Sports betting forum archive

He’s just a good fighter, I have nothing bad to say about him.

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April 21 (Bloomberg) -- The British Open, which has seen corporate hospitality spending drop by as much as 20 percent, will keep daily ticket prices unchanged because of the global economic crisis, the organizers of the golf tournament said.

The event will be held in July at the Turnberry Golf Club on the Scottish coast south of Glasgow. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, which conducts the tournament, is cutting prices and offering incentives to keep attendance up.

“The committee is very aware of the current economic situation,” David Hill, the R&A’s director of championships, said today at a press conference at Turnberry. “The 55 pounds ($80) we charge, when compared to other major sport events, is fantastic value.”

The R&A will also offer golf clubs in Scotland and northern England 250 pounds toward the cost of a bus if they bring at least 30 members. Additionally fans will be able to watch action on a big screen on the course and also give fans a 1.50 pounds voucher that can be used for food and drink, reflecting the recent reduction in the U.K.’s value-added tax.

The R&A expects about 115,000 spectators, about the same as attended the last time the championship was played at Turnberry in 1994. Ireland’s Padraig Harrington going for a third consecutive title and Tiger Woods returning after missing last year’s tournament because of knee surgery should help bring fans in, Hill said.

“Despite this recession, there is huge interest in this championship,” he added.

Corporate Hospitality

Corporate hospitality, always a big draw at golf tournaments, is down 15 percent to 20 percent, which Hill said is in line with other U.K. sporting events.

The recession has driven down prices at other golf tournaments as well. Four-day tickets for the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, were selling for 15 percent less than last year before the start of the competition on Ebay Inc.’s Stubhub, the largest online ticket broker.

“This reflects the world we are currently in,” Hill said.

Drug testing will be conducted this year after the R&A decided against it last year in order to educate players. Both the European and U.S. PGA tours have been testing and the R&A considers the Open another week on the golf calendar.

“The R&A thoroughly supports the anti-doping policies in golf,” Peter Dawson, the organization’s chief executive officer, said. “The players on the European Tour and the players in America on the PGA Tour are now well accustomed to drug testing at events.”

Olympic Golf

Dawson said that the implementation of drug testing will help with golf’s campaign for inclusion in the Olympics. Woods, Harrington, and Sergio Garcia were among top-name players recently sending letters to their national Olympic committees supporting the sport’s bid to enter the games, the International Golf Federation said.

“One of the deficiencies, in the Olympics’ eyes, was the lack of a credible anti-doping program,” Dawson said. “The game of golf has moved from being a problem child in the IOC’s eyes into one of the sports that is actually getting ahead of the game in terms of compliance. It is timely from the Olympic bid standpoint and it’s good to see.”

The L.P.G.A. Corning Classic, the longest-running event on the women’s tour with the same title sponsor and played at the same venue, in Corning, N.Y., since its inception in 1979, will end in May. Jack Benjamin, the tournament president, said Monday that the board of directors came to the conclusion after six months of discussion. The tournament had an option for 2010, but Benjamin said the loss of more than $500,000 in sponsorship revenue made it unfeasible to sustain it beyond this year in the economic climate.

The tournament’s sponsor, Corning, Inc., a specialty glass and ceramics company and the world’s largest maker of liquid-crystal display glass, saw its fourth-quarter profit plunge 65 percent in January. The Corning Classic, which has a purse of $1.5 million, has raised more than $5 million for local charities, and the company said it would help area charities transition.

An increasing number of Danes are dropping the national gaming monopoly Danske Spil in favour of net-based betting, gaming and poker. As a result, the government is proposing a liberalisation of the Danish gaming rules to give foreign bookmakers access to compete with Danske Spil, according to a release from the Tax Ministry...........


Read more: Danish gaming opening for foreign bookmakers

:thumbsup

CHANDLER, Ariz. (AP) — Montana sophomore Carissa Simmons finished fifth overall at the Big Sky Conference women's golf tournament Wednesday, leading the Grizzlies to a fourth-place team finish.
Simmons, of Boise, Idaho, shot at 75-75-76 for a three-day score of 227.

