08/07/2008 - Bloomfield Hills Township, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robert Karlsson of Sweden and India's Jeev Milkha Singh are the co-leaders after the early wave of players during the first round of the 90th PGA Championship.
Karlsson and Singh both posted rounds of two-under-par 68 Thursday at the tough South Course at Oakland Hills.
Padraig Harrington, who won his second consecutive British Open last month, birdied his first three holes to move into the lead at three-under. The Irishman has played six holes in his first round.
Sergio Garcia, Sean O'Hair, Billy Mayfair and Ken Duke are in the clubhouse at one-under 69.
Phil Mickelson, the 2005 PGA Champion, overcame bogeys at his first two holes to shoot an even-par 70.
"I'm just happy to have shot even-par today," acknowledged Mickelson. "I think that after the start, bogeying the first two holes, I thought it was pretty good to hang in there, fight and make some birdies, because there were a lot of holes that were tough to get to."
Mickelson tallied three birdies and two bogeys the rest of his first nine to make the turn at plus-one, but perhaps his best shot was a chip-in par at the par-three 13th.
Mickelson rolled in a 15-footer for birdie at four, then converted a four- footer for birdie at five to get into red figures for the championship. Unfortunately for Mickelson, he bogeyed his final hole, the 237-yard, par- three ninth, but is still pleased.
"I'll gladly take it," said Mickelson.
He is only two behind the co-leaders, one of whom has enjoyed quite a major season.
Karlsson is the only player to post top-10 finishes in all four majors this season, but he's not resting on an impressive record in golf's most important events.
"To forget about those three top eights, that's the most important thing," Karlsson said when asked about expectations. "This is a new event. This has nothing to do with the other three."
Karlsson, like Mickelson, got off to a terrible start on Thursday. He hit a cart path over the green and walked off the first with a double-bogey six.
That would be one of his last mistakes.
Karlsson birdied three in a row from the second, including a two-putt from 60 feet at two, a four-footer at the third and a 12-footer at No. 4. The tall Swede drained an 18-foot birdie putt at six and knocked a seven-iron to tap-in range to set up birdie at the eighth.
A 10-foot birdie putt at 11 got Karlsson to four-under par for the championship, but back-to-back bogeys from the 14th dropped him into a share of the lead.
"It was great," said Karlsson. "The greens were absolutely perfect, so once I rolled a couple in, just keep going, so it was good."
Singh also made a mess early on with a bogey at the first. He atoned for the error in style with a five-foot eagle putt at the second and Singh got to minus-two with a nine-foot birdie putt at the fifth.
Singh dropped shots with bogeys at seven and 10 to fall back to even-par. At the 15th, Singh hit his seven-iron approach to kick-in range and got back under par for the championship.
He grabbed his share of first with a 20-foot birdie putt at the par-three 17th.
And Singh is doing all of this with a bad ankle.
"Obviously the ankle does hurt at certain positions because it's a hilly golf course and especially the slopes," said Singh, who has won in Austria and Japan in the last two months. "I try to watch that whenever I'm walking."
<< CFL Previews - Week 7 (August 7-8)
Toronto, Ontario (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
TORONTO ARGONAUTS (3-3) AT HAMILTON TIGER-CATS (1-5)
DATE & TIME: Thursday, August 7, 7 p.m. (et).
GAME NOTES: These are indeed difficult times in Hamilton.
The Tiger-Cats are tied for last in
<< Nats place Dukes on disabled list
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals placed outfielder
Elijah Dukes on the 15-day disabled list Thursday with a strained right calf.
The move is retroactive to August 3.
Dukes, 24, is currently batting .264 with si
<< Karlsson is a major factor
Bloomfield Hills Township, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Who is the only player to
register a top-10 finish in each of the season's first three major
championship?
That would be the tall Swede, Robert Karlsson.
He tied for eight
<< Rays acquire P Bradford
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays acquired reliever
Chad Bradford from the Baltimore Orioles Thursday in exchange for a player to
be named later.
Bradford, 33, was 3-3 with a 2.45 earned run average in 47 relief
West Ham's Bellamy will miss start of season >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - West Ham United striker Craig Bellamy will
miss the opening weeks of the new Premier League season due to a hamstring
injury.
The 29-year-old Wales international suffered renewed injury problems
Phils acquire veteran P Eyre >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired
veteran reliever Scott Eyre from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for minor league
pitcher Brian Schlitter.
The left-handed Eyre, 36, had appeared in only 19 game
Mutu signs extension with Fiorentina >>
Florence, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fiorentina striker Adrian Mutu is delighted
to have pledged his long-term future to the Italian club, having been linked
with a move away from Florence this summer.
The 29-year-old was a target for bo
Pennington released by Jets >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Jets have released quarterback
Chad Pennington on Thursday in the wake of the team signing future
Hall of Fame signal-caller Brett Favre late Wednesday night.
"I appreciate everyth
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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout
An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.
Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off. Randy was not impressed though. Paula thought he started off fantastic. "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either.
Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed. Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact. He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition.
Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula. Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.
Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next. Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential. Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell. He sang "Careless Whisper".
22 year old Chris Richardson was up next. He was listed with +1100 odds coming in. He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great.
Nick was boring and pitchy. Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week. Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition.
Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds . These of course were the early odds. He was considered original for picking an "odd song". He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night.
Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good.
Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds. Great voice and a great sense of humor. He's a real standout. Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit. Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig".
Jared Cotter followed. He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition. The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good.
22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next. "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon. Though the judges felt he performed okay. Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.
Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition. He was the last to perform. He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start.
Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys. Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.
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