Football Betting

Blumenherst cruises into semis at U.S. Women's Amateur

Golf Betting Lines

08/08/2008 - Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amanda Blumenherst was four-under par through nine holes and that helped her cruise to a 4 & 3 win over Carlota Ciganda in Friday's quarterfinals at the 108th U.S. Women's Amateur at Eugene Country Club.

Blumenherst will face high school sophomore Erynne Lee, who handled Chelsea Stelzmiller, 4 & 3.

The other semifinal match will pair two Spaniards, Azahara Munoz and Belen Mozo. Munoz routed Stephanie Na, who was the co-stroke play medalist with Blumenherst.

Munoz won that match 7 & 6, while Mozo rolled to a 6 & 5 win over Whitney Neuhauser.

Blumenherst won the first with a birdie after Ciganda, the 2007 Ladies' British Open Amateur winner, missed a birdie putt of her own. Blumenherst ran off three straight birdies from the seventh to make the turn with 4-up lead.

"I always expect my competitor to make the putt and I'm going to have to make it to halve. So when she missed it, I thought the door opened and I was able to keep it going from there," said Blumenherst of her win at the first.

Blumenherst, the NCAA Player of the Year, birdied the 13th to push her lead to 5-up, but she bogeyed the next. Ciganda and Blumenherst parred the 15th giving the Duke standout the win.

"I rolled the ball really well," Blumenherst stated. "I was hitting my drives in the middle of the fairway and sticking them close. So it was just solid golf."

Lee made the turn with a 1-up lead as Stelzmiller bogeyed the ninth. Lee won the next three holes to push her lead to 4-up and closed with match with an up-and-down par on the 15th.

Munoz won the first two holes, then took the fifth with a par. She ran off three straight wins from No. 7 to head to the back nine 6-up. Na bogeyed the 11th to fall 7-down and the match was over when both players parred the 12th.

Mozo, the 2006 Ladies British Open Amateur champ, took a 1-up lead with a par on the third. A par on the eighth gave her a 2-up lead and set up a run of five wins in the next six holes as she closed the match with a birdie on the par-five 13th.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

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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