UM teammate Kacey Valla, a sophomore from Nampa, Idaho, finished with a 231, tied for ninth.

The Montana State women finished seventh overall, led by senior Kelly Gillum of Fort Collins, Colo. Gillum shot a 16-over-par 232 to finish in a tie for 12th.

Northern Colorado freshman Ali Nelson won the medalist honors with a 222 while Northern Arizona won the team championship with a 914.

With one win in more than 300 starts and being one of the shortest hitters on tour, Brian Gay underwent the most astonishing metamorphosis since Gregor Samsa became an insect. He looked like Tiger Woods last week at the Verizon Heritage Classic.

Gay's 10-stroke victory was the largest margin since Phil Mickelson hung a dozen on the field at the 2006 Bell South Classic. He became the ninth player to post a double-digit winning margin since the Tour started keeping records in 1970.

Seemingly content as a journeyman, playing primarily for paychecks for 13 years, Gay broke through at last year's Mayakoba Classic. But the second-tier event, held opposite the WGC Match Play, did not include a Masters invitation. The Harbour Town rout will send Gay to his first Masters.
Instead of nervously bleeding strokes on Sunday, Gay ran up the score. He closed with a 64, the lowest round of the day. He made only two bogeys all week.

The only negative was that his out-of-body experience did not include clothing. He committed a heinous crime of fashion with light neon green slacks, white shirt and mirrored goggles. It marked one of the few times in golf history that a winner has looked better after donning the plaid jacket.

Gay highlighted a weekend of rebirth:

•Nick Price ended a 0-for-38 streak on the Champions Tour with his victory at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am. It was his first victory since the 2002 Colonial, a span of 111 events. Price, 52, survived three double-bogeys in the final round at the TPC Tampa Bay in Lutz, Fla., where, FYI, the movie Edward Scissorhands was filmed.

•Westlake's Todd Hamilton posted his best finish in five years. He had made only one cut in his first eight starts, pocketing just $22,960. But in his last two – T-15 at the Masters and T-4 at Harbour Town – he has earned $395,130, a spot in next year's Masters, and his first top-10 since his 2004 British Open victory. He's also improved 92 spots in the FedEx Cup standings to 84th. Alright, Hamilton.

•Matt Weibring got his first top-10. The Plano resident, who earned his card with a top-25 finish on the Nationwide Tour money list last year, is learning that PGA Tour membership is like getting a loan. He entered the process with bad credit (limited status). To qualify for zero percent financing (fully exempt), he must improve his credit score, which is tough with limited opportunities (just six starts so far). But after missing three of his first four cuts, Weibring made nice down payments – T-21 ($31,150) at the Puerto Rico Open and a T-8 ($165,300) at the Heritage. His first top-10 earned a spot in this week's Zurich Classic.

New favorite hole: At the Nationwide Tour event in Athens, Ga., Brendon Todd aced the 17th hole with a 7-iron from 147 yards during the first round. The next day he hit 8-iron on the same hole and got the same result. "It's just pure disbelief," Todd said. "I guess it's like catching lightning in a bottle." Todd couldn't zero-putt any greens on Saturday and Sunday. Starting tied for ninth, he paid his penance to the golf gods with two double-bogeys, finishing tied for 50th.

Colonial goes green: The Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial has the most unique "Go Green" initiative on the PGA Tour. Fans taking the Trinity Trails to the tournament will get the green-carpet treatment, including bike valet and refreshments. For each fan arriving via kayak, bike or feet, the tournament will donate $10 to Streams and Valleys which promotes the recreational use of the Trinity River. Ropes' routing for his canoe commute from far north Dallas – White Rock Creek to Trinity River, hang a right and follow the signs.

