Casey eagles his way to BMW lead

Golf Betting Lines

05/22/2009 - Surrey, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Casey tallied two eagles, bent a four- iron and shot a five-under 67 Friday en route to the second-round lead of the BMW Championship.

Casey, the seventh-ranked player in the world, finished 36 holes at eight- under 136 and is two shots clear at Wentworth Club, the site of the HSBC World Match Play Championship three years ago.

Defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez (70), first-round co-leaders David Horsey (71) and Anthony Wall (71), Soren Kjeldsen (69) and Marc Warren (66) are knotted in second place at minus-six.

Casey parred his first hole, but got into red figures after a birdie at the par-three second. He lost that stroke one hole later thanks to a bogey at three, but Casey began his vault up the leaderboard in earnest with an eagle at the par-five fourth.

The Englishman birdied the ninth and 10th to reach seven-under par for the championship. That gave Casey the lead to himself, but he extended with a birdie at the par-five 12th, a hole he eagled on Thursday.

At the par-fourth 13th, Casey found the fairway off the tee. His approach bounced 10 feet in front of the flag, took one more hop, then rolled in for his second eagle of the round.

Casey, now at 10-under par, bogeyed the 14th hole and nearly made a 20-footer for birdie at the 15th. At the 17th, Casey tried to hit a four-iron next to a tree and the winner was the tree.

Casey bent the shaft on his four-iron and made bogey on the hole.

"I've got to try and fix that if I can," Casey said of his shaft. "Could be difficult to find a four-iron shaft. I had to hit a cut three-iron into the last when it was, in fact, a perfect four-iron. I ended up making par instead of knocking it on the green and giving myself an eagle putt.

"The way I finished that round of golf wasn't very good. Having gotten to 10- under after 13 holes, it's certainly disappointing to be sitting in the clubhouse at eight-under. Leading by two, so I have to focus on the positives."

The 2009 season has been full of positives for Casey.

He captured the 2009 Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in January, then lost in the final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship to Geoff Ogilvy five weeks later.

Casey finally broke through with his first win on the PGA Tour the week before the Masters at the Houston Open. But Casey realizes that all of his success this season, and at this venue, doesn't mean anything come the weekend.

"I honestly think it doesn't really matter," acknowledged Casey. "Golf is one of those sports where the ball doesn't care what you did earlier this year or the previous shot."

Former British Open champion Ben Curtis (70), Thomas Aiken (67) and Stephen Dodd (68) share seventh at five-under 139.

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, the final first-round leader, struggled to a five- over 77 and fell to even-par 144.

The 36-hole cut fell at two-over 146 and two of this year's biggest winners missed the weekend.

Players Champion Henrik Stenson (148) and Masters winner Angel Cabrera (149) both missed the cut. Retief Goosen and Lee Westwood also failed to make the mark.

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MySportsbook.com: NFL draft - The NFC South


In part two of MySportsbook.com’s draft preview, we’ll take a look at a division that was extremely disappointing last season: the NFC South.  Many “experts” predicted the Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, of course they could not even make the playoffs in an extremely weak NFC.  The Saints definitely made up for the disappointing seasons of their NFC South brethren by exploding out of no where en route to the NFC Championship game.  For the avid NFL gambler, it is imperative to pay attention to the NFL draft.  Although free agency gets a ton of publicity, the successful franchises build their teams around the draft.

1. New Orleans Saints
Who would have thought this time last year that the Saints would be the favorites to win the NFC South for the 2007 campaign?  New Orleans is loaded with firepower on the offensive side of the ball but with the exodus of Joe Horn they will most likely look to draft a WR on Day 1.  Despite having the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense last season, the Saints will most likely upgrade their CB’s with one of their first two picks. Other possibilities for the Saints will be TE and DT.  Because of where they will be selecting (27th), the Saints could go the “best available player” route which could net a LB.

Key additions: Eric Johnson TE, Troy Evans LB, David Patten WR
Key loses: Joe Horn WR,
Team needs: CB, WR, TE, LB, DT
Possible draftees: Aaron Ross CB Texas, Darrelle Revis CB Pitt, Ted Ginn Jr. WR OSU, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Chris Houston CB Arkansas, Greg Olsen TE Miami

2. Carolina Panthers
Carolina was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season.  With the signing of David Carr, expect the very first quarterback controversy to come out of Carolina if Jake Delhomme doesn’t rebound quickly from an average 2007 season. With veteran safety Mike Minter getting up there in age, they will look to draft a safety on Day 1 but probably not in the first round.  LB is another need with the loss of Chris Draft to go along with Dan Morgan’s concussion problems.  If TE Greg Olsen is still on the board, he might be too good to pass up despite their needs on the defensive side of the ball.

Key additions: David Carr QB
Key loses: Chris Draft LB
Team needs: LB, TE, S, OT
Possible draftees: Greg Olsen TE Miami, Patrick Willis LB Ole Miss, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Levi Brown OT PSU

3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were another NFC South team to have a disappointing 2007 season.  The Falcons have been plenty busy during the off season with plenty of players coming and going including a new head coach.  The Falcons were able to improve their draft position with the trade of coveted backup QB Matt Schaub.  High on the list of Day 1 needs will be a defensive end to replace Patrick Kerney and a hard hitting safety since Lawyer Milloy is nearing the end of his career.  With an additional 2nd round pick, the Falcons could attempt to trade up to acquire local product WR Calvin Johnson. 

Key additions: Joey Harrington QB, Toniu Fonoti OG, Joe Horn WR
Key loses: Justin Griffen RB, Patrick Kerney DE, Matt Lehr OG, Ashley Lelie WR, Matt Schaub QB
Team needs: DE, S, OT, WR, DT
Possible draftees: LaRon Landry S LSU, Amobi Okoye DT Louisville, Levi Brown OT PSU, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas, Alan Branch DT Michigan

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age really caught up to the Bucs last season.  The Bucs still have plenty of household names on defense in Ronde Barber, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks but the one thing those three have in common is unfortunately age.  It is imperative for the Bucs to get much younger, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having bigger needs on the defensive side of the ball, WR Calvin Johnson is the most likely pick if he is still available when the Bucs pick at the four spot.  This would suit Bucs’ faithful just fine as Johnson is widely considered the top talent in the draft and it is a position of need for the Bucs.

Key additions: Jeff Garcia QB, Kevin Carter DE, Torrie Cox CB, Cato June LB
Key loses: Dewayne White DE, Sean Mahan OG
Team needs: WR, LB, DE, CB (Youth on defense!)
Possible draftees: Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech, Gains Adams DE Clemson, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas

It is never too early to start betting on the NFL. Log on to MySportsbook.com to checkout all of the NFL futures for the upcoming season.  On the clock: the NFC North

Odds to win the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints 8-5
Carolina Panthers 2-1
Atlanta Falcons 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-2    

Odds to win the NFC:
New Orleans Saints 13-2
Carolina Panthers 7-1
Atlanta Falcons 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-1

Odds to win the Super Bowl:
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Carolina Panthers 20-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75-1

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