This Week in Golf -- January 5th through January 9th

Golf Betting Lines

01/02/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA TOUR - HYUNDAI TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS, Plantation Course at Kapalua, Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii - The breaks take less and less time, don't they? Seemed like yesterday the PGA Tour ended for the season, but on Friday, yes Friday, it kicks off its 2012 campaign.

As always, first up is Kapalua for the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Staged at the Plantation Course at Kapalua, the first event of the season is reserved for winners from 2011 tournaments.

Sadly for the opener, several high-profile winners from last year have elected to skip the trip. World No. 1 Luke Donald, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott and major winners Rory McIlroy, Charl Schwartzel and Darren Clarke each passed on the flight to the Aloha State.

There is some star power in the field, despite the big absences. PGA Champion Keegan Bradley, Steve Stricker and FedExCup winner Bill Haas are heading to Kapalua.

The first player to qualify for the 2013 Hyundai Tournament of Champions will be this year's winner. The first gentleman invited to Friday's opening round was Jonathan Byrd.

The American parred the second playoff hole last year to defeat Robert Garrigus. Byrd had 15 feet on the last hole in regulation to win the championship outright, but came up short.

On the second extra hole, Byrd nearly holed a 50-foot birdie try, but settled for par. Garrigus was 10 feet closer, but left himself with three feet for par. He missed and Byrd was the champion.

This year, the tournament starts on Friday and ends on Monday. Golf Channel will carry live action in primetime all week with an 8:00 p.m. (et) finish scheduled for Monday. (It should be over in time for the BCS National Championship game.)

In an interesting wrinkle, golf's two pre-eminent analysts will work together all week. Johnny Miller and Sir Nick Faldo will team up for the entire tournament as co-analysts.

Next week is the first full-field event of 2012, the Sony Open in Hawaii. Mark Wilson picked up the first of two 2011 victories in Honolulu.

EUROPEAN TOUR

AFRICA OPEN, East London Golf Club, East London, South Africa - Just 25 days after Luke Donald won the 2011 Race to Dubai, the 2012 version begins with the Africa Open.

Former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen walked off with the title 12 months ago and will be on hand to defend his championship. Last year, Oosthuizen birdied the first playoff to trump Alvaro Quiros, who won the 2011 season-ending Dubai World Championship, and Chris Wood.

Oosthuizen may have to withdraw during the tournament as his second child is due any day now.

Also in the field this week is two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen, who won this title in 2009, and last year's South African Tour Order of Merit winner Garth Mulroy.

Golf Channel has the telecast all four days.

Next week is the Joburg Open, which was won by another South African major winner, reigning Masters champion Charl Schwartzel.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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