Tap-ins: Tom Lehman makes his debut on the Champions Tour at this week's Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf. The former U.S. Ryder Cup captain is teaming with former European captain Bernhard Langer. ... Third-round leaders have won 13 of 16 (81.3 percent) of PGA Tour events, up from last year's 48 percent. ... Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy offered evidence of being "The Real Deal" in his recent PGA Tour stint: T-5 at WGC Match Play, T-13 Honda Classic, T-20 WGC-CA Championship, T-19 Shell Houston Open, T-20 Masters. His T-58 at the Heritage was his only finish outside the top 20. ... Luke Donald's runner-up finish last week was his seventh. ... This week's Zurich Classic of New Orleans has produced four consecutive first-time winners. ... U.S. Amateur champion Danny Lee is making his professional debut in New Orleans. ... Doug Ford will be the only player to compete in all 32 Legends of Golf events. ... Finally, the Nationwide Tour's South Georgia Classic is being played at Kinderlou Forest GC, the longest course on tour at, gulp, 7,781 yards

JEJU ISLAND, South Korea, April 23 (Reuters) - Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain and New Zealand's Mark Brown shared the lead on seven-under-par 65 after the Ballantine's Championship first round on Thursday.

Fernandez-Castano, 28, runner-up at last week's China Open, notched six birdies plus an eagle three at the 10th as he and Brown finished a stroke ahead of Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee, local hope Kyung-Nam Kang and Dutchman Robert Jan-Derksen.

The Spaniard, the 2005 Rookie of the Year, has won four times on the European Tour.

Brown, who began at the 10th at the Pinx Golf Club, made a flying start with an eagle and later capped his round with a birdie at the last.

"I didn't play here last year so it's my first real look at it. I just played nice and steady," he told reporters.

Brown has won once on the European Tour at last year's Johnnie Walker Classic in India.

After parring the first hole, Thongchai produced a blistering run of four consecutive birdies before bogeying the sixth.

The Thai then eagled the 10th and birdied the 12th.

In joint sixth place on 67 were Briton Robert Dinwiddie, Jason Knutzon of the United States and Italian Alessandro Tadini.

Triple major winner Ernie Els and world number nine Henrik Stenson of Sweden were among several players on 68 but holder Graeme McDowell of Britain slumped to a four-over 76.

JEJU, South Korea (AFP) — Three-time major winner Ernie Els, seeking his first victory in 2009, has highlighted the growing strength of Asian golf as he gears up for the Ballantine's Championship here on Thursday.

The South African will face tough competition from the heavyweight field, which includes former world number one Fred Couples, Sweden's Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood and defending champion Graeme McDowell.

US player Anthony Kang will be looking to extend his lead at the top of the Asian Tour's Order of Merit in the 2.1-million-euro (2.7-million-dollar) event, also sanctioned by the European Tour, but faces competition from challengers Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand and Indian ace Jyoti Randhawa.

And teenage prodigy Noh Seung-Yul will be hoping to make the most of home support at the Pinx Golf Club, on South Korea's holiday island of Jeju, when the tournament starts Thursday.

"I've been playing in Asia since 1992 and I have seen the game and its players develop enormously in that time," said Els.

"There are many Asian players throughout the world and the growth of the game, particularly in India, has been incredible. The world knows all about the strength of women's golf in Korea and now the men are coming through with a lot more to follow."

Approaching his 40th birthday, Els, who credits his globe-trotting career for making him a better player, feels he still has more majors in him.

"I just want to play as good as I can and hopefully complete the Grand Slam," he reveals. "To do that I will have to win the Masters and PGA Championship before I retire. That's the aim," he said.

Ryder Cup star Westwood, an 18-time winner on the European Tour, also said Asian golf was becoming stronger.

"Asian golf seems to be going from strength to strength all the time as it becomes more popular and I think it's a lot to do with the Asian players going and playing around the rest of the world more, rather than staying in Asia.

"You have guys playing on the European Tour and (US) PGA Tour a lot more regularly now. A couple of the best young golfers in the world are of Asian origin or Asian.

"I'm thinking of the likes of the Japanese lad, Ryo Ishikawa, and Danny Lee."

Defending champion McDowell, who beat India's Jeev Milkha Singh in a playoff last year, believes the key this time could be driving the ball on the par-72 course.

"It's a breezy island so you have to be able to play well in the wind," said the Northern Ireland player.

"Scoring was hot last year, but I think there will be more rough this year and the emphasis will be on driving the ball well."

India's Randhawa, who lies third in the Asian Tour Order of Merit, is targeting his maiden European Tour victory after registering six top-three finishes in the past five years.

