Wie aces her way to Canadian Open lead

Golf Betting Lines

08/26/2010 - Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michelle Wie aced the par-three 11th hole on Thursday en route to a seven-under 65 and the first-round lead of the Canadian Women's Open.

"It was a fun day out there today, it was a good pairing," said Wie. "Just went out there and tried to have fun. Obviously it worked out well for me on 11. But it was pretty cool."

Already three-under on her round, Wie hit a five-iron at the 183-yard, par- three 11th. The ball landed on the putting surface and rolled in for her second ace in tournament action.

"It was the first time I had actually seen it go in in a tournament," admitted Wie. "It was pretty cool. It was surreal. I didn't believe it actually happened.

"They make that sound like it's going to go in and make that noise and everyone's hands go up. It was pretty crazy."

Wie's hole-in-one wasn't her only heroics on Thursday. She holed out from a bunker at the par-four 17th that got her to seven-under par for the championship.

"It just was an uphill lie, uphill to the green, and I just really thought I could make it, and I went up there, really thought about it, just trusted it, and kind of did what I thought it would do," said Wie.

Sarah Kemp posted a four-under 68 and is alone in second place at St. Charles Country Club.

Defending champion Suzann Pettersen, who won this title last year at Priddis Greens Golf & Country Club, carded a three-under 69 and is alone in third place at minus-three.

"It was windy out there today," said Pettersen. "It was a little different wind than the practice rounds and the pro-am, but hit the ball pretty good, made my fair share of putts, and I mean, I think I hit 17 greens, so that was pretty good."

Wind aside, Thursday's story was Wie.

She collected her first birdie at the par-four third and added back-to-back birdies at five and six to get to three-under par.

Wie parred the next four around the turn, then recorded her ace at 11 to take the lead at minus-five. She bogeyed the next hole, but went on another mini- run to grab the lead.

She rattled off back-to-back birdies at the 13th and 14th, both par fives, and found herself two strokes clear at six-under par. Wie's hole-out birdie at 17 padded her cushion, and she took the first-round lead for the first time since her days as an amateur at the 2005 U.S. Women's Open.

"It's been a long time ago. It's pretty cool, you know, but it means nothing, really," said Wie. "Today is over and done with. We still have three more days of the tournament, so I've just really got to focus and try to play better every day."

Jiyai Shin, Jane Park, Meredith Duncan, Pernilla Lindberg, Ilhee Lee, Kristy McPherson, Karen Stupples and Amy Hung are knotted in fourth place at two- under 70.

NOTES: World No. 1 Ai Miyazato struggled to a two-over 74 and is tied for 63rd place...Cristie Kerr, who was No. 1 two weeks ago, was a stroke worse with a three-over 75...Shi Hyun Ahn and Ilmi Chung were disqualified on Thursday.

Soprtsbook Golf Betting News

<< Wasylowich leads Canadian Tour Championship
St. Catharines, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kris Wasylowich fired an eight-under 62 Thursday to take the first-round lead at the Canadian Tour Championship. Ryan Yip was a stroke off the lead at seven-under 63, while six-time tour winner Mik

<< Pujols fastest to reach 400 HRs
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols became the fastest in number of seasons to reach the 400 home run plateau when he went deep on Thursday. Pujols hit an opposite-field solo blast to right fiel

<< Reyes leaves Thursday's game
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes left Thursday's game against Florida after aggravating his right oblique strain. Reyes legged out an infield hit in the second inning and was immediately removed in fa

<< Miller leads in Tennessee; Daly one back
Farragut, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zack Miller posted a six-under 66 on Thursday to take the opening-round lead of the Knoxville Sentinel Open, but a multiple major champion lurks close behind. John Daly, the 1991 PGA Champion and 1995 Bri

<< Saban: Talks on agent issue continue
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -Alabama coach Nick Saban says talks are ongoing in seeking a solution to the problem of rule-breaking agents.Saban said Thursday evening that there have been ``several conference calls'' with other coaches, the NFL, the NFL Pl

UNC expands investigation into possible NCAA violations >>
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - North Carolina announced Thursday night the school and the NCAA are expanding an investigation in possible violations, and those may include infractions related to agents. The school held a news conferen

Padres OF Denorfia leaves game >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Diego Padres outfielder Chris Denorfia left Thursday's game against Arizona in the ninth inning with a right leg injury. Denorfia walked with one out and slid safely into second base on a gro

LaPorta's HR carries Tribe over A's >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt LaPorta hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth inning, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 3-2 win over the Oakland A's in the final contest of a three-game set at Progressive Field. LaPorta's eight

Patriots give Gostkowski four-year contract extension >>
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots have reportedly given All-Pro kicker Stephen Gostkowski a four-year extension that will pay him an average of nearly $3.5 million per season. Last season, Gostkowski made 26-of-31

Scherzer and Peralta lead Tigers past Jays >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Max Scherzer sparkled over eight innings and Jhonny Peralta blasted a three-run homer during a six-run fourth, as Detroit blew out Toronto, 7-1, in the opener of a four-game series. Gerald Laird added a t

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.