This Week in Golf -- February 9th through February 12th

Golf Betting Lines

02/06/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA TOUR - AT&T PEBBLE BEACH NATIONAL PRO- AM - Pebble Beach Golf Links, Monterey Peninsula Country Club, Spyglass Hill Golf Club, Pebble Beach, California - One might look at this week's field for the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and think it is lacking the stars with just one player ranked in the top-10 in the world playing this week.

That surely isn't the case however.

Tiger Woods makes his return to this event for the first time since 2002 and is one of eight former champions in the field that account for 12 titles.

World No. 9 Dustin Johnson, who won this event in 2009-10, is the highest- ranked player in the field. Woods and Johnson are joined in the field by Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk and Geoff Ogilvy.

However, it is D.A. Points that is the defending champion. Points fired a seven-under 63 at Monterey Peninsula in the opening round and closed with a five-under 67 en route to a two-stroke win over Hunter Mahan.

Points not only won the professional title, but he teamed with Bill Murray to win the Pro-Am crown as well. For Murray, it marked the first time he won the Pro-Am in 20 years of competing at this event.

The 35-year-old Points has had a solid start to his season as he has made the cut in each of his four events, has three top-12 finishes and ranks 12th on the money list.

Woods played on the European Tour two weeks ago and shared the lead entering the final round, but closed with an even-par 72 to share third place behind Robert Rock.

In 2000, Woods erased a five-stroke deficit to come from behind and win this title. It was his sixth straight PGA Tour victory.

Later that year, Woods would win three of the four majors. Among those three was his dominating 15-stroke victory at the U.S. Open on this same Pebble Beach course.

Woods is still searching for his first PGA Tour win since the 2009 BMW Championship.

With the amateurs included in the event, the field will play one round apiece at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Monterey Peninsula Country Club and Spyglass Hill Golf Club before the final round is contested at Pebble Beach.

Murray is back to defend his Pro-Am title against a field of celebrities that includes musicians Michael Bolton, Huey Lewis and Darius Rucker; football coaches Jim Harbuagh, Nick Saban and Bob Stoops; as well as a group of athletes that includes Clyde Drexler, Matt Cain, Aaron Rodgers and Tony Romo, who will team with Woods in the Pro-Am.

Golf Channel will broadcast the first two rounds before CBS takes over on the weekend.

The PGA Tour heads to Riviera next week for the Northern Trust Open, where Aaron Baddeley earned a two-stroke win over Vijay Singh last year.

EUROPEAN TOUR

OMEGA DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC - Emirates Golf Club, Dubai, United Arab Emirates - The European Tour wraps up its three-week swing through the Persian Gulf region with the Dubai Desert Classic.

Spain's Alvaro Quiros enjoyed Dubai, twice last year. He closed with three straight 68s at this event to win by a shot over Anders Hansen and James Kingston.

Quiros wasn't done in Dubai though. When the tour returned in December for the season-ending Dubai World Championship, Quiros had four straight sub-par rounds en route to a two-stroke victory over Paul Lawrie. He sealed the win with a 50-foot eagle putt at the last.

The Spaniard will have a tough battle on his hands in his title defense as World Nos. 2, 3 and 4 - Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer - are in the field this week.

A group of Americans also highlights the field as Champions Tour stalwarts Fred Couples and Mark O'Meara will be joined at Emirates Golf Club by Nicholas Thompson, Peter Uihlein and John Daly, who took fourth place last week behind Paul Lawrie.

Golf Channel will have early morning coverage of all four rounds.

The tour shifts to India next week, where local favorite S.S.P. Chowrasia closed with back-to-back 67s to win the Avantha Masters by a shot over Robert Coles.

LPGA TOUR

ISPS HANDA WOMEN'S AUSTRALIAN OPEN - Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Victoria, Australia - The Women's Australian Open joins the LPGA Tour schedule this year for the first time.

The event has been around since 1974, but was only played 20 times in those 37 years.

Women's world No. 1 Yani Tseng won this title each of the last two years. Last year, she rolled to a seven-stroke win over three players.

The event will be played on the par-73 Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the first time.

Golf Channel will have tape-delayed coverage of all four rounds.

The LPGA continues its three-event Asia swing next week with the Honda LPGA Thailand, where Tseng cruised to a five-stroke win over Michelle Wie.

CHAMPIONS TOUR

ALLIANZ CHAMPIONSHIP - The Old Course at Broken Sound, Boca Raton, Florida - The Champions Tour returns after a two-week break with the first of two events in Florida.

Tom Lehman back-to-back 69s win last year's Allianz Championship by a single stroke over Jeff Sluman and Rod Spittle. Lehman needed a birdie on the final hole to win for the third time on the Champions Tour.

The 1996 British Open champion went on to win two more events en route to being named the tour's Player of the Year.

Lehman, Sluman and Spittle are all in the field this week at the Old Course at Broken Sound, which has hosted the event all five years of its existence.

Golf Channel has tape-delayed coverage all week.

The Champions Tour moves to Naples next week for the ACE Group Classic. Bernhard Langer shot 66 in the final two rounds to cruise to a four-stroke win over Fred Funk.

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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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