"I'm definitely playing better this year than last and my aim is to continue that. If I can keep improving, then I will give myself more chances to win," said the Indian ace, who has won eight times on the Asian Tour, including last month's Thailand Open.

Europe's next Ryder Cup captain, Colin Montgomerie, has pulled out of the tournament with a finger injury.

Freshman Caroline Hedwall shot a 3-under 70 to help defending champion Oklahoma State take a nine-stroke lead after the first round of the Big 12 women's golf tournament Friday.
Hedwall has a two-shot lead over Kansas State's Morgan Moon and Texas A&M's Ashley Freeman in the three-day event.

Oklahoma State teammates Amanda Johnson and Pernilla Lindberg are tied for fourth at even-par 73 on Texas Tech's 6,564-yard The Rawls Course.

The Cowgirls are at 3-over 295 in the team standings, followed by 2007 winner Texas A&M (304) and Kansas State (311). The Wildcats have never finished higher than sixth.

Kansas (312) is fourth, followed by Nebraska and Oklahoma (315); Colorado and Missouri (317); Texas (321); Baylor (322); Iowa State (325); and Texas Tech (326).

Dutchman Robert-Jan Derksen held a two-shot lead over the chasing pack after the second round of the Ballantine's Championship Friday as wind and rain lashed the mountainside course.
Derksen's 69 gave him a nine-under-par total of 135, two strokes clear of Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee (71) and South Korea's Kang Wook-Soon (69) in the 2.1-million-euro (2.7-million-dollar) tournament.
A shot further back are joint overnight leader Mark Brown, who shot a 73, Spain's Pablo Martin (69) and Italy's Alessandro Tadini (71).
Last week's Volvo China Open runner-up Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, who shared the overnight lead, was among a group on five-under after posting a 74.
Brown briefly threatened to pull clear but a disastrous run of four bogeys on his closing five holes in hammering rain cost the New Zealander.
Derksen, who had to cope with the worst of the wind in his morning round, said the conditions were tough on a day when the players struggled to match their first-day scores.
"It was a difficult day. It didn't start too difficult. I would say the first eight holes were okay. It wasn't that windy. But then it picked up from 18 until my ninth. It was tough," said Derksen, a two-time winner on the European Tour, who started on the 10th tee.
"I guess it's difficult for everybody. But to be in the lead after two days, or at least close to the lead, whatever happens, it's always a good starting point," said the 35-year-old.
Among the big names, three-time major winner Ernie Els is two-under for the tournament after a 74. Former Masters winner Fred Couples and Lee Westwood also made the cut.
But defending champion Graeme McDowell crashed out, paying the price for an error-strewn round of four-over in placid conditions Thursday.
Thongchai, an 11-time winner on the Asian Tour, was pleased with his performance in front of sparse crowds at the Pinx Golf Club on South Korea's holiday island of Jeju.
"We are lucky we started early today. Early, the wind is not very strong I think, but the last seven holes, very, very strong wind and very difficult to play the course," said the Thai, who is second on the Asian Tour's Order of Merit.
South Africa's Els said the course conditions made it feel like playing in Scotland.
"It's windy, cold. (It was) a good test of golf today. I had a tough time out there," Els said.
"(I played) just horrible on the greens today. I left about four or five shots out there on the greens. It was difficult keeping your balance, basically," he added.
Strong winds and chilly temperatures are forecast for Saturday at the Ballantine's Championship, which is co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours.

Let's take a look at the latest 2009 Kentucky Derby odds posted by Bodog

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Triple Crown will take place on Saturday May 2nd. This year will be the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Derby Odds makers at Bodog.com have posted the 2009 Kentucky Derby betting odds for Saturday's fastest two minutes in sports.

