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Levin grabs lead at delayed Phoenix OpenGolf Betting Lines02/03/2012 - Scottsdale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spencer Levin was already having a good round before he drove into the bunker at the par-four 17th hole. He was leading by several strokes and still had a good chance for birdie. But he holed the 37-foot chip shot for eagle and took control of the Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. And by the time the second round was suspended Friday, Harrison Frazar had climbed into contention. Levin fired an eight-under 63 on Friday to move to 14-under-par 128, while Frazar is alone in second at 11-under through 15 holes. Frost delays on both Thursday and Friday morning have set the tournament back. Play was suspended Friday evening at 8:07 p.m. (et), and the second round will resume Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. John Huh shot a 66 on Friday to move to eight-under overall. He is tied for third with Webb Simpson, who completed his round of 69 as darkness fell on the course. Kyle Stanley -- a runner-up last week at the Farmers Insurance Open after blowing a three-shot lead on the final hole -- shot a 66 on Friday and is seven strokes behind Levin in fifth. Ryan Palmer and Jason Dufner, co-leaders after the first round, are another shot back in a large group tied for sixth. Levin, who has never won on the PGA Tour, had to finish his first round Friday morning after the frost delay. But the 27-year-old came out strong. He needed to play three holes to complete his first round and birdied the first of them on his way to a 65. That put him within one stroke of the lead. He was in a similar position last week, when he shot an opening-round 62 to grab a share of the lead at the Farmers Insurance Open. Levin then posted a 76 in the second round and fell out of contention. But to say he avoided a similar slip-up Friday is a bit of an understatement. Levin posted consecutive birdies on the first two holes and the fifth -- all par-fours. After making six consecutive pars around the turn, he birdied the 12th and 13th to move to 11-under overall. Another birdie at No. 16 led him to the 17th, where he aggressively drove his tee shot 345 yards into the bunker at the rear side of the green. He then lined up the chip shot, which bounced and skidded to a roll before curling into the cup around the left side of the flag. The 92nd-ranked player in the world, Levin is in good position to grab his first PGA win. He came close to winning the Mayakoba Golf Classic last February, but lost in a playoff to Johnson Wagner. Frazar shot 66 in his first round, and was in the afternoon wave Friday. He got off to a good start, with birdies on two of his first four holes, beginning from the 10th tee. Then, three consecutive short birdie putts from No. 15 -- all around six feet -- moved him to 10-under going around the turn to the first hole, which he also birdied to get within three strokes of the lead. Palmer was alone in front after Thursday, when he shot a 64, while Dufner grabbed a share of the lead after completing his first round on Friday. Palmer was still in the mix after a birdie at the fifth on Friday, but he bogeyed the ninth to start a tumultuous stretch. Including No. 9, he had five bogeys and three birdies during a nine-hole run, and ended with a one-over 72 to tumble down the leaderboard. Dufner started off poorly -- recording a bogey and double-bogey within in first seven holes -- and never recovered. He also ended with a 72. NOTES: Levin has never held the lead at a PGA Tour event after 36 holes...Ben Crane (67), Bubba Watson (70), Bo Van Pelt (71) and Derek Lamely (70) are also tied for sixth with Palmer and Dufner...Jeff Overton withdrew from the tournament because of a left wrist injury...The cut will likely fall at even- par 142. Among those who missed it were Davis Love III and Anthony Kim (143), Angel Cabrera (145), Y.E. Yang (146), Vijay Singh and Mark Calcavecchia (151).
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Horse Betting(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine). The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late. "You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest. "A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve." When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential: CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped. DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins. PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge. You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike. "You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders." Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of. (By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.) Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout." But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing." Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you." Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front." All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold. In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse. "Now," says Avello, "it's time for action." To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs. |
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