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07/15/2010 - St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rory McIlory has gone lower in his career, just not in a major championship.
On Thursday at the British Open, McIlroy matched the lowest round in major championship history with a nine-under 63 to take a two-shot lead after the first round on the Old Course.
McIlroy admitted that the thought crept into his head on No. 17 that he could set or match the low round in a major.
He missed his four-footer for birdie there, but closed with a three-foot birdie putt at the last to post 63.
"I was thinking going up 17, 'What's the lowest score for a major?'" said McIlroy, who closed with a 62 to win this year's Quail Hollow Championship by four strokes over Phil Mickelson.
"I didn't know [the record]. I know there's been a few 63s, but wasn't sure if there were any 62s. That might have crept into my mind a little bit hitting that putt on 17."
South African Louis Oosthuizen, who won the Open de Andalucia earlier this year, fired a seven-under 65 and is alone in second place.
John Daly, the 1995 Open champion at St. Andrews, shares third place with Peter Hanson, Andrew Coltart, Bradley Dredge and Steven Tiley at minus-six. Hanson had the best score for those in the latter part of Thursday's draw.
Three-time Open champion and world No. 1 Tiger Woods posted a five-under 67, carding six birdies and a lone bogey on the 17th. He hasn't played a bogey- free round all year.
Woods is tied for eighth place with 2009 U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, Sean O'Hair, Lee Westwood, 2009 PGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang and four others.
World No. 2 Phil Mickelson never got anything going on Thursday. The Masters winner's scorecard would have looked better at a different major, the U.S. Open.
Mickelson parred the first 12 holes before stumbling to a double-bogey on the 13th. He parred the next four holes, but at the last, he finally rolled in a birdie putt to end at one-over 73.
"I fought hard today," Mickelson said. "I drove it poorly with the driver, but still salvaged a lot of pars."
McIlroy didn't look like he'd be near the top of the leaderboard at the start of the round.
The 21-year-old from Northern Ireland birdied the third to go with seven pars in his first eight holes. His run up the leaderboard started with an eagle on the par-four ninth.
Around the turn, he poured in three consecutive birdie chances from the 10th to jump to six-under. McIlroy knocked his second shot on the par-five 14th onto the forward tee of No. 15.
He chipped to 10 feet and drained that to take the lead at seven-under. McIlroy knocked in an eight-footer for birdie at the 15th to push his lead to two strokes.
McIlroy parred 16 and 17, where his four-footer for birdie lipped out. At the last, he pitched his third to three feet and knocked that in for a closing birdie.
"I made up for it and made birdie at the last," said McIlory of missing his birdie try on 17 while thinking about matching the low score in a major. "I'm not complaining about my score, but I'm sure it could have been a couple more if a few more putts had fallen."
It was the 24th time a player has posted a 63 in a major championship, but just second time it has happened on the Old Course at St. Andrews.
The only other man to shoot 63 at St. Andrews in the Open Championship was Paul Broadhurst, who did it in the third round in 1990.
Woods had a steady round that started with a birdie on the second. After four pars in a row, he two-putted for birdie on the seventh and moved to three- under with a 22-foot birdie putt at the ninth.
On the back nine, Woods made his run and it started with a two-putt birdie on the 12th. He poured in a 20-footer on 13 and made it three straight with another two-putt birdie at 14.
He was two back at the time, but his deficit doubled late. After McIlroy closed with a birdie, Woods missed a four-foot par putt at 17 to slide four back. That bogey means Woods still hasn't played a bogey-free round all year.
Woods' drive at the last got close enough to the green for him to putt his second. He played a big-breaking putt within seven feet, but missed the birdie try on the left edge.
"I played pretty good today, I just missed two short putts there at 17 and 18," said Woods, who won two of his three Open titles on the Old Course. "It could have been a pretty special round. We had good weather. It felt like we were playing in a dome. The course could be had."
In his three British Open titles, Woods either led or trailed by one stroke after the first round. That wasn't the case when Thursday's opening round finished.
Oosthuizen made back-to-back birdies from the fourth. After a par on six, he ran off four straight birdies from No. 7 to get to six-under.
The South African got within one of McIlroy with birdies on 14 and 15. However, he bogeyed the 17th to slip two back.
"The last three holes were very tough, so I'm happy with my 65," Oosthuizen said. "I think the win earlier in the year on the European Tour made a big change. I feel very confident the way I'm playing."
The other four players tied at minus-five are Fredrik Andersson Hed, Marcel Siem, Nick Watney and Alejandro Canizares.
Defending champion Stewart Cink posted a two-under 70 with three birdies and a bogey. Cink is tied for 46th. The man Cink defeated in a playoff last year at Turnberry, Tom Watson, managed a one-over 73.
Watson bogeyed three straight holes from the second, but birdied the fifth and got another back at the 14th.
NOTES: U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell managed a one-under 71...Reigning British Amateur champion Jin Jeong carded a four-under 68 and is the leading amateur by three strokes over Eric Chun...The Old Course at St. Andrews is hosting the championship for the 28th time...The Open Championship is being played for the 139th time, but is celebrating its 150-year anniversary.
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The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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