Regards

Jerry Kelly took the umbrella from the parade marshal, donned his tasseled sash and danced his way off the 18th as the brass band played an exuberant Dixieland tune.
After enduring a seven-year winless streak, a determined charge by half-dozen young golfers, and a pair of bogeys that dropped him out of the lead, Kelly’s one-stroke victory in the Zurich Classic on Sunday was plenty of reason to celebrate.
“It’s been a long time,” said Kelly, who was showered with Mardi Gras beads by fans and presented with a large tray of char-broiled oysters by his favorite New Orleans restaurant. “I sometimes doubted if it was ever going to happen again.”
Kelly rallied with two birdies on the back nine to claim the $1.1 million payday on Sunday.
Kelly offset bogeys on No. 8 and No. 10 with birdies on Nos. 5, 11 and 14 for a 1-under 71 in the final round. He finished with a 274, one stroke ahead of three players.
It was the 42-year-old Wisconsin player’s first PGA Tour title since he won two in 2002 – exactly 200 starts ago.
Charles Howell took advantage of Kelly’s mid-round stumble with one of his six birdies on 11, which gave him a two-stroke lead. But bogeys at 15 and 17 left him with a 68 on the day, and he tied for second with Rory Sabbatini (67) and Charlie Wi (68).
“It’s frustrating,” said Howell. “I got up to 15, and had every chance to do it. I just couldn’t finish it off.”
Kelly, an admitted leaderboard watcher, said seeing Howell take a two-stroke lead on No. 11 did not cause him to doubt himself.
“I knew what the back side had been doing to everybody all week,” Kelly said. “And I had actually been playing the back side better,”
Steve Marino, playing with Kelly, stayed within one shot until the 18th. Instead of getting the victory or forcing a playoff, he hit his tee shot into a fairway bunker and then needed two putts. He put up his third bogey and finished at 70, tied for fifth at 276.
“I thought I hit a great third shot in there, and it just came off like half a club short in that bunker,” Marino said. “And that was it.”
Kelly, meanwhile, calmly rolled his final putt about 2 1/2 feet for his 13th par on the day and the championship. Despite the seven-year title drought, Kelly said he really didn’t have trouble with his nerves until his final putt on 18. He said practicing deep-breathing techniques settled him down.
His first title since claiming the Sony Open and Advil Western Open in 2002 provided Kelly with his biggest payday ever. The winning purse moved Kelly from No. 97 to No. 14 on the money list with $1.4 million. It also earns him full exempt status through 2011.
And it netted him 500 FedExCup points, moving him to 17th in the standings.
David Toms, who won this tournament in 2001, had five birdies for a 68 on the day after a bogey on the first hole. His 276 not only tied him with Marino, it boosted him in the FedExCup standings and into the Players Championship.

Organizers of an amateur golf tournament with rules based loosely on poker have signed a deal with cable network WGN America to air the mid-May tournament in 13 one-hour episodes.

The World Series of Golf is also upping its top prize from $250,000 to $300,000, with each player required to pay a $10,000 entry fee to play.

In the unique format, dozens of amateur players bet with poker chips, winning chips when they finish holes in fewer strokes or by forcing opponents to fold.

The tournament aired on CBS last year as part of a three-year deal. But World Series of Golf president Terry Leiweke says the tournament opted out of the network deal this year because he thought cable would bring more flexibility to airing the tournament.

Over the first two months of the LPGA season there had been a few distressing signs that all was not right with Lorena Ochoa. She had let tournaments in Singapore and Mexico City slip through her grasp, and she was a nonfactor at the year's first major, the Kraft Nabisco. Setting off more alarms was Ochoa's comportment. A relentlessly cheerful woman who has made the game seem so easy for so long, she was suddenly the picture of frustration, banging around defenseless golf clubs and muttering invective that required no translation. Throw in a big life change — in the off-season Ochoa, 27, became engaged to AeroMexico CEO Andres Conesa, 39, who has three kids from a previous marriage — and it was probably inevitable that there would be questions about the current state of the world's most dominant female athlete.

At last week's Corona Championship, in Morelia, Mexico, Ochoa had a resounding answer for her smattering of doubters, birdieing two of the final four holes to prevail in a Sunday dogfight with a very game Suzann Pettersen. Ochoa's total of 25 under par tied her own tournament record and restored her to her rightful place atop the money list. And it was all the more satisfying because she had called her shot. In an interview with Sports Illustrated the day before the tournament, Ochoa said, "My game has been there all season, but I think I was trying too hard and putting too much pressure on myself to win everything. Now my mind is clearer and I'm more relaxed. If I just go out and play my game, I think I will start winning again very soon."

