Women's golf rankings a carousel at the top

Golf Betting Lines

08/23/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - As we prepare for yet another week of Phil Mickelson chasing Tiger Woods for the No. 1 world ranking, let's not forget what is happening this season in women's golf, where the top spot has changed hands seven times in the last 17 weeks.

While the Tiger vs. Phil storyline may flood galleries and boost TV ratings, until now it has been Capone's vault: all build-up and no payoff.

The real change is happening on the women's side of the game.

And it's happening on almost a weekly basis.

After Ai Miyazato captured the Safeway Classic on Sunday for her fifth LPGA Tour victory of the season, she assumed the No. 1 ranking for the third time since June.

The 25-year-old Japanese star is the winningest player on a major North American tour this year, and one of three players who have held the No. 1 ranking since Lorena Ochoa's retirement in May.

It's been passed back and forth more often than my Ping 1-iron the last time I threw the old lady in my bag for a round.

A timeline:

On May 3, a day after Ochoa stepped away, South Korea's Jiyai Shin became the No. 1 player following a victory in Japan. She was only the third player to hold the position since the rankings' inception on Feb. 21, 2006, following Annika Sorenstam and Ochoa.

A week later, Ochoa dropped out of the rankings altogether as she settled into retirement and Miyazato took her spot at No. 2.

The real rankings carousel didn't begin spinning until June. And it started with a medical emergency.

Shin missed two consecutive tournaments after having an appendectomy the Wednesday before the State Farm Classic. Miyazato won the second event, the ShopRite LPGA Classic on June 20, and assumed the top ranking the next day.

It was a short-lived stay.

Kerr's record-setting, 12-shot win at the LPGA Championship vaulted her four places to No. 1 on June 28 and she held the position for 21 days until Miyazato slipped past her during an off-week for the tour.

Miyazato's lead on July 19 was just .0006 points over Kerr -- a virtual tie. But it only lasted seven days. Shin regained the No. 1 spot by winning the lucrative Evian Masters in France over one of the best non-major fields in women's golf.

Shin's reign lasted through Yani Tseng's win at the British Women's Open, but Kerr passed her last Monday following another off-week. It was another brief reign, ended by Miyazato's win over the weekend.

So what's the big deal? And who cares about women's golf anyway?

Well, you should. The rankings back-and-forth is good for the women's game, adding the extra drama needed in the wake of Ochoa's departure. It was the second time in less than two years the LPGA lost its biggest star, leaving a vacuum that needed desperately to be filled.

Instead of one player stepping in to fill the void, however, many have risen.

In fact, the LPGA might want to try harder in hyping the battle for No. 1, particularly with so many viable contenders.

If the PGA Tour and its networks can have success in getting fans interested in the FedEx Cup race by keeping a running update of players' positions, why can't the LPGA do the same thing for the rankings?

Consider this: At one point Sunday, Miyazato and Kerr were tied for the lead, with No. 3 Shin one stroke back and No. 4 Suzann Pettersen two strokes behind. Any one of them would have been No. 1 with a victory.

If the same thing happened on the men's side, it would look like this: Woods and Mickelson tied for the lead, with Lee Westwood one back and Steve Stricker trailing by two. A race for the men's No. 1 on the line.

The outcome Sunday was up in the air until Kerr dunked her approach shot into the water on the 18th hole and made bogey. The stroke not only affected the outcome of the tournament, allowing Miyazato to win by two shots with a closing par, it affected the world rankings.

"Kerr-plunk," wrote the dutiful employee who updates the LPGA's Twitter feed. "Unless Ai does something disastrous, that might be the tournament."

And it was. The re-shuffled rankings looked like this on Monday: Miyazato trailed by Kerr, Pettersen, Shin and Tseng to round out the top five. Miyazato's lead for the moment is still only about a half-point over Kerr.

"I think it's going to be back and forth again, because all the top-five players are just playing so good this year," Miyazato said Sunday. "I don't really feel like I'm that far above everyone else, so that's why I think that the rankings will still keep on changing."

The race for the men's No. 1 ranking is exciting, yes, but it hasn't developed into anything more than a race at this point. Woods, despite all his recent struggles, has held the spot for 272 consecutive weeks.

