Toms, Villegas share lead in California

Golf Betting Lines

01/19/2012 - La Quinta, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Toms and Camilo Villegas carded matching rounds of nine-under 63 Thursday to share the first-round lead at the Humana Challenge.

The leaders played two different courses on Thursday. Toms was at La Quinta Country Club, while Villegas played on the Nicklaus Private course at PGA West. Those two courses, along with the Palmer Private course at PGA West, will host the opening three rounds, before the final round is contested on the Palmer course.

Brandt Snedeker headlines a group of four players tied for third place at minus-eight. He stands alongside Bob Estes, Ted Potter, Jr. and Sang-Moon Bae.

Ben Crane is among seven players that share seventh place at seven-under 65.

This is the first time since 1964 that Bob Hope's name isn't associated with the tournament, though his name remains on the trophy. Former President Bill Clinton has added his name to the tournament and brought in a few big names to re-invigorate the event.

Greg Norman and two-time winner Phil Mickelson answered Clinton's call to play this week. Norman managed an even-par 72 at La Quinta, while Mickelson stumbled to a two-over 74, also at La Quinta.

Clinton will play alongside Norman in the pro-am portion of the event on Saturday.

Toms played the front nine first and opened with four straight pars. He turned it on from there as he birdied the next four holes to jump up the leaderboard.

The 45-year-old Toms birdied the 10th, then dropped in back-to-back birdie chances from the 12th to move to minus-seven.

Toms converted birdied chances at 16 and 18 to grab a piece of the lead.

"I struck the ball pretty well all day. I didn't make any putts the first few holes and I had some great looks, then all of a sudden I made a long one, and then I made a couple after that," Toms said in a televised interview. "Then, for the most part, just played solid golf.

"I was never really in trouble off the tee. I hit a lot of greens, had a lot of looks and putted well."

Villegas played the back nine of the Nicklaus course first, and opened with birdies on each of his first two holes. After a pair of pars, he drained three straight birdie chances from the 14th.

The Colombian made the turn at five-under. He birdied three of the first four holes on the front nine. Villegas parred the next three holes, then birdied the par-five eighth to end at minus-nine.

"A great day out there. Obviously, the weather is beautiful, golf course conditions are perfect and I had a great group," Villegas said. "We had some laughs out there and felt pretty relaxed. It's a really nice way to start the year. I kept the ball in play, made a lot of great putts and then again had a lot of fun out there."

Johnson Wagner, last week's winner at the Sony Open, carded a four-under 68 on the Palmer course and is tied for 31st. Defending champion Jhonattan Vegas is tied for 80th at minus-two after a round with five birdies and three bogeys.

NOTES: There 12 former champions in the field including Vegas and Mickelson...Tops among that group is Pat Perez, who opened with a five-under 67 at La Quinta...Toms, who played alongside Mickelson, will shift to the Nicklaus course on Friday, while Villegas will play the Palmer course.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.