Kim's record 62 leads AT&T National
Golf Betting Lines
07/02/2009 - Bethesda, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Anthony Kim set the course record with an eight-under 62 at Congressional, taking the first-round lead Thursday at the AT&T National.
Tiger Woods, the tournament host, shot a six-under 64 to share second place with D.A. Points and Bryce Molder. Australia's Steve Elkington had a 65, while Jim Furyk led a three-way tie at 66.
Kim, who made it around the 7,200-yard course without a bogey, collected six birdies on his last nine holes to best the old scoring record of 63 set by Tom Pernice, Jr. and Peter Lonard last year.
In terms of birdies, it was the kind of success the 24-year-old Kim hasn't approached since he set the 18-hole birdie record at the Masters by making 11 of them in the second round.
"I'd like to say it was just me playing fantastic golf, but I got a couple good breaks along the way," said Kim, who also set a personal scoring record on the PGA Tour.
Kim made his eight birdies before Woods even hit the course to play his first competitive round at Congressional since 2007. That was the year Woods founded the Fourth of July Weekend tournament that benefits his foundation and pays tribute to members of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Woods missed last year's AT&T National after having season-ending left knee surgery following his U.S. Open victory.
He made about 150 feet worth of putts Thursday while shooting his best score since also posting a 64 in the second round of the 2007 Deutsche Bank Championship, which took place in September of that year.
Although Woods has routinely blamed his putting for his sometimes sporadic play this season, he seemed confident with the flat stick on Congressional's soon-to-be replaced greens.
"Today I hit a lot of putts on-line," he said. "Some went in."
Playing catch-up all day, he made four birdies and was bogey-free until hitting into a bunker at the 11th hole. Woods rebounded with a 31-foot birdie putt at the 12th -- this after he cursed his drive, which went into the right rough.
He made back-to-back birdies at the 15th and 16th, holing a 12-footer on the latter to climb within two shots of Kim's lead.
Overnight rains turned Congressional into a shooting gallery, and 36 players in a field of 119 shot under-par in the first round.
"The golf course could be had," said Woods. "You could be aggressive, you could fire at the flags and the only thing you really had to worry about is spinning the ball back too much."
Kim focused on hitting quality shots and also found the course ripe for scoring, although he took some time to explain the ways he got lucky during the first round.
Unsure of the wind at No. 3 -- his 12th hole -- Kim fired a drive that was headed 10 or 15 yards right of the fairway. The ball kicked left, saving him from a lie behind a tree, and he made a birdie.
On the next hole, Kim's drive was so far right that it missed the trees altogether, leaving him with a clear shot at the green. He made a seven-foot birdie putt there, then completed a run of three birdies in a row at No. 5.
"This golf course fits my eye, and when I hit it wide I seem to get lucky out here," Kim said. "This is one of the very few courses I feel like I get lucky at. I love coming back to a course I have good feelings about, and obviously playing well last year helped. But this course does fit my eye, and I'm starting to see the break on these greens pretty well."
Kim added birdies at the seventh and eighth holes, rolling in a seven-foot putt for the last one.
Saddled with high expectations since he won twice in 2008, and battling a nagging thumb injury, Kim has struggled to crack the top 10 this season. He hasn't done it since tying for second place behind Geoff Ogilvy at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in January, the PGA Tour's season-opener.
But Kim has finally gotten some strength back in his injured thumb, helping him to re-adjust his backswing, and he said his goal now is to win major championships.
Congressional, set to host the 2011 U.S. Open, is a good place to practice.
"I'm starting to focus on my course management because I know at majors that's what's important," said Kim, who tied for 16th at last month's U.S. Open. "This is a major championship type of golf course, obviously, because in two years we'll be here for the Open. I just know that if I'm working on the right things, it's going to pay off, whether it's tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday or next week."
The United States Golf Associations will begin its preparations for the '11 Open next week, when the Congressional greens are scheduled to be ripped up and the soil underneath them replaced.
Woods' tournament will move to the Philadelphia area the next two years to Aronimink Golf Club.
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2007 Academy Award Betting : Oscars odds
The 79th Annual Academy Awards odds , which will air February 25th, is sparking an interest throughout the nation with the announcement of its nominees. As the public chooses their favorites, sportsbooks are creating odds for one of the biggest entertainment betting nights of the year.
Whether its at a “Oscar Party” or in an on line sportsbook, entertainment gambling on award shows represent a huge increase in betting. As the public speculation mounts, MySportsbook.com, the largest and most respected sportsbook on the web, posted odds on who is going home with a “Golden Best Friend.”
“ We see a majority of our entertainment wagers come from the Academy Awards,” said MySportsbook.com spokesperson, Tim Dalton. “This is a competition that applies to everyone. These are the people that entertain us on a daily basis and you want to see them win.”
MySportsbook.com posted the following odds for Academy Awards:
Odds to win the Achievement in Directing:
Alejandro González Iñárritu "Babel": 8/1
Martin Scorsese "The Departed": 2/17
Clint Eastwood "Letters From Iwo Jima: 4/1
Stephen Frears "The Queen": 12/1
Paul Greengrass "United 93": 15/1
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:
Leonardo DiCaprio in "Blood Diamond": 11/1
Ryan Gosling in "Half Nelson": 20/1
Peter O’Toole in "Venus": 16/5
Will Smith in "The Pursuit of Happyness": 16/1
Forest Whitaker in "The Last King of Scotland": 1/11
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:
Penélope Cruz in "Volver": 18/1
Judi Dench in "Notes on a Scandal": 15/1
Helen Mirren in "The Queen": 1/50
Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada": 10/1
Kate Winslet in "Little Children": 20/1
Best Animated Feature Film:
"Cars": 1/3
"Happy Feet": 2/1
"Monster House": 20/1
Best Foreign-Language Film of the Year:
"Water" – Canada: 22/1
"The Lives of Others" – Germany: 7/2
"After the Wedding" - Denmark: 24/1
"Days of Glory (Indigenes)" – Algeria: 23/1
"Pan's Labyrinth" - Mexico: 1/10
Odds to win the Best Live-Action Short Film:
"Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)": 6/5
"Eramos Pocos (One Too Many)": 7/2
"Helmer & Son": 5/2
"The Saviour": 6/1
"West Bank Story": 7/2
Odds to win the Best Original Screenplay:
"Babel": 7/4
"Letters From Iwo Jima": 3/1
"Little Miss Sunshine": 21/20
"Pan's Labyrinth": 11/4
"The Queen": 5/4
Best Motion Picture of the Year:
"Babel": 11/4
"The Departed": 1/2
"Letters from Iwo Jima": 15/2
"Little Miss Sunshine": 17/10
"The Queen": 20/1
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role:
Alan Arkin in "Little Miss Sunshine": 11/10
Jackie Earle Haley in "Little Children": 10/1
Djimon Hounsou in "Blood Diamond": 9/1
Eddie Murphy in "Dreamgirls": 2/5
Mark Wahlberg in "The Departed": 5/1
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:
Adriana Barraza in "Babel": 14/1
Cate Blanchett in "Notes on a Scandal": 11/1
Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine": 2/1
Jennifer Hudson in "Dreamgirls": 1/8
Rinko Kikuchi in "Babel": 11/1
Film To Win Most Oscars:
Dreamgirls: 2/3
Pans Labyrinth: 6/5
The Departed: 6/1
The Queen: 11/1
Babel: 15/1
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: 11/1
Little Miss Sunshine: 15/1
Additional sports and entertainment odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.
The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.
MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.
A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.
A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.
Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.
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