Crane leads Players; Woods six back

Golf Betting Lines

05/07/2009 - Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ben Crane fired a seven-under 65 on Thursday to take the lead after the first round of The Players Championship at the famous Stadium Course at the TPC at Sawgrass.

John Mallinger, Alex Cejka and Richard S. Johnson share second place at six- under 66.

Tiger Woods had an up-and-down round of one-under 71 on Thursday that left him in a tie for 38th place.

"I hit the ball well today, I really did. It's just unfortunate I didn't capitalize on my opportunities today," acknowledged Woods, who only won this title in 2001 and has not finished in the top 10 since. "I had quite a few of them."

Woods began on the 10th tee and out of the gate struggled with the flat stick. He missed birdie putts of 10 feet at 10 and 11, but found serious danger thanks to an errant drive at 14. Woods made bogey there to fall to plus-one, but got on the right side of par two holes later.

At the par-five 16th, Woods hit a three-wood around the corner and had only a seven-iron for his second shot. Woods stuffed it three feet from the hole and kicked in the eagle putt to jump to one-under par for the championship.

He two-putted for a birdie from a long way away at the par-five second. Woods missed the green at both six and eight and walked off with bogeys at both. Those bogeys dropped him to even-par, but he knocked a wedge to a foot to set up a closing birdie at nine.

Woods was joined at minus-one by several players including Vijay Singh, Adam Scott and defending champion Sergio Garcia.

Phil Mickelson, a winner two years ago, birdied three of his first four holes Thursday, but fell apart. He recorded six bogeys and two birdies after the fourth for a one-over 73.

"I hit some squirrely shots," admitted Mickelson. "I didn't score well."

Crane certainly did.

He teed off on the back nine first Thursday and birdied his first two holes. Crane parred the next two, then dropped a shot thanks to a bogey at the 14th.

From there, Crane played brilliantly.

At the par-five 16th, Crane hit his second into a greenside bunker, but blasted out to tap-in range to set up the birdie. One hole later, Crane rolled in a 20-footer for birdie and made the turn at three-under par.

He parred No. 1, but chipped to six feet for a birdie at the par-five second. Crane birdied the par-three third, converted a four-footer for birdie at four and made it four in a row thanks to a long birdie putt at the fifth.

Crane was seven-under and in the lead of the tournament after the birdie run. He parred six then sank a 12-foot birdie putt at No. 7 to get to eight-under par.

At the par-three eighth, Crane knocked his tee ball into a bunker. The best he could do was 12 feet with his second and Crane missed the par save to fall to minus-seven.

Crane laid up with his second at the par-five ninth and he hit his third to 12 feet. Crane failed to make that last birdie effort, but still got in with a great round, especially a great one with the putter.

Crane needed only 22 putts on Thursday and acknowledged how special the performance was, considering the difficulty of the greens at Sawgrass.

"This is definitely one of the better putting rounds of my career, and you know, those greens out there are immaculate," said Crane, a two-time PGA Tour winner. "You get some of those downgrain putts and it just rolls like it's on the hood of your car, just so smooth going out there. It's beautiful to watch that.

"Today I was able to put the ball in the right spots, give myself some opportunities and then all of a sudden some putts start going in and give you a little confidence, and it was one of those special days playing golf."

Retief Goosen, Camilo Villegas, Jason Dufner, Jonathan Byrd, Scott Verplank, David Toms, Ian Poulter, Brad Adamonis and Bubba Watson are knotted in fifth place at five-under 67.

Myaportsbook Golf Betting News

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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

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Matt Kenseth And Kevin Harvick Favorites To Take NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship

(September 15)—The NASCAR season has hit the homestretch with the opening event on this year’s Chase for the Cup taking place this weekend at the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. With 10 races remaining to determine the Cup Series champion, leading online sportsbook MySportsbook.com today announced odds on all 10 Chase qualifying drivers capturing the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.

One of the largest sportsbook sites on the Internet, MySportsbook.com currently lists the top two drivers in the point standings as the early favorites to win the Nextel Cup. Entering the Chase for the Cup with a slim five-point lead in the point standings, 2003 NASCAR champ Matt Kenseth has been made a slight favorite to win his second Cup at 7/2 betting odds. 2001 Cup Rookie of the Year Kevin Harvick has betting odds listed at 5/2 and four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon is listed at 6/1 to capture the Nextel Cup this year.

Hoping to follow in the footsteps of his legendary father who won six NASCAR titles, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stands at 8/1 to breakthrough with his first Cup victory. Staying with the family theme, MySportsbook.com lists 2005 Rookie of the Year Kyle Busch at 14/1 to succeed big brother Kurt’s 2004 NASCAR title. While Kasey Kahne was the final driver to qualify for the Chase with a third place finish last week, the oddsmakers give him a fighting chance at 10/1 mainly due to several mile-and-a-half tracks remaining on the schedule. Despite going winless on the NASCAR circuit this season, Jeff Burton enters the Chase at 5/1 to capture the Cup title. Meanwhile, rookie Denny Hamlin is 4/1 to win the championship, while veteran driver Mark Martin enters the Chase for the Cup as a 15/1 long shot to win his first NASCAR title in his 24th and final season.

MySportsbook.com will offer comprehensive Nascar betting lines on every race remaining on the Nextel Cup series including driver match-ups, props and odds to win each race. For a complete list of NASCAR odds, please visit www.MySportsbook.com.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts US credit cards needs.