Toms, Villegas share lead in California

Golf Betting Lines

01/19/2012 - La Quinta, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Toms and Camilo Villegas carded matching rounds of nine-under 63 Thursday to share the first-round lead at the Humana Challenge.

The leaders played two different courses on Thursday. Toms was at La Quinta Country Club, while Villegas played on the Nicklaus Private course at PGA West. Those two courses, along with the Palmer Private course at PGA West, will host the opening three rounds, before the final round is contested on the Palmer course.

Brandt Snedeker headlines a group of four players tied for third place at minus-eight. He stands alongside Bob Estes, Ted Potter, Jr. and Sang-Moon Bae.

Ben Crane is among seven players that share seventh place at seven-under 65.

This is the first time since 1964 that Bob Hope's name isn't associated with the tournament, though his name remains on the trophy. Former President Bill Clinton has added his name to the tournament and brought in a few big names to re-invigorate the event.

Greg Norman and two-time winner Phil Mickelson answered Clinton's call to play this week. Norman managed an even-par 72 at La Quinta, while Mickelson stumbled to a two-over 74, also at La Quinta.

Clinton will play alongside Norman in the pro-am portion of the event on Saturday.

Toms played the front nine first and opened with four straight pars. He turned it on from there as he birdied the next four holes to jump up the leaderboard.

The 45-year-old Toms birdied the 10th, then dropped in back-to-back birdie chances from the 12th to move to minus-seven.

Toms converted birdied chances at 16 and 18 to grab a piece of the lead.

"I struck the ball pretty well all day. I didn't make any putts the first few holes and I had some great looks, then all of a sudden I made a long one, and then I made a couple after that," Toms said in a televised interview. "Then, for the most part, just played solid golf.

"I was never really in trouble off the tee. I hit a lot of greens, had a lot of looks and putted well."

Villegas played the back nine of the Nicklaus course first, and opened with birdies on each of his first two holes. After a pair of pars, he drained three straight birdie chances from the 14th.

The Colombian made the turn at five-under. He birdied three of the first four holes on the front nine. Villegas parred the next three holes, then birdied the par-five eighth to end at minus-nine.

"A great day out there. Obviously, the weather is beautiful, golf course conditions are perfect and I had a great group," Villegas said. "We had some laughs out there and felt pretty relaxed. It's a really nice way to start the year. I kept the ball in play, made a lot of great putts and then again had a lot of fun out there."

Johnson Wagner, last week's winner at the Sony Open, carded a four-under 68 on the Palmer course and is tied for 31st. Defending champion Jhonattan Vegas is tied for 80th at minus-two after a round with five birdies and three bogeys.

NOTES: There 12 former champions in the field including Vegas and Mickelson...Tops among that group is Pat Perez, who opened with a five-under 67 at La Quinta...Toms, who played alongside Mickelson, will shift to the Nicklaus course on Friday, while Villegas will play the Palmer course.

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MySportsbook.com: NFL draft - The NFC South


In part two of MySportsbook.com’s draft preview, we’ll take a look at a division that was extremely disappointing last season: the NFC South.  Many “experts” predicted the Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, of course they could not even make the playoffs in an extremely weak NFC.  The Saints definitely made up for the disappointing seasons of their NFC South brethren by exploding out of no where en route to the NFC Championship game.  For the avid NFL gambler, it is imperative to pay attention to the NFL draft.  Although free agency gets a ton of publicity, the successful franchises build their teams around the draft.

1. New Orleans Saints
Who would have thought this time last year that the Saints would be the favorites to win the NFC South for the 2007 campaign?  New Orleans is loaded with firepower on the offensive side of the ball but with the exodus of Joe Horn they will most likely look to draft a WR on Day 1.  Despite having the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense last season, the Saints will most likely upgrade their CB’s with one of their first two picks. Other possibilities for the Saints will be TE and DT.  Because of where they will be selecting (27th), the Saints could go the “best available player” route which could net a LB.

Key additions: Eric Johnson TE, Troy Evans LB, David Patten WR
Key loses: Joe Horn WR,
Team needs: CB, WR, TE, LB, DT
Possible draftees: Aaron Ross CB Texas, Darrelle Revis CB Pitt, Ted Ginn Jr. WR OSU, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Chris Houston CB Arkansas, Greg Olsen TE Miami

2. Carolina Panthers
Carolina was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season.  With the signing of David Carr, expect the very first quarterback controversy to come out of Carolina if Jake Delhomme doesn’t rebound quickly from an average 2007 season. With veteran safety Mike Minter getting up there in age, they will look to draft a safety on Day 1 but probably not in the first round.  LB is another need with the loss of Chris Draft to go along with Dan Morgan’s concussion problems.  If TE Greg Olsen is still on the board, he might be too good to pass up despite their needs on the defensive side of the ball.

Key additions: David Carr QB
Key loses: Chris Draft LB
Team needs: LB, TE, S, OT
Possible draftees: Greg Olsen TE Miami, Patrick Willis LB Ole Miss, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Levi Brown OT PSU

3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were another NFC South team to have a disappointing 2007 season.  The Falcons have been plenty busy during the off season with plenty of players coming and going including a new head coach.  The Falcons were able to improve their draft position with the trade of coveted backup QB Matt Schaub.  High on the list of Day 1 needs will be a defensive end to replace Patrick Kerney and a hard hitting safety since Lawyer Milloy is nearing the end of his career.  With an additional 2nd round pick, the Falcons could attempt to trade up to acquire local product WR Calvin Johnson. 

Key additions: Joey Harrington QB, Toniu Fonoti OG, Joe Horn WR
Key loses: Justin Griffen RB, Patrick Kerney DE, Matt Lehr OG, Ashley Lelie WR, Matt Schaub QB
Team needs: DE, S, OT, WR, DT
Possible draftees: LaRon Landry S LSU, Amobi Okoye DT Louisville, Levi Brown OT PSU, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas, Alan Branch DT Michigan

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age really caught up to the Bucs last season.  The Bucs still have plenty of household names on defense in Ronde Barber, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks but the one thing those three have in common is unfortunately age.  It is imperative for the Bucs to get much younger, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having bigger needs on the defensive side of the ball, WR Calvin Johnson is the most likely pick if he is still available when the Bucs pick at the four spot.  This would suit Bucs’ faithful just fine as Johnson is widely considered the top talent in the draft and it is a position of need for the Bucs.

Key additions: Jeff Garcia QB, Kevin Carter DE, Torrie Cox CB, Cato June LB
Key loses: Dewayne White DE, Sean Mahan OG
Team needs: WR, LB, DE, CB (Youth on defense!)
Possible draftees: Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech, Gains Adams DE Clemson, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas

It is never too early to start betting on the NFL. Log on to MySportsbook.com to checkout all of the NFL futures for the upcoming season.  On the clock: the NFC North

Odds to win the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints 8-5
Carolina Panthers 2-1
Atlanta Falcons 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-2    

Odds to win the NFC:
New Orleans Saints 13-2
Carolina Panthers 7-1
Atlanta Falcons 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-1

Odds to win the Super Bowl:
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Carolina Panthers 20-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75-1

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