Curtis takes first after third round of PGA

Golf Betting Lines

08/10/2008 - Bloomfield Hills Township, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ben Curtis, the 2003 British Open Champion, fired a two-under 68 Sunday morning to move into sole possession of the lead after the third round of the PGA Championship.

It took Curtis an extra day, but he finished 54 holes at two-under 208 at the South Course at Oakland Hills.

After sitting for almost five hours on Saturday before play was called, Curtis was one of eight players who had 36 holes on his docket for Sunday.

"It should be a lot of fun this afternoon," said Curtis. "I went to bed pretty early. It's gonna be a long day and you just have to stay patient."

The third round was completed well within the time period the PGA of America allotted to finish all play on Sunday. If there is bad weather Sunday, and there's a 40 percent chance in the forecast, the fourth Monday finish in the stroke-play era of the PGA Championship could be a reality.

Players are going off both the first and 10th tees in threesomes in the final round. The last threesome is scheduled to go out around 2:20 p.m. (et) and with a five-hour window of play, there is time allowed for a possible playoff.

Again, that is dependent on no weather stoppages on Sunday. The forecast calls for a chance of thunderstorms in the late afternoon, with a 40 percent chance of rain all afternoon.

Second-round leader J.B. Holmes bogeyed the last hole to fall out of a tie for first. He managed an even-par 70 in round three and is tied for second place with Henrik Stenson, who birdied 18 for a one-under 69. The pair is knotted at minus-one.

Reigning two-time British Open champion Padraig Harrington flew into contention Sunday morning. He posted a third-round, four-under 66 to move into a tie for fourth with the man he beat in a playoff last year at the British Open, Sergio Garcia (69), and Charlie Wi (71). The trio is knotted at one-over 211.

Andres Romero matched the Oakland Hills course record Saturday with a five- under 65. He shares seventh with first-round co-leader Jeev Milkha Singh, who carded a third-round, even-par 70. That pair is in at plus-two.

Camilo Villegas (67), Steve Flesch (70), Aaron Baddeley (71) and 2001 PGA Champion David Toms (72) are tied for ninth place at three-over-par 213.

Phil Mickelson, the 2005 PGA Champion, never got going Sunday morning. He faced a seven-foot eagle putt on the sixth hole when he returned in the morning, but only made birdie.

Mickelson rattled off back-to-back bogeys at the 10th and 11th. He parred out and finished 54 holes in a tie for 13th at four-over 214, six off the lead.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

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