Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
07/18/2010 - St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There was little drama Sunday at the British Open Championship.
Louis Oosthuizen eagled the ninth and after a birdie on the 12th, he was eight strokes clear of the field.
The South African cruised home from there. Oosthuizen closed with a one-under 71 to finish his first major championship title at 16-under-par 272. He ended seven strokes clear of Lee Westwood
Oosthuizen became the fourth South African to win the Open Championship, joining Bobby Locke, Gary Player and Ernie Els. Locke also won at St. Andrews.
The 27-year-old Oosthuizen is also the fourth active South African that is a major champion joining Els, Retief Goosen and Trevor Immelman.
Oosthuizen had never been here in a major championship before. The one time he had made the cut in a major before this, the 2008 PGA Championship, Oosthuizen finished in last place.
Westwood birdied the last for a two-under 70. He took second place at nine- under-par 279.
Paul Casey was briefly within three strokes of Oosthuizen's lead when the winner bogeyed the eighth, but the Englishman ran into trouble at the 12th.
The 32-year-old Casey drove into a gorse bush and that led to a double-bogey, which dropped him eight strokes back. He went on to shoot a three-over 75, which left him tied for third with Henrik Stenson (71) and first-round leader Rory McIlroy (68).
Three-time Open champion and world No. 1 Tiger Woods managed an even-par 72 on Sunday to finish at three-under-par 285. That left him tied for 23rd place.
World No. 2 Phil Mickelson stumbled to a three-over 75 to finish in a share of 48th at one-over-par 289.
MORE TO FOLLOW.
<< Montanes takes Stuttgart crown
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spain's Alberto Montanes won the
Mercedes Cup on Sunday when Gael Monfils of France retired in the second set
of the final because of an ankle injury.
Montanes earned a 6-2, 1-2 triumph for hi
<< Woods, Mickelson finish well back at St. Andrews
St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top two players in the world were
unable to make a charge Sunday at the British Open.
Tiger Woods, a three-time Open champion, could only muster an even-par 72 in
the final round Sunday. He fini
<< Indians recall Gomez to make ML debut on Sunday
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians recalled pitcher
Jeanmar Gomez from Triple-A Columbus on Sunday to make his major league debut
in a spot start against the Detroit Tigers.
Gomez, who pitched a perfect game l
<< Marlins designate Lamb, recall OF Petersen
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins designated veteran infielder
Mike Lamb for assignment on Sunday.
The team will have 10 days to trade, waive or release Lamb. If he clears
waivers, he can be outrighted to the minor leag
Yankees' Pettitte leaves game with strained groin >>
NEW YORK (AP) -Andy Pettitte has left the New York Yankees' game against Tampa Bay in the third inning because of a strained left groin.Making his first start since pitching in the All-Star game Tuesday night, the 38-year-old left-hander never appea
Heat agree to bring back James Jones >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat have reportedly agreed to bring
back forward James Jones at the veteran's minimum.
Miami requested waivers on the seven-year veteran in June, buying out the
final three years of his previou
Yankees' Pettitte leaves Sunday's game >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte was
removed his Sunday start against the Tampa Bay Rays with a strained left
groin.
The veteran left-hander missed with a pitch to run the count to 3-1 on Kelly
Sh
Astros' Oswalt leaves start in Pittsburgh >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt was
removed from Sunday's game against the Pirates after four innings with a left
ankle contusion.
The right-hander was struck in the left ankle by a Pedro Alvarez
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.
Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting