This Week in Golf -- February 2nd through February 5th

Golf Betting Lines

01/30/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA TOUR - WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN - TPC Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona - The biggest party on the PGA Tour is this week in Arizona.

Hundreds of thousands of fans will make their way to the desert this week for the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The raucous par-three 16th will have between 20,000-30,000 fans encircling the hole per day.

The 16th had been one of the loudest holes on tour, but it jumped to a different level in 1997 when Tiger Woods showed up. Woods aced the par-three and sent the crowd into a frenzy rarely seen on a golf course.

The hole has groups of fans that travel every year to this event and lead the crowd in chants and cheers that include everything from college fight songs of the players on the tee to players' pets names.

The event is played annually on Super Bowl weekend so the large crowds tend to dwindle late in the final round.

Those who left last year missed some extra golf, as did many others. Frost delays earlier in the week pushed the event back and forced a Monday finish.

Mark Wilson and Jason Dufner were among those who returned to the TPC Scottsdale on Monday to finish their rounds. Dufner polished off a 66, while Wilson capped a 69. The duo ended at 18-under, two clear of Vijay Singh and Martin Laird.

Wilson and Dufner headed to extra holes, and they matched pars on the first playoff hole. They shifted to the 10th, where Wilson closed out the event.

Dufner had some 60 feet for birdie, but left that putt around six feet from the hole. Wilson rendered Dufner's putt useless as he ran in his seven-footer for birdie.

The victory was Wilson's fourth on the PGA Tour and came a day after his beloved Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl.

Wilson is one of nine former champions in the field and is one of three players competing this week who has already won this season. Reigning PGA Champion Keegan Bradley is one of 10 major champions scheduled to play.

Last year's playoff was the third in the last four years after 11 consecutive years without an extra session.

Golf Channel will broadcast the first two rounds before CBS takes over on the weekend.

Tiger Woods will make his first PGA Tour start of the year next week as the tour returns to California for the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

D.A. Points closed with a 67 last year to win that event, and he also won the Pro-Am portion with comedian Bill Murray. It was a Cinderella story indeed, as Murray won for the first time in his 20 years playing the event.

EUROPEAN TOUR

COMMERCIALBANK QATAR MASTERS - Doha Golf Club, Doha, Qatar - The European Tour is in the middle of a three-week swing through the Persian Gulf region and this week's stop is the Qatar Masters.

A strong field will be on hand as Thomas Bjorn defends his title. Bjorn snapped a four-year winless drought in 2010, and carried the momentum into 2011. This was his first of three wins last year.

After struggling to a two-over 74 in the opening round, Bjorn went 65-66 in the middle two rounds, before closing with a 69 to earn a four-stroke win at Doha Golf Club.

Bjorn ended four clear of Alvaro Quiros, who also had a poor opening round. The Spaniard started with a 75, but rallied to take second place.

The field this week includes five of the top 15 players in the world and 10 of the top 40 overall. Among that group is Quiros, the 2009 winner, and 2010 champ Robert Karlsson.

Golf Channel will carry the action all four rounds.

The European Tour wraps up its Gulf swing next week as Quiros defends his title at that Dubai Desert Classic.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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