Stricker hangs on to win at Riviera
Golf Betting Lines
02/07/2010 - Pacific Palisades, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After entering the final round with a six-stroke lead, Steve Stricker managed a one-under 70 Sunday to win the Northern Trust Open by two strokes.
Stricker, who had led by seven late in the third round, which was completed earlier Sunday, completed his eighth PGA Tour title at 16-under-par 268.
With the victory, Stricker moved past Phil Mickelson to become the No. 2 ranked player in the world rankings.
"It feels great. I remember where I was and where I am now, you know, it doesn't get any better," said Stricker, who collected $1,152,000 for the victory. "That was hard today. I aged a lot out there today. It was a grind from the get go."
Luke Donald twice got within two of Stricker's lead, but could not get any closer. The Englishman closed with a five-under 66 at Riviera Country Club to take second at minus-14.
J.B. Holmes (67) and first-round leader Dustin Johnson (66) shared third place at 13-under-par 271.
Mickelson entered as the two-time defending champion, but never threaten on the weekend. He closed with a two-over 73 to share 45th at two-under-par 282.
Twelve players finished their third round earlier Sunday. Friday's second round was pushed into Saturday by rain causing the delay in the middle rounds.
Stricker parred the first three holes before missing the green on the par- three fourth. That led to a bogey dropping Stricker to 14-under. He led by three, but Donald was making a charge.
Donald got off to a fast start with birdies on one and three. He poured in a six-foot birdie try on the fifth to get within two at 12-under.
However, Stricker made a run in the middle of the round that gave him a four- stroke cushion. At the eighth, Stricker rolled in a birdie effort from five feet and made it two in a row with a nine-footer on the ninth.
Stricker moved to 17-under with a birdie putt from just inside 13 feet on the par-five 11th. Donald also birdied the 11th and was four back.
Both Stricker and Donald faltered to bogeys on the par-four 12th. Donald got back within three with a four-foot birdie putt on the 13th. The Englishman narrowed the gap to two with a short birdie putt on 17.
Stricker scrambled down the stretch as he missed two of five greens between 13 and 17, but got up and down for par both times. The other three holes he two- putted for par to maintain his lead.
At the last, Donald had a birdie effort from 31 feet, but came up short. Stricker had three putts for the win, but took just two as he two-putted for par for the third straight hole to seal the victory.
"I didn't make birdie on No. 1 and made bogey on No. 4 and kind of let some other players into the tournament," Stricker said. "I knew it was going to be tough today. I am not too familiar with having a six-shot lead too many times, so I knew it was going to be hard. I just tried to grind it out.
"I didn't hit it the greatest, but at times my short game saved me and my putting saved me a few times too."
Donald was denied his first win since the 2006 Honda Classic.
"I tried to keep making good swings and give myself birdie chances. Obviously, I missed a couple of chances on six and seven, but I can't really complain," Donald said. "I hit a lot of quality shots and made Steve think about it a little. There is no one more annoyed. I haven't been in the winner's circle coming up on four years now. I feel like I am good enough to be there."
Paul Goydos (65), Steve Marino (68), George McNeill (69) and Andres Romero (70) shared fifth place at 10-under-par 274. Ricky Barnes was one stroke back at minus-nine after closing with back-to-back 69s.
NOTES: Goydos led a list of five players, that also included Jason Bohn, Marc Leishman, Webb Simpson and K.J. Choi, to shoot 65 in the final round...Johnson will defend his title next week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
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What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
How to Read Point Spreads
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.