Snedeker stuns Stanley in playoff

Golf Betting Lines

01/29/2012 - La Jolla, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandt Snedeker stunned Kyle Stanley with a par on the second playoff hole to win the Farmers Insurance Open on Sunday.

Snedeker fired a five-under 67 to finish at 16-under-par 272. He seemingly was headed to a runner-up finish.

However, Stanley spun his third shot to the par-five 18th back into the water and that led to a triple-bogey, which closed a round of two-over 74. Stanley lost his three-stroke lead, and now faced extra holes with Snedeker.

The duo returned to the par-five 18th for the first playoff hole. Snedeker laid up out of a fairway bunker, then knocked his third to three feet.

Stanley found the fairway off the tee and hit his second over the green. He chipped his third to within inches of Snedeker's mark.

Both players rolled in their birdie putts on the 18th, then headed to the par- three 16th on the South Course at Torrey Pines.

Stanley, playing first, hit his tee ball to 47 feet. Snedeker blasted his tee ball over the green and was saved from a hazard as his ball hit the television tower behind the putting surface.

Snedeker took a drop away from the tower before chipping to four feet. Stanley left his birdie putt about four feet short.

After a measurement determined Snedeker was away, he sank his par putt. Stanley missed his par effort to give Snedeker his third PGA Tour title.

"I played good all week," Stanley said in a televised interview. "I'm kind of in shock though."

Snedeker was eight strokes back early in the final round, but forged a stellar rally. He also had the biggest comeback win in 2011 as he erased a six-stroke deficit at The Heritage.

"It's just crazy. I was literally in the media tent watching Kyle on 18, and I had to get up and go to the putting green," Snedeker said on television.

"To get my mind around what just happened in the last 30 minutes is pretty hard to do. I'm shaking right now I'm so excited. My heart goes out to Kyle because he really played great all week. I feel bad for him to have to go through this, but he'll be better for it, and hopefully win here pretty quick to get over this one."

John Rollins managed a one-under 71 Sunday to take third place at 14-under-par 274. Bill Haas (72) and Cameron Tringale (71) shared fourth at minus-12.

Hunter Mahan closed with a three-under 69 to end alongside John Huh (74) in sixth place at 11-under-par 277.

Stanley made the turn with a six-shot lead, but stumbled to bogeys on the 11th and 12th. Couple those bogeys with Snedeker's birdie on the par-five 13th, and Stanley's lead was down to three strokes.

The 24-year-old Stanley parred his next five holes. That run included several key par-saving putts, including a 13-footer on the 14th.

Snedeker stumbled to a bogey at the 17th, but rolled in an 11-foot birdie putt on the 18th to get in at minus-16.

Stanley was three clear on the 18th tee and his tee shot found the first cut. He laid up short with his second, then disaster struck. His third shot bounced pin high, but spun back off the front of the green and into the pond fronting the putting surface.

After taking a drop, Stanley's fifth stopped 43 feet past the cup. He lagged his bogey effort within four feet, but failed to convert that putt and it was off to a playoff.

Stanley led the John Deere Classic late in the final round last year, but he bogeyed the 18th to finish second to Steve Stricker, who birdied the final two holes.

NOTES: Snedeker, who earned $1.08 million for the win, matched the low round of the day with his 67...Bubba Watson, the 2011 champion, posted a one-under 71 to share 13th place at minus-nine...Mark Wilson, who won the Humana Challenge last week, will defend his title next week at the Phoenix Open.

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MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect

LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.

Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.

Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.

Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.