Karlsson is a major factor

Golf Betting Lines

08/07/2008 - Bloomfield Hills Township, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Who is the only player to register a top-10 finish in each of the season's first three major championship?

That would be the tall Swede, Robert Karlsson.

He tied for eighth at the Masters, shared fourth at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines and last month, Karlsson used a final-round 69 to get into a tie for seventh at the British Open Championship.

Karlsson shot a two-under 68 on Thursday and shares the early lead at the PGA Championship.

So it must have been all of the success he's accumulated all year that propelled him to the top of the leaderboard, correct? That had to be the thought process, right?

"To forget about those three top eights, that's the most important thing," he said.

What?

"This has nothing to do with the other three," Karlsson explained. "If you look at the other three, obviously I'm really, really ecstatic about the way I played at the U.S. Open and Masters, and the British Open just sort of happened when the weather came up on the last day. I don't think I've ever been so good in the lounge at the airport before."

Fair enough.

Karlsson is 22nd in the world rankings and played on the last European Ryder Cup team. He owns seven victories on the European Tour, and although he might not be a household name in the U.S., Karlsson's a big-time player in the world of golf.

The 6-foot-4 Swede has not missed a cut anywhere in the world this year. He hasn't finished outside the top 20 since a tie for 30th at the WGC-CA Championship in mid-March.

Karlsson is almost assured to be part of Nick Faldo's Ryder Cup team next month and now, at Oakland Hills, Karlsson can earn major championship win No. 1.

Karlsson did not get off to the kind of start one expects from a leader. He double-bogeyed the first, but then rattled off three consecutive birdies from the second. He added birdies at six and eight and found himself three-under par.

When Karlsson birdied No. 11, he was the only competitor at four-under par. Unfortunately, an errant lob-wedge at 14 and a couple of trips to bunkers at 15 both led to bogeys.

He parred out to get in at minus-two.

While Karlsson's in the hunt for his first major, it's still early. Just don't ask him to think too highly of his 2008 major year.

"Well, Tiger's not playing all of them, is he?"

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Super Bowl 2009 Betting

Super Bowl 2009 Betting propositions

Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.

Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.

Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.

If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.

Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.

By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.

In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.

So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.

While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.

There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.

In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:

SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.

XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.

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