This Week in Golf -- February 22nd through February 26th

Golf Betting Lines

02/20/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - EUROPEAN TOUR - WGC-ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP, The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club (Saguaro/Tortolita Nines), Dove Mountain, Marana, Arizona - Professional golf's version of March Madness hits in February.

The top 64 players in the world rankings are eligible to tee it up this week, although two backed out. Phil Mickelson, a playoff loser at Riviera, announced weeks ago that he had a family vacation scheduled, so he's out.

Paul Casey, a two-time runner-up, is still out with injury. The benefactors of those withdrawals are George Coetzee and Ernie Els, who, surprisingly, will be the No. 64 seed.

That means Els drew world No. 1 and defending champion Luke Donald in Wednesday's first round.

Donald's ascension to the No. 1 ranking began in a lot of ways at this time last year. He bested Martin Kaymer in, 3 & 2 in the final. The loss pushed Kaymer to first in the rankings, but Donald used the victory, where none of his matches made it to the 18th hole, as a springboard.

He won the BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour and then became No. 1. Donald captured the Scottish Open and, needing a victory to win the money title on the PGA Tour, took home the season-ending Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic.

All totaled, Donald won the money title on both the PGA Tour and European Tour, becoming the first player in history to accomplish the feat.

Donald is No. 1 overall and tops the Bobby Jones bracket. Kaymer is first in the Ben Hogan bracket, while U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy is highest-ranked in the Gary Player bracket. Lee Westwood is the final No. 1 seed and he heads up the Sam Snead bracket.

There will be 32 first-round matches on Wednesday, followed by 16 second-round matches on Thursday, eight third-round matches on Friday, with the quarterfinals on Saturday. The semifinals are Sunday morning, while the championship and consolation matches will be held Sunday afternoon.

Could this be the week Tiger Woods finally wins again on the PGA Tour? He's a three-time champion, a match-play wizard and owner of impressive tournament records.

Woods trounced Stewart Cink, 8 & 7, to win in 2008. That is the largest margin of victory in a championship and Woods' owns the biggest winning margin in tournament history with a 9 & 8, drubbing of Stephen Ames in 2006.

Golf Channel has the broadcast for the first three rounds and early coverage on Saturday and Sunday. NBC has the end of the action on the weekend.

The PGA Tour travels to Florida next week for The Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, where Rory Sabbatini is the defending champion. The European Tour and PGA Tour will be in Florida in two weeks for the WGC - Cadillac Championship in Miami, where Nick Watney will defend his title.

PGA TOUR

MAYAKOBA GOLF CLASSIC - El Camaleon, Riviera Maya, Mexico - With the world's best at the WGC - Accenture Match Play Championship, the rest of the PGA Tour can tee it up down in Mexico.

Last year, Johnson Wagner downed Spencer Levin in a playoff to earn his second PGA Tour title. This year, these two have had major roles in the 2012 PGA Tour season.

Wagner won the Sony Open in Hawaii, after a top 10 at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. He tied for second at the Humana Challenge and won January's PGA Tour Player of the Month.

Levin squandered a six-shot lead during the final round of the Phoenix Open.

Greg Norman is the course designer and will be playing in his second PGA Tour event of the season. Norman teed it up in the Humana Challenge at the behest of his friend and tournament host, President Bill Clinton.

John Cook, a Champions Tour standout, joins fellow elder circuit players, 2007 winner Fred Funk, Nick Price and Tom Lehman in the field. Funk became the second golfer in history to win on the Champions Tour, then go back and win on the PGA Tour when he titled here in 2007.

Golf Channel has tape-delayed coverage all week.

Next week, the PGA Tour travels to Florida for The Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, where Sabbatini is the defending champion.

LPGA TOUR

HSBC WOMEN'S CHAMPIONS 2012 - Tanah Merah Country Club, Garden Course, Singapore - The LPGA Tour ends its Asian swing with a stop in Singapore for the HSBC Women's Champions.

A select field will be on hand, including last week's winner in Thailand, world No. 1 Yani Tseng. European Solheim Cuppers Melissa Reid and Laura Davies were given sponsor's exemptions.

Last year, Karrie Webb shot a three-under 69 in Sunday's final round to overcome leader Chie Arimura. It was the 37th career LPGA Tour victory for Webb, who picked up win No. 38 in her very next start, the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup.

Arimura had led after each of the first three rounds, but the Hall-of-Famer snuck by in the final round. With Webb's first-place check for $210,000, she became the second player after Annika Sorenstam to surpass $16 million in career earnings.

The HSBC Women's Champions was the first official stroke-play event that the LPGA Tour has played in Singapore. Tanah Merah Country Club in Singapore is the site of this week's event and has hosted the Singapore Open, the Johnnie Walker Classic on the European Tour and the Lexus Cup on the LPGA Tour.

Golf Channel will handle the broadcast.

In three weeks, the LPGA Tour returns for the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup with Webb as its defending champion.

Wwpaddypower Golf Betting News

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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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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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