07/03/2009 - Sylvania, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Laura Diaz birdied four of the last six holes Friday to remain tied for the lead after two rounds of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.
Diaz carded a four-under 67 to complete two rounds at 11-under-par 131, where she shared the lead with Sarah Kemp, who fired an eight-under 63 Friday.
Morgan Pressel, who shared the first-round lead with Diaz and Song-Hee Kim, shot three-under 68 to complete two rounds at minus-10.
Seon Hwa Lee also fired a 63 to move into a share of fourth at nine-under-par 133. She was joined there by Jiyai Shin (67) and Natalie Gulbis (65).
Michelle Wie remains close to the lead after posting a two-under 69. She shares seventh at minus-eight, while women's world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa (68) is tied for 13th at seven-under-par 135.
Diaz played a steady round starting on No. 10 at Highland Meadows Golf Club. She parred her first 12 holes before making birdie on the par-four fourth for the second day in a row.
After a par on five, Diaz birdied six and seven, from 15 feet and three feet respectively, to get within one of the lead. She closed with a 12-foot birdie putt at the last to join Kemp at 11-under.
"I didn't make any birdies on my front side, but I just tried to stay patient out there," said Diaz, whose last win was at the 2002 Corning Classic. "I haven't been in place to be looking at the scoreboard in the last several months, so I really just was trying to stay in my own world."
Kemp also started on the back nine and birdied the 10th from 12 feet out. She gave that stroke back with a bogey on the par-four 12th. Kemp bounced back with a six-foot birdie putt on the 14th and made the turn at minus-five thanks to a birdie on No. 18.
The Australian, who was in the third group out in the morning wave, dropped in back-to-back birdies from the second. After a par on the third, Kemp poured in four consecutive birdies from the fifth, all from inside 12 feet, to jump to 11-under.
"I just tried to stay in the moment. I knew I was playing good," Kemp admitted. "My putter was amazing. I don't know how many putts I had, but I don't think it was many. I just tried to have fun, and tried not to think about how many birdies I was making."
Wie was joined in seventh at eight-under-par 134 by Eunjung Yi (66), Kyeong Bae (64), Lindsey Wright (68), Kris Tschetter (67) and Suzann Pettersen (69).
Ochoa shares 13th with Hee-Won Han (66), Soo-Yun Kang (66), Jane Park (66), Allison Hanna-Williams (68), Jee Young Lee (69), Jin Joo Hong (67) and Kim (71).
The cut line fell at two-under-par 140 with 83 players moving on to the weekend. Among those who missed the cut were Stacy Lewis (141), Stacy Prammanasudh (142) and In-Kyung Kim (142).
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While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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