1 to 40 odds (which means you would win a whopping $1 for every $40 bet).

For value, take a look at MySportsbook.com Oscars betting odds on my personal favorite, The Queen - a remarkable 12 to 1 long shot.  The film hasn't won any pre-awards for Best Picture (compared to The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine), but there is a tremendous following and it is a strong enough film to warrant a surprise win.

TV Guide advises Oscar watchers should be cautioned not to discount the  drama "Babel" with its strong social themes about overcoming communication gaps among people of different cultures.

"While 'Babel' lost several guild awards to 'Sunshine' and 'Departed,'  it still enjoys loyal support, and historically Oscar voters favor dramas with social messages over comedies like 'Sunshine' and violent crime movies like 'Departed'."

"It hasn't done well in the guilds, which means there isn't much industry support," said Tom O'Neil of awards site TheEnvelope.com, "But several critics are expecting it to win, and that gets my attention." Babel had 7 to 2 odds at press time.

Who is to say independently produced Little Miss Sunshine won't be this year's Crash.  Last year, Crash won for Best Motion Picture, shocking those who bet on gay cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain, as the favorite to win. 

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