Els moves ahead at rainy CA Championship

Golf Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ernie Els fired a six-under 66 on Friday to move in front after the second round of the WGC-CA Championship at a rainy TPC Blue Monster at Doral.

Els, a three-time major winner, finished 36 holes at 10-under 134 and is one stroke clear of Robert Allenby, whose second-round 67 included an ace, an eagle, six birdies, three bogeys and a double-bogey.

Much like Thursday, heavy winds were the story. Officials moved Friday's tee times up in anticipation of forecasted storms, and they almost got the round in without a major incident.

Almost.

The skies opened and with six groups still on the course, play was stopped.

It wasn't until almost 2 1/2 hours later that golf resumed with everyone completing round two.

"I'm just pleased we got it done," said Els after his round and during the delay. "The weather is changing a lot. We played the last three holes very fast to get done."

Els began on the 10th tee Friday and immediately broke into red figures. His second at the par-five hole landed in a bunker, but he got up and down for a birdie.

After three straight pars, Els hit a poor drive left into a bunker, but hammered a seven-iron from 180 yards to four feet to set up a birdie. That started a great run for the South African. He birdied his next two holes for three in a row and was eight-under for the championship.

Els, who bogeyed the par-four Blue Monster 18th on Thursday to fall out of the lead, parred his last two on the front side to leave the back nine unscathed.

At the par-five opening hole, Els reached the green in two with a seven-iron and two-putted from 25 feet for another birdie. He parred his next six in a row, but had to battle a change in winds.

"Stood on the fourth tee and the wind was blowing out of the south before I played my shot and went total opposite way, came out of the normal and the temperature dropped," said Els. "Very, very strange. I think the only other time I had that happen was in Scotland when the tide changed. I think it was at St. Andrews. Other than that, I've never seen that happen."

Els' final birdie of the round came at the par-five eighth. He laid up with a nine-iron, then hit a sand-wedge to 10 feet. The Big Easy rolled home the birdie putt to take his first second-round lead on tour since his victory at the 2008 Honda Classic.

"Putted quite nicely and managed my game quite well," said Els, who won at Doral in 2002 when it was a regular tour stop. "It's in the books, and we were pretty lucky to get done. I mean, we ran the last two holes just to get it in the house. But looking forward to the weekend."

Els beat the weather, but he's been battling his game lately. He started the PGA Tour year with four straight top-20 finishes, but last week at the Honda Classic, tied for 67th.

"I didn't have it last week, so I worked really hard," said Els. "I feel really good mentally this year. I feel a little bit more fresh than I have been. I feel like I'm up for it a little bit more this year. I'm a bit more excited about my whole game."

While Els had a steady, bogey-free round on Friday, Allenby's was nothing like that.

He also started on 10 with a birdie, then holed a "perfect" five-wood for an ace at the 13th.

"Saw it all the way," he joked.

Allenby birdied 14, but double-bogeyed No. 16. The Aussie birdied 17 and reached the par-five first green in two with a seven-iron and drained an 18- foot eagle putt.

Over his next seven holes, Allenby recorded three birdies and two bogeys. He was tied for the lead with Els, but three-putted the ninth green for a bogey to fall into second.

"The conditions were pretty tough, and they weren't so bad probably for the first sort of three hours, but then that cool front, that change sort of came through and everything sort of changed," said Allenby. "The whole golf course changed."

First-round leader Charl Schwartzel finished off his final hole after the delay and had a two-under 70. He is tied for third place with Bill Haas, who shot a six-under 66, at seven-under 137.

Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington (68) and Soren Hansen (69) share fifth at minus-six.

Vijay Singh (71), Yuta Ikeda (68), Mike Weir (66), Tim Clark (69), John Senden (70) and J.B. Holmes (70) are tied for seventh at five-under 139.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson carded a three-under 69 and is part of a group tied for 13th at minus-four.

NOTES: In addition to the long weather delay, there was a 13-minute lightning stoppage earlier in the second round...While tee times were moved up on Friday to try and beat the rain, the forecast calls for sun on Saturday, so players will be in pairs off just the first tee...Last week's Honda Classic winner Camilo Villegas posted a four-under 68 Friday and is tied for 13th at four- under par.

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Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

Barry Bonds 50-1

Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

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