Grace notches first European Tour win
Golf Betting Lines
01/15/2012 - Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Branden Grace took a three-shot lead into Sunday's final round and fired an even-par 72 to hold off Jamie Elson and win the Joburg Open.
Grace played a total of 21 holes on Sunday at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club after weather delays forced a change in schedule. He entered the day tied with Richard Finch, who had four holes remaining in the third round, but closed with two birdies to set up a significant advantage.
Finch, meanwhile, shot a one-over over the last three holes and was tied with George Coetzee after 54 holes in second at 14-under. With a three-shot lead over the pair, Grace was able to shoot an even-par down the stretch for a 17- under 270 and his first European Tour title.
Grace avoided any serious mistakes over the back nine -- all pars -- to deny Elson a miracle comeback. Elson entered the final round 10 strokes off the lead, but whittled it to one with a closing eagle at the par-five 18th. Elson waited in the clubhouse for a potential playoff, but Grace never flinched.
Elson, who tied the East Course record of nine-under 63 set by Charl Schwartzel, finished second at 16-under 271 overall. David Drysdale (67), Marc Warren (68), Jaco Van Zyl (68), Trevor Fisher, Jr. (68), Dawie Van Der Walt (70) and Michiel Bothma (71) shared third at 14-under.
Both Finch (78) and Coetzee (75) tailed off over the final 18 holes, finishing 24th and 14th, respectively. Neither was a factor in the final outcome.
MORE TO FOLLOW.
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit hopes to build on its first win in nearly two weeks when it hosts a struggling Golden State Warriors club at The Palace. The Pistons snapped a six-game skid on Friday in Charlotte when Jonas Jerebko scored 22 point
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fifth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes clash in a Big Ten battle at Value City
Arena.
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the Big Apple this afternoon for a Big East showdown with the St. John's Red
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Blue Devils and Tigers tangle in ACC affair >>
Clemson, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The eighth-ranked Duke Blue Devils continue
their run through the ACC, as the take on the Clemson Tigers in a league
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No.23 Bluejays host Salukis in MVC contest >>
Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southern Illinois Salukis will try to halt
the 23rd-ranked Creighton Bluejays' five-game winning streak as they head to
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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting
NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.
That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.
A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."
It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.
The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.
So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."
Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.
Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.
Seriously.
The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.
The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.
Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."
The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.
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