Trio leads Bridgestone; Tiger one back

Golf Betting Lines

08/03/2007 - Akron, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hunter Mahan, Rory Sabbatini and Paul Casey all shot rounds of three-under-par 67 on Thursday to share the opening-round lead of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Tiger Woods, a five-time winner of this event, posted a two-under 68 on Thursday and is only one back at the South Course at Firestone Country Club.

"I hit the ball pretty good today and just hit a couple loose ones," said Woods. "Short game was decent today. Thought I had some pretty good touch on the greens."

Woods began on the back nine Thursday and collected his first birdie at 12 when his 18-footer found the bottom of the cup at the par-three hole. He took advantage of the next par three, No. 15, when he ran home a long birdie chance.

He missed the green at 18 and could not save par, but got the stroke back at two. Woods' second ran through the green at the par-five hole, but he pitched to two feet to set up the easy birdie putt.

Woods birdied the fifth, but bogeyed six to fall out of the lead.

He is tied for fourth place with Mark Calcavecchia, Stuart Appleby, Boo Weekley and Arron Oberholser.

Mahan was the first to post a 67 on Thursday. He started on the second nine and birdied the 12th from three feet out. What made the birdie there all the better was that some players actually putted off the green at 12.

"There's a couple putts out here going from back to front, right when kind of the greens would roll off, they're deadly fast," said Mahan. "You have to pay attention."

Mahan made a mess of the 17th hole when he pulled his tee shot. His stance for his second was horrible, so he pitched out, but missed his approach left. Mahan left with a double-bogey, but made up for the error on his second nine.

He two-putted the par-five second for birdie and kicked in a short one at the third. Mahan missed the fairway at four en route to a bogey, but reclaimed the shot with a 20-foot birdie putt at five. He rattled off back-to-back birdies at seven and eight to get in at minus-three.

Mahan may be the hottest player in the world at the moment. Since his first PGA Tour win at the Travelers Championship in late June, Mahan has not finished lower than a tie for eighth and is strongly considered a candidate for a Presidents Cup spot.

"I just mentally got a lot better," said Mahan, who tied for sixth at the British Open. "I stopped getting mad at myself. I took control of my game and the way I was going to play out there instead of letting the game control me."

Casey started at 10 and did not get off to the type of start normally associated with a leader. He bogeyed 12 and 14, but made the turn at even-par thanks to back-to-back birdies at 16 and 17.

Casey continued his fine form around the turn with birdies at one and two. He was one off the lead, but a birdie at the par-four eighth knotted him atop the leaderboard.

Sabbatini, eighth on the PGA Tour money list, also played the back nine first and did nothing on that nine but recorded a pair of bogeys. On the second nine, the South African caught fire.

He birdied his first three holes of the second nine, then dropped a shot at four to fall back to even-par for the tournament. Sabbatini birdied five and seven and rolled in an eight-foot birdie putt at nine to join the mix at minus-three.

Kenny Perry, Justin Rose, Chris DiMarco and Paul Goydos carded rounds of one- under-par 69 and are tied for 10th place.

None of the year's three major champions broke par on Thursday. Masters winner Zach Johnson shot a one-over 71, Angel Cabrera, the U.S. Open champion, shot a 73 and Padraig Harrington, fresh off his British Open title two weeks ago, managed a 72.

Phil Mickelson was not as fortunate as the 2007 major champions. He never looked comfortable in round one and struggled to a four-over 74 to tie for 59th place.

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Online Sportsbook Football Betting

Colts give the ‘D’ its due

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 Smithand 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 Bearsin 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 backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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