Boyd among three leaders in Scotland

Golf Betting Lines

08/27/2010 - Perthshire, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five days after losing a playoff, England's Gary Boyd shot a four-under 68 to earn a share of the second-round lead Friday at the Johnnie Walker Championship.

France's Julien Guerrier fired a 67 and Englishman David Lynn had a 68 to join Boyd at nine-under 135.

They shared a two-shot lead over three players on the 7,300-yard PGA Centenary Course at the Gleneagles Hotel.

Boyd was involved in a three-way playoff at last week's Czech Open, losing it when Sweden's Peter Hanson birdied the second extra hole.

But he has bounced back nicely with rounds of 67 and 68 and heads into the weekend in good position to make a charge for his first career win.

"Last week didn't really surprise me. I was doing so well. I started to hole a few more putts and I tried to take that into this week," said Boyd, who had two birdies and an eagle at the 16th hole -- the second time he eagled the hole in as many days.

Trailing the co-leaders by two strokes at seven-under 137 were England's Mark Foster (67), South Africa's George Coetzee (68) and Stephen Gallacher (70), who was the top Scotsman on the board.

Nine players were knotted another shot further back at six-under 138, including Italian brothers Edoardo (68) and Francesco (70) Molinari, Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez (68) and Hanson (69).

Francesco Molinari has already made the European Ryder Cup team, while his brother hopes to play his way onto captain Colin Montgomerie's side.

At the moment, Jimenez and Hanson hold the last two spots on the team, which will be finalized after Sunday's final round.

England's Simon Dyson, who is also at six-under, is trying to squeeze his way onto the team with a good showing this week.

"If I play the best 36 holes of my life I'll play in the best tournament of my life," said Dyson.

Lynn, the 36-year-old European Tour veteran, captured his only victory at the 2004 KLM Open. He is sharing the 36-hole lead with a pair of tour rookies, hoping to turn around a disappointing season.

"(I've) been staying patient all year, hoping my fortunes are going to change," said Lynn, who had seven birdies and three bogeys Friday. "A couple of good rounds ... sets me up nicely for the weekend."

Guerrier, coming off a tie for fourth place at the Czech Open, collected seven birdies and two bogeys Friday.

NOTES: Defending champion Peter Hedblom posted a 70 and was four shots off the lead...The cut line fell at one-under 143 with 66 players moving on to the weekend. Among the players who missed the cut was Robert Karlsson.

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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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