Cabrera-Bello fires 63 to lead by 2 in Dubai

Golf Betting Lines

02/09/2012 - Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rafael Cabrera-Bello fired a nine-under 63 Thursday to grab a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic.

Cabrera-Bello, whose lone tour title was at the 2009 Austrian Golf Open, birdied nine of his first 11 holes before cooling off. He parred the final seven holes.

Marcel Siem and Scott Jamieson share second place at minus-seven. Siem was in the first group off the first tee on the Majlis course at Emirates Golf Club on Thursday. He dropped his approach shot into the water on the 18th and that led to a closing bogey.

World Nos. 2 and 4, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer, both shot six-under 66 and headline a group of seven players that are tied for fourth place.

Cabrera-Bello started on the back nine Thursday and got off to a quick start with birdies on the 10th and 11th. He again converted back-to-back birdie efforts from the 13th to move four-under through five holes.

The 27-year-old Spaniard continued his fine play with a birdie on the 16th. He followed that with birdies on 17 and 18 to grab a piece of the lead at minus- seven.

After Siem moved ahead with a birdie on No. 17, Cabrera-Bello converted a birdie chance on the first to again move into a tie atop the leaderboard.

Cabrera-Bello made it five in a row as he birdied the second. That gave him the outright lead at minus-nine. Surely, he had thoughts of carding the first 59 in European Tour history at that point.

"Just for a second after the birdie on No. 2, I tried to do the math on what I needed for 59. Then I told myself to stop being foolish and don't be too greedy," Cabrera-Bello admitted. "Nothing wrong happened -- there were some tough holes to come and I didn't drop a stroke."

Not only did he not drop a shot, but Cabrera-Bello parred his final seven holes.

"It's a really, really good score, but in itself it means nothing. If you want to stay grounded, you think of how many leaders of the first round win the tournament," said Cabrera-Bello. "I know I have to play really, really good just to have a chance."

Siem flew up the leaderboard with five birdies in the first 10 holes, including a chip-in birdie on the sixth. He settled in with four pars in a row from the 11th.

The German poured in three straight birdies from the 15th to soar into the lead at minus-eight. He had a chance to end at nine-under, but his approach splashed into the pond short, right of the green at the 18th. That led to a closing bogey.

"I hit it pretty solid today. I thought it was one of my best rounds of golf ever," Siem stated. "I didn't make any stupid mistakes. I had a lot of good chances and made the putts too."

Jamieson had a bogey-free round with just two birdies on his opening nine. Around the turn, he birdied the 11th, then jumped to minus-five with an eagle on the par-five 13th.

The 28-year-old Jamieson birdied 15 and 18 to join Siem at minus-seven.

McIlroy and Kaymer were joined in fourth place by Thomas Bjorn, Richard Sterne, Nicolas Colsaerts, Gregory Bourdy and Romain Wattel.

Mark O'Meara, the 2004 winner, is tied for 20th at minus-three. Defending champion Alvaro Quiros opened with a two-under 70. Fred Couples, the 1995 champ, is among a large group of players tied with Quiros.

NOTES: McIlroy, Kaymer and Wattel were the only players in the top 10 that were in the afternoon wave...Stephen Gallacher had a hole-in-one on the par- three 15th, and is tied for 20th with O'Meara and world No. 3 Lee Westwood.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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