Perry's 61 good for Travelers lead
Golf Betting Lines
06/25/2009 - Cromwell, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kenny Perry had chance at the magical 59 on Thursday, but settled for a nine-under 61 and the first-round lead of the Travelers Championship.
Perry needed to go two-under over his last three holes to become the fourth player in PGA Tour history to shoot 59, but missed birdie efforts from eight, 25 and 24 feet on the last three.
"I had it the back of my head," Perry said of his chances at joining golf immortality with a sub-60 round. "Today was a good day to do it. I just didn't get it done."
His 61 matched the course record at the TPC River Highlands. Kirk Triplett set the original mark in 2000, then it was matched by Phil Mickelson and Scott Verplank in the 2001 championship and Brad Faxon four years ago.
Paul Goydos and Charles Warren are tied for second place at seven-under 63.
Lucas Glover, three days removed from his U.S. Open Championship, birdied three holes in a row from the 13th en route to a five-under-par 65 and a share of eighth place.
"I played well. I'm very pleased," said Glover, who earned his first major title Monday at Bethpage.
As well as Glover played on Thursday, Perry was four strokes better in round one.
Perry broke into red figures with back-to-back birdies at the third and fourth holes. He flew up the leaderboard thanks to a spectacular run, which began with a birdie at the par-five sixth.
After that birdie, Perry caught fire. He birdied his next four holes for five in a row and that spurt moved him into a share of first place at seven-under par.
Perry had a decent chance at birdie at 11, but missed. He parred the 12th as well, then reached the green in two at the par-five 13th and two-putted for another birdie.
Perry drove the green at the par-four 15th and had 20 feet for an eagle. That putt missed the hole, but he tapped in from three feet for a birdie and now 59 was a very realistic possibility.
At the par-three 16th, Perry hit his tee ball to eight feet. His putt grazed the right side of the cup and his 25-foot chance at 17 never threatened the hole.
Perry needed to hole his second shot at 18 to join the sub-60 club, but he couldn't manage it. He played his approach to 24 feet and the No. 7 player in the world could not convert for one final birdie and a round of 60.
Perry lost a playoff at the Masters and hasn't finished inside the top 20 since.
Greg Chalmers, Tag Ridings, Spencer Levin and Boo Weekley are tied for fourth place at six-under 64.
Glover was joined in eighth place by Ricky Barnes, one of the runners-up at Bethpage.
"Today I wanted to come back and rebound, obviously, from what happened last week," said Barnes, the third-round leader at the U.S. Open. "But today reminded me of the first round of last week. Just really solid, hit a lot of greens, had a lot of good looks."
Glover and Barnes are tied at minus-five with David Toms, John Merrick, D.A. Points, Mathew Goggin, Jerry Kelly, Y.E. Yang and Aaron Watkins.
Defending champion Stewart Cink struggled on Thursday. He shot a one-over 71 and was of 36 players out of 156 in round one who failed to shoot even-par or better.
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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?
The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.
While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.
For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.
1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.
2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.
How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.
Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.
Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.
How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).
Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.
Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.
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