Villegas alone in first at PGA National

Golf Betting Lines

03/06/2010 - Palm Beach Gardens, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Camilo Villegas posted a three-under 67 on Saturday to take sole possession of the lead after the third round of the Honda Classic.

Villegas finished 54 holes at 11-under 199 and is three strokes clear at PGA National.

Vijay Singh, 1999 champion, had a one-under 69 on Saturday and is tied for second place with Australian Nathan Green, who carded a three-under 67 in round three. The pair is knotted at eight-under 202.

George McNeill fired a four-under 66 and shares fourth with Matt Every, who managed a one-under 69 on Saturday. The duo finished at minus-six.

This has been a whirlwind week for the leader.

Villegas started the week in his native Colombia to host the Nationwide Tour event being staged there. He returned in time for Thursday's first round and grabbed a piece of the second-round lead after a Friday 66.

"It got me in a good mood. Even though it's been a long week, it was awesome," said Villegas of his early-week trip.

On Saturday, Villegas parred his first two holes, but kicked in a short birdie putt at the par-five third. He made it two in a row thanks to another short birdie putt at the fourth and three holes later, ran home a 30-footer for birdie.

Villegas was 11-under par and three shots ahead. He made a 21-footer for birdie at the ninth to move four clear, but struggled immediately after he made the turn.

Villegas couldn't get up and down from a bunker at the 10th, but got the stroke back after a 19-foot birdie putt at 11. He missed the green and an eight-foot par save at 12.

Green got to nine-under with a tap-in birdie at 15, then Villegas three-putted for bogey from almost 40 feet at the 14th. His lead was only a stroke, but Villegas played a tough hole brilliantly to extend his cushion.

At the 16th, Villegas hammered his drive down the fairway and hit a great approach to 10 feet. He sank the birdie putt to move two ahead, then when Green bogeyed the last, Villegas reclaimed his three-shot lead.

He parred the last two and took the 54-hole lead for the second time on tour. The other time Villegas was in front after three rounds was the 2008 BMW Championship. He went on to win that event and the Tour Championship for his only two victories on tour.

Most observers believe Villegas should have more trophies on the mantle, but he's philosophical about it.

"It's all about attitude," said Villegas, who was third at the WGC- Accenture Match Play Championship and the second-round co-leader last week in Phoenix. "Last year, even though I played 27 tournaments, I only missed three cuts and made the cut in every major. I felt I should have played a little better. I decided to look at the good side of it."

Anthony Kim shared the lead with Villegas after the second round, but bogeyed his last two holes in round three and shot a three-over 73. He is tied for sixth place with Michael Connell, who had a one-under 69 and joined Kim at five-under 205.

J.B. Holmes (66) and Graeme McDowell (71) are knotted in eighth place at minus-four.

NOTES: Sam Saunders, the grandson of Arnold Palmer, posted his third straight one-under 69 and is tied for 10th at three-under par...Nearby fires left PGA National a little cloudy, but play was never stopped.

Wwwcasinodomain Golf Betting News

<< Former PGA Tour winner Pate leads Bogota Open
Bogota, Colombia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former PGA Tour winner Steve Pate had a five-under 66 Saturday to take a two-shot lead after three rounds of the Nationwide Tour's Bogota Open. The 48-year-old Pate birdied five of his last 11 hol

<< No. 25 Xavier downs St. Bonaventure
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jordan Crawford scored 22 points to lead 25th-ranked Xavier to a 93-72 win over St. Bonaventure in the regular-season finale for both teams at Cintas Center. Jamel McLean poured in 15 points for the M

<< Juve returns to top four
Florence, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juventus moved back into the top four in the Serie A table on Saturday as Fabio Grosso scored in the 68th minute of a 2-1 Juve win over Fiorentina at the Artemio Franchi. Diego put the visitors in f

<< Awesome Act gets Gotham Stakes victory
Ozone Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Post-time favorite Awesome Act, ridden by Julien Leparoux, scampered away down the stretch to capture Saturday's $250,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. The 1 1/16-mile Gotham is the final local p

<< NAC halts PSV's unbeaten run
Breda, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PSV Eindhoven suffered its first league defeat of the season on Saturday at NAC as Robert Schilder scored the winning goal in the 72nd minute. Orlando Engelaar put PSV in front after 18 minutes, bu

Stanford finishes off perfect Pac-10 slate >>
Berkeley, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kayla Pedersen had 23 points and Nnemkadi Ogwumike scored 22, as No. 2 Stanford beat California, 63-48, to wrap up their first undefeated Pac-10 season since 2002. Ogwumike added 14 rebounds and Pederse

Real Madrid joins Barca on top >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rafael Van der Vaart's stoppage-time goal gave Real Madrid a 3-2 comeback win over Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday, while Barcelona could only manage a 2-2 draw with Almeria, leaving the two

Packers retain OT Clifton >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers have re-signed offensive tackle Chad Clifton, keeping the stalwart lineman that has started for the team since 2000. Terms were not released, but the deal was originally repo

Sun Belt Conference Tournament Recaps >>
Hot Springs, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Sherrer hit a jumper with four seconds left to lead the ninth-seeded South Alabama Jaguars to a 52-51 victory over the eighth-seeded Florida Atlantic Owls in the first round of the Sun Belt Co

Pitt routs Rutgers to close out regular season >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gilbert Brown poured in a game-high 19 points while pulling down six rebounds, as the 17th-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers destroyed the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 83-54, in the regular-season finale for both cl

Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.