Ochoa announced her intentions by opening with a pair of 65s on the Tres Marias Country Club, a hilly Jack Nicklaus design that plays to 6,539 yards and a par of 73. Over those 36 holes Ochoa made 14 birdies, an eagle and no bogeys. On Friday evening her lifelong swing instructor, Rafael Alarcon, was positively giddy, saying, "I have never seen her this precise. In two days she missed one green and one fairway, and that was by maybe six feet. It's beautiful to watch."

Winning any of the three tournaments in her home country is always meaningful to Ochoa; as she says, "I have seven majors every year." Just as satisfying was trumping Pettersen, 28, who is fifth in the World Ranking and may be the only woman in golf who is as physically talented as Ochoa, and also leaving in the dust Yani Tseng, 20, the world No. 2 who tied for fifth. Before her retirement Annika Sorenstam anointed Tseng as the woman most likely to end Ochoa's long reign at No. 1. Of course that was before third-ranked Jiyai Shin, 20, had fully emerged as a dominant force. With a nod to all of the tour's ambitious young talent, Alarcon says, "Oh, yes, Lorena knows they are coming after her, and she enjoys it. It's good for her; it keeps her excited. And trust me, she will not give up the Number 1 spot without a fight."

If Ochoa was antsy about her results at the start of the year, it may have had more to do with her biological clock than World Ranking points. Her close friend Christina Kim says, "Lorena can't wait to start having children, which means she doesn't have that much time to accomplish all of her lofty goals. Every week that goes by in which she doesn't win adds to the pressure she puts on herself."

Now that Ochoa is engaged, the speculation has increased that she will scale back her schedule after 2012, when she will have put in 10 years on tour and thus be eligible for the Hall of Fame. Asked about that last week, Ochoa let out a laugh and said, "Don't try to make me retire yet — I'm still here playing! No, really, I never look that far into the future, so how can I talk about that?"

She was quick to refute any notion that her more complicated personal life has had or will have an effect on her golf. "I'm a simple girl," she said. "The wedding will be small, so the planning is nothing. Andres knows for the next few years golf will still be my priority, and he is very supportive of that. If anything, I'm happier and more complete as a person, so that helps me play my best."

As for the potential pitfalls as a stepmom-to-be, Ochoa says she has already bonded with Conesa's children, the oldest of whom is 13. "They are a blessing in my life," she says. "My relationship with them is very uplifting. Having them come to tournaments and cheer is a big motivation for me."

That's surely the last thing the competition wants to hear. As Ochoa proved last week, she's especially tough to beat when she has a rooting section as well as a little something to prove.

Tiger Woods is “obsessed with technique” and has yet to regain the form that helped him win 25 U.S. PGA Tour events over the past four years, Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy said.

Although Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March and finished sixth at the Masters Tournament two weeks ago as he returns after knee surgery, the world’s top-ranked golfer is still on a quest to find his perfect swing, said Ogilvy, who is ranked No. 4.

“I think, whether he has admitted it or not, he’s probably not quite as right as he wants to be,” Ogilvy said at a news conference in Six Mile, South Carolina, where he attended the opening of the International Institute of Golf at the Cliffs.

Woods will play in this week’s Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina, as he seeks his second victory in five events. He won the tournament at the Quail Hollow Club in 2007 and finished third in 2004. Woods missed last year’s event as he recovered from the first of two knee operations.

Since undergoing reconstructive left-knee surgery following his 19-hole playoff win over Rocco Mediate at the U.S. Open in June, Woods has maintained that his game hasn’t been quite the same.

He entered the final round of the Masters seven shots off the lead, closed the gap to one shot, and then finished with a bogey on the 18th hole. Angel Cabrera went on to defeat Chad Campbell and Kenny Perry in a sudden-death playoff. Woods failed to win the tournament for the fourth straight year, the longest stretch of his career without a win at Georgia’s Augusta National Golf Club.

The Delaware legislature will consider allowing wagering on all sports when its session resumes today.

While there is agreement among the governor, key legislators and the state's gambling interests on the broad issue of sports betting, making it a reality bogged down early in the session over the details.

