05/11/2008 - Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Golf Betting) - Sergio Garcia parred the first playoff hole, the famous island green at 17, to defeat Paul Goydos Sunday and win The Players Championship.
The win was Garcia's seventh on the PGA Tour, but first since the 2005 Booz Allen Classic. The victory was his biggest to date since this is called by some, "the fifth major."
Garcia has enjoyed close calls in majors, but never broke through. There was the famous debut to the world at the 1999 PGA Championship and the final-round pairing with Tiger Woods at the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage.
Last year was perhaps the most painful. He had a chance to win the British Open Championship, but missed a six-footer for par on the 72nd hole, then fell to Padraig Harrington in a playoff.
Sunday gave Garcia his biggest win.
"It's been a lot of work," acknowledged Garcia. "I feel like I've been playing well, unfortunately I hadn't been able to come around and win. Everything was so hard. I'm thrilled the week is over and I managed to come out on top."
Garcia posted a sensational, one-under 71 on Sunday at the Stadium Course at the TPC at Sawgrass. Under windy conditions, Goydos only managed a two-over 74 and the pair tied in regulation at five-under 283.
They headed to the 17th tee to begin the extra session.
Goydos went first and hit a wedge short into the water. Garcia stepped up and hit his wedge tee ball left of the hole. With the contour of the green and the wind gusts, Garcia's ball rolled down to just inside five feet.
"It ballooned a little bit more than the other one," said Goydos, referring to his shot in regulation. "I saw it kind of hurting and thought uh-oh. You can hit nine-iron over the green, or you can hit wedge short. That's the way it is sometimes."
Goydos played his third from the drop area and hit a great shot to 14 feet. He missed the bogey putt, allowing Garcia to three-putt from four feet, five inches for the win.
Garcia did miss his birdie putt, but was doing no more than cozying it down to the hole. He tapped in for the victory.
"I manage to hit it at the right time," said Garcia, who pocketed $1.7 million for the win. "It was a really tough day. He caught a little gust of wind in the playoff."
For Goydos, this would have been the third PGA Tour victory and by far his biggest. He came up short, but was practical
"Sergio played better than everybody else," acknowledged Goydos. "Look at the stats. That's good that that's rewarded."
Jeff Quinney shot a two-under 70 and would have been in the playoff if not for a bogey at the 18th. He took third at minus-four, three shots better than Briny Baird, who shot an even-par 72 on Sunday.
Stephen Ames, the 2006 winner, also shot an even-par 72 and came in fifth at even-par 288.
Goydos began the final round with a one-shot lead and occupied the top spot on the leaderboard through much of Sunday.
Goydos struggled a bit on the front nine with three bogeys, but a 50-foot birdie putt at the fourth helped offset the big scores. Goydos pitched in for birdie from short of the 10th green, then two holes later, he knocked his approach from the right rough to three feet to set up birdie.
Garcia, who netted two bogeys and a birdie through the opening nine, holed a seven-footer for birdie at 11 and a 17-footer for birdie at 12. He hit his tee ball over the green at 13 and made bogey, which dropped him three behind Goydos.
The young Spaniard holed a miraculous 50-footer for birdie at 14 to get within two of Goydos' lead, but trouble loomed for Goydos. He three-putted for a bogey from 40 feet at the 14th, then fell into a tie for the lead thanks to a missed nine-footer for par at the 15th.
Goydos hit a good five-iron to the left fringe with his second at the par-five 16th. He hit his third in close and tapped in for the birdie and a one-shot advantage.
Quinney fell off the pace when he caught a flier lie in the rough at 18. He could not save par from the back bunker.
Garcia was in the rough too, but laid up short with his second. He pitched to six feet and calmly holed the par putt, not looking like the man ranked 131st in putting on the PGA Tour.
Garcia would now have a chance if Goydos stumbled on his way into the clubhouse, which happened thanks to an errant drive at 18.
"I felt like he could get up and down on 18," said Garcia, who became the first European to win this title since Sandy Lyle in 1987. "Fortunately for me, he didn't."
Goydos laid up with his second and admittedly "chunked" his third. He had 18 feet for the win, but the ball never threatened the hole. It was off to the playoff and Garcia's victory.
"It's a lot of hard work starting to pay off," said Garcia. "That's the most important thing."
Brett Quigley (71), Ernie Els (72), Ben Crane (72) and Tom Lehman (74) shared sixth place at plus-one.
Defending champion Phil Mickelson was in the hunt after the third round, but played poorly on Sunday. He shot a six-over 78 and finished in a group tied for 21st at four-over 292.
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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.
Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.
Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.
Memphis vs. Ohio State
Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.
UCLA vs. Kansas
In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.
With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action. Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”. By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.
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MySportsbook.com: NBA Championship Odds
With the playoffs about two months away, the top two teams in the Western Conference are the clear cut leaders to win the NBA Championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA (44-9) and have been absolutely scorching since the second week of the season. What makes the Mavs’ record more impressive is the fact that they dropped their first four games of the season. Currently they have won 17 out of their last 18 and are MySportsbook.com’s favorite (2-1) to win it all. Right behind the Mavs are the Pacific leading Phoenix Suns (39-13). Last season, the Suns lost in the Conference Finals to non-other then the Mavericks four games to two. Of course the Suns were without center Amare Stoudemire who has is averaging 19.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG since coming back from his knee injury. Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have struggled a bit lately having lost their last three and four out of their last seven. Of course the main reason for their three straight loses is due to the absence of two time MVP Steve Nash, who is out with a shoulder injury. Heads-up, the Mavs have beaten the Suns in both of their meetings this season.
In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons (32-19) are the favorites to win it all at 6-1. The addition of Chris Webber seems to have been a good move for the Pistons. Since coming over from the 76ers, Webber has averaged 13.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG and the Pistons are 11-4. Even though the defending champion Heat are currently on the playoff making cusp, they are the Eastern Conference team that is getting the most action to win it all (9-1). The fact that Shaquille O’Neal is back in the starting lineup after missing 39 games probably has something to do with this. No doubt, Shaq makes a difference when in the lineup as their winning six out of their last seven would indicate.
Just because it is the All-Star break doesn’t mean that you can’t bet on NBA hoops this weekend. Be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com to bet on who you think will cut down the nets this July. Also, be sure to check out all of the lines and props for All-Star weekend. With the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry, there are plenty of ways to cash in on the NBA this weekend.
MySportsbook.com’s NBA Championship odds:
Atlanta Hawks 1000-1
Boston Celtics 5000-1
Charlotte Bobcats 5000-1
Chicago Bulls 20-1
Cleveland Cavaliers 20-1
Dallas Mavericks 2-1
Denver Nuggets 25-1
Detroit Pistons 6-1
Golden State Warriors 250-1
Houston Rockets 12-1
Indiana Pacers 60-1
Los Angeles Clippers 45-1
Memphis Grizzlies 5000-1
Miami Heat 9-1
Milwaukee Bucks 1000-1
Minnesota T-Wolves 200-1
New Jersey Nets 50-1
New Orleans Hornets 150-1
New York Knicks 150-1
Orlando Magic 75-1
Philadelphia 76ers 1000-1
Phoenix Suns 5-2
Portland TrailBlazers 1000-1
Sacramento Kings 250-1
San Antonio Spurs 9-1
Seattle Sonics 5000-1
Toronto Raptors 35-1
Utah Jazz 20-1
Washington Wizards 25-1
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