Trio on top at Bogota Open

Golf Betting Lines

02/16/2012 - Bogota, Colombia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Australia's Peter Lonard and Americans Brian Smock and Billy Horschel each posted five-under 66s on Thursday to share the first-round lead of the Bogota Open, the 2012 season-opener on the Nationwide Tour.

Play was suspended due to darkness with three players yet to finish round one at Country Club de Bogota. They will return at 7:30 a.m. (et) to complete play.

Sponsor's exemption Morgan Hoffman and tour rookie Erik Flores are knotted in fourth place at four-under 67.

Defending champion Brenden Pappas headlines a group tied for sixth at minus- three.

Lonard was the first of the leaders finished on Thursday and bogeyed the second hole. He birdied four, then seven and reached three-under par thanks to an eagle at the par-five eighth.

Lonard birdied 13 and 18 to get in first at five-under par. The 44-year-old Aussie will need a big season if he's to return to the PGA Tour, where he played from 2002-09.

"I'm no spring chicken and there comes a time when you have to decide whether you're going to keep going or you're not," philosophized Lonard. "I suppose this is a make-or-break year. I'm not getting any younger. We'll see how we go this year. Obviously this year is the only year I'm interested in at the moment. If I have a really bad year then I'm probably done but I'd like one more shot at the main tour."

Horschel eagled the par-five 10th, his first of the round, but lost both strokes with a double-bogey at the par-three 12th. He tallied three birdies over his first nine, but bogeyed No. 2.

Horschel was two-under until a great run, starting at the fourth. He rattled off four birdies in a five-hole span to get to six-under par, but he couldn't stay alone on top.

He three-putted the ninth hole for a bogey.

"I'm going to have nightmares about that last one," joked Horschel. "I hit two good shots and I hit a great first putt that just broke off and left me with a two-footer. I didn't want to leave myself with that. I got up there and had a little downhiller and wanted to let it die in the hole. I completely stopped my hands and the ball started left and stayed left. It'll stick with me for about 20 minutes."

Smock made the turn at one-under and a birdie at one, his 10th, climbed him to two-under. He birdied three of his last four for a piece of the first-round lead.

NOTES: Had Horschel parred his last, he would've matched Tag Ridings 2010 course record...Pappas won last year when inclement weather wreaked havoc with the tournament and officials shortened the event to 36 holes...No one has successfully defended a title on the Nationwide Tour.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

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