"Delaware is a gaming state, and the governor wants to do what's necessary to protect Delaware's gaming industry," Joe Rogalsky, Markell's spokesman, told the Baltimore Sun. "Plus he wants to use it as an economic development tool."

Sports wagering in Delaware has become an appealing option thanks to a massive $750 million deficit in the state's budget and increased competition for gambling dollars from Pennsylvania's new slots casinos and Maryland's future slots parlors.


:dance:

A look at this week's tournaments around the world:

PGA TOUR

Quail Hollow Championship

Site: Charlotte, N.C.

Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

Course: Quail Hollow Club (7,442 yards, par 72).

Purse: $6.5 million. Winner's share: $1.17 million.

Last year: Anthony Kim won his first PGA Tour title, finishing with a tournament-record 16-under 272 total for a five-stroke victory over Ben Curtis. Kim also won the AT&T National in July.

Last week: Jerry Kelly won the Zurich Classic in Avondale, La., for his third PGA Tour victory and first since 2002. Kelly finished at 14 under, a stroke ahead of Rory Sabbatini, Charlie Wi and Charles Howell III.

Notes: Tiger Woods is making his fourth appearance in the event. He won in 2007, then sat out the 2008 event because of a knee injury. ... Masters champion Angel Cabrera is making his first tour start since winning at Augusta National. ... Second-ranked Phil Mickelson also is in the field along with No. 3 Sergio Garcia, No. 4 Geoff Ogilvy, No. 7 Padraig Harrington, No. 8 Vijay Singh and No. 10 Camilo Villegas. Singh won the 2005 event. ... The Players Championship is next week in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., followed by the Texas Open.
PGA EUROPEAN TOUR

Spanish Open

Site: Girona, Spain.

Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

Course: PGA Golf de Catalunya, Stadium Course (6,809 yards, par 72).

Purse: $2.6 million. Winner's share: $433,460.

Last year: Ireland's Peter Lawrie won his first European tour title, edging Ignacio Garrido with a par on the second hole of a playoff at Real Club de Golf de Sevilla after the Spaniard's approach shot rolled into the water.

Last week: Thailand's Thongchai won the Ballantine's Championship in South Korea, beating Kang Wook-soon and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff.

Notes: Fernandez-Castano, from Madrid, has three straight second-place finishes - in Portugal, China and South Korea. ... John Daly and Colin Montgomerie are in the field. ... Thomas Bjorn won the 1999 Sarazen World Open at Catalunya. ... The Italian Open is next week, followed by the Irish Open.

LPGA TOUR

Next event: Michelob Ultra Open, May 7-10, Kingsmill Resort & Spa, River Course, Williamsburg, Va.

Last week: Lorena Ochoa won the Corona Championship in her native Mexico for the second straight year and third time in four years, beating Norway's Suzann Pettersen by a stroke. Ochoa shot 65-65-69-68 to finish at 25 under. She has two victories in six starts this year to push her career total to 26.
CHAMPIONS TOUR

Next event: Regions Charity Classic, May 15-17, Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Ross Bridge, Hoover, Ala.

Last week: Tom Lehman made a par putt on the second playoff hole to become the 13th player to win his Champions Tour debut, teaming with Bernhard Langer to beat Craig Stadler and Jeff Sluman in the better-ball Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf.
NATIONWIDE TOUR

Next event: BMW Charity Pro-Am, May 14-17, Thornblade Club, The Carolina Country Club and Bright's Creek Golf Club, Greer, S.C.

Last week: South Africa's Garth Mulroy won the South Georgia Classic for his first Nationwide Tour victory, beating Chris Tidland by a stroke.
Women

DURAMED FUTURES TOUR: Texas Hill Country Classic, Friday-Sunday, The Dominion Country Club, San Antonio.
JAPAN LPGA TOUR: Crystal Geyser Ladies Open, Friday-Sunday, Keiyo Country Club, Chiba, Japan.

No longer can anyone say the World Golf Championships are only played in America.

In an announcement that raised several questions, not to mention a few eyebrows, the HSBC Champions in China was promoted Tuesday as the fourth WGC event on the schedule.

This one is not like the other three, and not just because of its location.

