Miyazato still in front at Safeway Classic

Golf Betting Lines

08/21/2010 - North Plains, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ai Miyazato posted a five-under 67 on Saturday to stay atop the leaderboard after the second round of the Safeway Classic.

Miyazato, the first-round leader of this 54-hole event, finished two rounds at 11-under 133 and is three strokes ahead at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club. She will be in search of her fifth win this season alone and would move back to No. 1 in the world if she emerges victorious on Sunday.

Song-Hee Kim fired an eight-under 64 on Saturday and vaulted into a tie for second place with Na Yeon Choi, who had a five-under 67. The pair is knotted at eight-under 136.

There was another player at eight-under par, but things turned out poorly.

Hall of Famer Juli Inkster shot a five-under 67 in round two, but was disqualified for violating Rule 14-3/10, Use of a Training or Swing Aid During a Round.

She was using a weighted device on her club when she was taking practice swings on the 10th tee.

"I had a 30 minute wait and I needed to loosen up. It had no effect on my game whatsoever, but it is what it is. I'm very disappointed," said Inkster.

Miyazato first broke into red figures on Saturday with a birdie at the par- four second. She parred her next three holes, but caught fire before the end of her front nine.

At the par-four sixth, Miyazato rolled in an eight-foot birdie putt. She made it two in a row with a 15-footer at the seventh and was in the lead at nine- under par.

Miyazato closed her front nine with a five-foot birdie putt at the par-five ninth, the second of three consecutive par-five holes around the turn at Pumpkin Ridge.

Miyazato took advantage of the third par five in a row thanks to a two-putt birdie. She reached 11-under par, but trouble loomed immediately for the world No. 2.

She bogeyed the par-three 11th, a hole she birdied in round one, and landed in a greenside bunker at 12. Miyazato caught way too much ball from the sand and her bunker shot sailed over the green. She didn't reach the putting surface with her fourth shot and it looked like a big number was imminent. Miyazato chipped in for a tough, albeit unlikely bogey.

"I thought there would be more sand in the bunker, but then it was a bit less than I thought," she said of her bunker shot on 12. "It was kind of too clean, because I thought that there was more sand underneath. It was really lucky I think."

After two pars, Miyazato got back on track. She hit her third 10 feet right of the flag at the par-five 15th and holed her birdie putt. One hole later, Miyazato spun her tee ball back to six feet and cashed in on the birdie chance.

She had a good look at birdie at the short, par-four 17th, but her six-footer stayed above ground. Miyazato parred the last to keep her spot atop the leaderboard.

"I just try to take it one shot at a time and I think I did really well controlling myself in between shots as well," said Miyazato.

World No. 1 Cristie Kerr (67) and former world No. 1 Jiyai Shin (68) are knotted in fourth place at minus-seven.

Ji Young Oh (64), Stacy Lewis (67), Eun-Hee Ji (69) and Jee Young Lee (71) share sixth place at six-under 138.

NOTES: If any of the top-five players in the world - Kerr, Miyazato, Shin, Suzann Pettersen or Yani Tseng - wins this week, they would assume the top spot...The 36-hole cut fell at three-over par and last year's winner M.J. Hur, Morgan Pressel and Paula Creamer missed the mark.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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