05/15/2008 - Adare, Limerick, Ireland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Richard Green and Jeev Milkha Singh opened with matching rounds of six-under-par 66 Thursday to share the lead after the first round of the Irish Open at Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort.
Green and Singh are both two-time winners on the European Tour with Green winning most recently last year at the BA-CA Golf Open.
Marcel Siem dropped a shot at the last to card a four-under-par 68 and share third place with Bradley Dredge, Johan Edfors and Michael Lorenzo-Vera.
Green started on the back nine and opened with a birdie at the 10th. He flew up the leaderboard with three straight birdies from the 14th.
The Australian stumbled to a bogey on the first, but recovered that lost stroke with a birdie at the fifth.
Green got within one of the lead as he birdied No. 7. At the par-five closing hole, Green kicked in a short birdie putt to join Singh in the lead.
"I think the focus was pretty good today, that was the key," Green stated. "I just focused very hard on concentrating and it worked out pretty well. I hit some pretty nice iron shots, which kind of surprised me a little bit because my iron play hasn't been that great the first half of the year."
Singh also played the back nine first. He opened with five straight pars before converting birdie efforts on the 15th and 16th.
Around the turn, he moved to three-under with a birdie on the par-four first. Singh sank his fourth birdie of the round at the par-four fifth.
Singh eagled the par-five seventh to jump into the lead at six-under. He parred his final two holes, including a 40-foot par saving putt after knocking his third into the bushes near the ninth green.
"When I saw the ball, I knew the first thing was to go to the referee and make sure that I could take a stance without breaking any rules because there was a chance of being penalized," said Singh. "That's why I called the official in there, and he told me the way to get in there without touching anything.
"I was just trying to chip it out from there and it came out perfect. I missed the hole and went to about 40 feet away; I was happy with that. And that's the story of the day really -- I made a lot of great up and downs today."
S.S.P. Chowrasia, the Indian Masters winner, shot a three-under 69 in the opening round and was joined in seventh place by Lee S. James and Alvaro Velasco, who were both celebrating their birthday on Thursday.
Defending champion Padraig Harrington opened with an even-par 72 and is tied for 30th place.
<< Coburn, Roberts out for Game 4
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia defenseman Braydon Coburn and
Pittsburgh forward Gary Roberts will miss tonight's Game 4 of the Eastern
Conference finals at the Wachovia Center.
Coburn took a puck to the face early
<< Barcelona and MLS establish multi-year partnership
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Soccer announced Thursday it has
entered into a multi-year partnership with Barcelona, one of the world's most
popular and celebrated professional soccer clubs.
The new, five-year partnership -
<< Dodgers 3B DeWitt scratched from lineup
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Blake
DeWitt was a late scratch from the lineup for Thursday's game against the
Milwaukee Brewers after experiencing lower back pain.
Everyday catcher Russell Ma
<< AFL approves instant replay for 2008 playoffs
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arena Football League approved the use of
instant replay for this year's playoffs.
The league's Board of Directors unanimously approved the change, marking the
first time in the AFL's 22-season history
Federer, Nadal, Djokovic ease into Hamburg QFs >>
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The world's top-three stars --
Swiss Roger Federer, Spaniard Rafael Nadal and Serbian Novak Djokovic -- were
all straight-set third-round winners Thursday at the $2.955 million
Masters
Paterno hospitalized for dehydration >>
University Park, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Penn State legendary football head
coach Joe Paterno was taken by ambulance to Mount Nittany Medical Center on
Thursday due to an apparent case of dehydration.
The Centre Daily Times reports
Celtic legend Burns dies at 51 >>
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Celtic legend Tommy Burns, 51, died on
Thursday morning after losing his long battle with cancer.
The former Scotland international, who played more than 400 games for Celtic
between 1975 and 1989, h
United's Ferdinand officially signs five-year deal >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United defender Rio
Ferdinand has finally signed a new five-year contract which will effectively
keep him at Old Trafford for the rest of his career.
The 29-year-old England inte
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smith and Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running back Deuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
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Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back
With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.
"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."
Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .
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