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01/14/2012 - Honolulu, HI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Every fired a six-under 64 Friday to grab a two-stroke lead after two rounds of the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Every, who is starting his second season on the PGA Tour, completed 36 holes at 10-under-par 130.
Two years ago, Every was a rookie on the PGA Tour when he was arrested in a marijuana related incident. The charges were eventually dropped, but he was suspended by the tour for three months. He also missed six weeks that season due to a broken finger.
"I honestly kind of feel like a rookie out here this year, because I was doing just fine until I got to Hilton Head," Every said of where he broke his finger in 2010. "I (missed) six weeks there, then I get back and I was out for like two weeks, then got in trouble, there's three months. I still almost kept my status and played half the tournaments that everybody else played."
Every's lone professional win was at the 2009 Nationwide Tour Championship. This is second time he will sleep on a lead on the PGA Tour. Every was the first-round leader at the 2010 Greenbrier Classic.
David Hearn (66) and Carl Pettersson (67) are tied for second place at minus- eight. Brendon de Jonge fired the low round of the week with his eight-under 62. He soared into a share of fourth place at seven-under 133. He was joined there by Pat Perez and Doug La Belle II, who both shot 67 on Friday.
PGA Champion Keegan Bradley (67) and Sean O'Hair (67) in round two, are among 10 players tied for seventh at six-under-par 134.
Every had a kick-in birdie on the par-four 12th. He parred the other eight holes on his opening nine at Waialae Country Club.
The 28-year-old started to make his move up the leaderboard with a 24-foot birdie putt on the par-four third. He made it two in a row with a short birdie effort on the fourth.
Every parred two in a row before catching fire at the end of his round. He drained a 22-footer for birdie on No. 7. Every converted a 15-foot birdie chance at eight, then closed with a two-putt birdie at the ninth, his last.
"I just didn't make many mistakes and made some putts, hit some good irons, just kind of normal stuff," Every said.
He went on to add, "I'm not saying I'm going to be on top of the leaderboard every week, but it's not a surprise to me. I know that I can, you know? It's only two rounds, though, so it's not that big a deal."
Every has just one career top-10 finish, a share of eighth at the 2010 Phoenix Open, in 29 previous PGA Tour starts.
Hearn rebounded from bogeys on two and three to shoot 66. He did so with three birdies in a four-hole span from the fifth. He made the turn at minus-seven after making eagle on the par-five ninth. Hearn parred his next eight holes before closing with a birdie at the last.
Pettersson, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, had a birdie and a bogey on the back nine, his opening nine Friday. Around the turn, Pettersson had birdies on four and five. He finished his round with a birdie at the ninth to share second place.
"I started on the back nine. I played really solid on the back nine," said Pettersson. "Could have made a few more, missed a couple of short ones. Then I made a few longish putts for birdies on four and five and a nice save on eight. It was a solid round."
NOTES: First-round leader Graham DeLaet struggled to two-over 72, which dropped him into a share of 17th at minus-five. He was joined there by among others last week's winner Steve Stricker (69)...The cut line fell at one- under-par 139 with 80 players advancing to the weekend...Among those that missed the cut were 2011 champion Mark Wilson, 2006 winner David Toms, Rocco Mediate, Ryo Ishikawa and U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III.
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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