The HSBC Champions in Shanghai will be played Nov. 5-8 - one week before the PGA Tour season ends at Disney - but it will not count as an official PGA Tour victory, nor will any earnings from the US$7-million purse count toward the U.S. money list.

"So it's a WGC with an asterisk," Geoff Ogilvy suggested.

However, the winner will be eligible for the winners-only Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua.

"A double asterisk," Ogilvy added.

It will be the only WGC in which the world ranking is not part of the criteria.

Instead, the 78-man field will be determined largely by tournament winners from around the world - the four majors, three other WGCs, 23 select events on the PGA Tour and European Tour, nine from the Asian Tour, and five each from Japan, South Africa and Australia.

Tiger Woods already has said he'll be there, giving the tournament instant credibility. He was runner-up the two previous times he played in Shanghai, but now that it's a WGC, it will be the only world championship he hasn't won.

Sergio Garcia is the defending champion.

And the fact it falls two weeks before the inaugural Dubai World Championship means the tournament likely will have a strong presence from the European troops - Padraig Harrington, Paul Casey, Henrik Stenson and Rory McIlroy.

It raises a question that has been brought up before. If you take a World Golf Championship out of America, will the Americans go?

Even when these WGCs were part of the PGA Tour schedule and counted as an official victory with official money, there was no guarantee the Americans would leave home.

A dozen of them, including five of the Top 10 in the world ranking, skipped out on the American Express Championship at Valderrama in 2000.

That prompted this famous line from Stuart Appleby: "They're like a bag of prawns on a hot Sunday. They don't travel well."

A year later at the Accenture Match Play Championship, 38 eligible players - half of them from the United States - stayed home for the holidays instead of travelling to Australia.

The PGA Tour can only hope history doesn't repeat itself in China.

And some of the skeptics already are lining up.

"If it's not going to have the same field as the rest of them, it's not really a world event, is it?" Robert Allenby said.

He was talking about the world ranking not being used for China - the previous tournament insisted that it keep the character of its field by emphasizing champions - but he also alluded to the strength of the field.

With very few exceptions, anyone eligible for the WGCs in America typically shows up. A year ago, the WGCs had the highest world ranking points of any tournament behind the four majors and The Players Championship.

Will that be the case in China?

"We expect our players to support the event if they're eligible. We're anticipating they will," PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw said. "We should wait to see how that plays out."

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem described this development as "one of the most significant steps ever taken in the globalization of golf, and one of the most logical."

Indeed, it makes perfect sense to add a WGC event in China, a burgeoning golf market. Plus, the HSBC Champions is known as Asia's major because of its high quality.

How does it help the PGA Tour?

Even if not all the eligible players attend, it elevates the status of a tournament halfway around the world. And as PGA Tour board member Stewart Cink points out, it gives the other umbrella sponsors of WGC events - Accenture, Bridgestone and CA - access and exposure in a market where they have a presence.

The biggest challenge - not just for the Americans - is that WGC events do not offer appearance money. Marquee players hardly ever play in Asia without getting something under the table.

But the schedule might allow for such players to make up for that.

The Barclays Singapore Open, where Phil Mickelson typically plays, is the week before the new WGC event, and the Hong Kong Open is the week after. In Woods' case, he'll get US$3 million the following week by playing the Australian Masters.

What it might hurt is the Fall Series on the U.S. tour, particularly the Viking Classic in Mississippi the week before China, and Disney the week after. Then again, those tournaments weren't exactly attracting the top players, anyway.

The FedEx Cup already minimized them.

But, when the money and victory don't count in the PGA Tour record books, what's in it for an American player?

The US$7 million purse is the largest in Asia, but American-based players compete for prize money of US$6 million or more 25 times throughout the year without having to get a stamp in their passport (assuming they have one).

Why go?

Perhaps Sean O'Hair summed it up best.

"It's a chance to compete against the best players in the world," he said. "I'll go."

The NCAA will tell you that college students are in trouble and they getting hurt from a gambling environment 😄 but at the same time NCAA schools are in business with the gamblers.

Look, if the NCAA doesn't care about gambling, then it should stop pretending.

Hypocritical