Mickelson enters this week's Barclays only .26 average points behind -- .23 fewer points than last week and almost a half a point closer than he was heading into PGA Championship. But he has yet to step forward to answer the call with a performance befitting the No. 1 ranking.

On the women's side, meanwhile, players can smell blood in the water.

"I'm dying to get into that mix," No. 8 Paula Creamer, the U.S. Women's Open champion, said recently.

Jump right in. The water's warm.

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Eastern Conference Playoff Betting Trends

We all know by now that the “public” loves to put their money on the FAVORITES and the OVERS.  Just by taking a quick glance at Sportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends” it appears as is this tendency will continue as far as the Eastern Conference games are concerned.  For the inaugural games of the first round, 69% of the early money is on Toronto -4.5; 59% of bettors prefer Chicago -4.5; 84% are backing Detroit -9; and 56% think Cleveland -11.5 is the way to go.  As far as TOTALS are concerned, the only UNDER the “public” is backing is the Cleveland/ Washington game in which 83% are pounding the UNDER (190).  Remember, there is no better way to predict a possible line change than by monitoring MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.   By determining who the “public” is backing, you can get the most ideal line for your bet.  For example, if you are siding with the public you better place your bet before the line moves in the wrong direction.  On the other side of the coin, if you prefer the team that the “public” is betting against; you might be able to get and extra ½ or even more by placing your bet a bit later.  Under the “Betting Trends” section, Sportsbook.com also provides plenty of statistical data and trends in order for the bettor to make the most informed pick.  Below are some extremely important trends for the first round opponents of the Eastern Conference match-ups, more can be found at MySportsbook.com

New Jersey Nets vs. Toronto Raptors

Toronto was the most reliable covering team this season with a 48-33-1 ATS record but covered the OVER only 41.5% of the time.
The last 20 times these teams have played, the TOTAL has gone UNDER 16 times.
Versus Eastern Conference teams, Toronto is 33-19 ATS including 17-9 at home.
 New Jersey has covered four games in a row while Toronto has failed to cover their last four games.
When playing a team with a winning record during the second half of the season, New Jersey was just 5-13 ATS this season.
After scoring 105 points or more, Toronto has covered the OVER only 28% of the time this season. 
 
Miami Heat @ Chicago Bulls

Miami has failed to cover their last 7 games whereas Chicago has covered 6 out of their last 8 games.
Miami has covered the UNDER in four of their last five games whereas Chicago has covered the UNDER in five out of their last six.
When playing on Saturdays, Miami covered 80% of their games this season.
Away from home, Chicago is just 16-25 ATS this season.
At home, Miami covered the UNDER about 66% of the time whereas Chicago covered the UNDER about 61% of the time.
The last 13 times these teams have played each other, Chicago has covered 9 times.
In Miami’s last 11 road games, the UNDER covered 9 times. 
 
Orlando Magic @ Detroit Pistons

Detroit has covered 5 out of their last 6 games.
Away from home, Detroit is 28-13 ATS but just 14-26-1 ATS at home.
At home, Orlando covered the UNDER 64% of the time while Detroit covered the UNDER in 63% of their away games.
The last five times these teams have played in Detroit, the OVER covered each time.
Versus Eastern Conference teams, Detroit is 8-17-1 ATS at home but 17-9 ATS away.
Detroit covered the spread 5 out of the last 6 times they played Orlando.
After a Division game, Orlando covered the UNDER 87% of the time this season. 
 
Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers

In a home game where the TOTAL is between 190 and 194.5 points, Cleveland is 9-1 ATS this season.
Washington has covered the UNDER in their last 6 games and in 8 of their last 9 games.
The last 6 times these teams have played each other, the UNDER covered each time.
When playing on 3 or more days of rest, Washington is just 18-37 ATS since 1996.
Since 1996, Washington is 28-16 ATS versus Cleveland including 11-5 over the last 3 seasons.
In their last 7 road games, Washington is 6-1 ATS.
Versus Eastern Conference teams at home, Washington is just 6-18-2 ATS. 
 
For even more betting trends for not just the NBA but for all of the major sports, log on to Sportsbook.com and click on “Trends”.  With only two months left in the NBA betting season it is important to be as well informed as possible in order to maximize your profit.  Also for all of you poker players, check out MySportsbook.com’s “WSOP Low Bid Auction”. You could be on your way to Vegas to play against the world’s best poker players for under a buck.

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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