Pavin joins Langer in lead at Carnoustie

Golf Betting Lines

07/23/2010 - Carnoustie, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin shot his second straight two-under 69 on Friday to join Bernhard Langer atop the leaderboard after the second round of the Senior British Open Championship.

Pavin and Langer, a first-round co-leader who carded an even-par 71 on Friday, finished 36 holes at four-under 138 at Carnoustie.

Former Masters champion Ian Woosnam shared low round of the day honors on Friday with a four-under 67. He vaulted into a tie for third place with Dan Forsman (71), Larry Mize (70) and Jay Haas (69). The group is knotted at minus-three.

Mark Calcavecchia, the 1989 British Open champion who is making his third Champions Tour start, posted his second straight one-under 70 on Friday and is alone in seventh at two-under 140.

Tom Watson, a five-time British Open winner and three-time Senior Open champion, posted an even-par 71 and moved into a tie for 24th place at plus- three.

They are chasing a pair of major champions from their days on the PGA Tour, but a duo who has yet to break through in one of the big five events on the Champions Tour.

Pavin, a tour rookie, started well enough with five consecutive pars. He broke into red figures with a birdie at the par-five sixth, his second in as many rounds at the 565-yard hole.

He closed with three straight pars, but went on a mini run to start the back nine. Pavin birdied his first two holes of the second side and reached six- under par when he birdied the par-three 16th.

Pavin found trouble at the par-four closing hole. Pavin, never one of the longest hitters in the game, hooked a five-wood approach shot out of bounds. He walked off with a double-bogey that cost him sole possession of first place.

"I played pretty solidly today," said Pavin. "Wish I could take that shot over on 18. I was pleased with the day - I played well. I had a few times when I put myself in a little bit of trouble, but extricated myself and made some good par putts coming in and a nice birdie on 16."

Langer, like Pavin, started decently with five straight pars on Friday. He hit a five-iron to 50 feet with his second at the par-five sixth and two-putted for birdie.

He made it two in a row thanks to a seven-footer at No. 7. Langer got it to six-under par for the championship and was in the lead with Pavin in the clubhouse, but, like almost everyone in the field, the back nine tripped up Langer.

The German Hall of Famer came undone on the two back-nine par threes at Carnoustie. He landed in a pot bunker at the 13th en route to a bogey, then three-putted from off the green at No. 16 for his second bogey of the second round.

Those two hiccups cost Langer first, but he was satisfied with his performance on Friday.

"Overall, I'm pretty pleased," said Langer, a 10-time winner on the Champions Tour, including two victories in 2010. "There's no real birdie hole or easy hole. This course can get you on any hole. The wind was really blowing all day. It made links golf that much harder."

First-round co-leader Jay Don Blake struggled to a three-over 74 on Friday and fell into a tie for eighth place with 2008 runner-up John Cook (72) and Russ Cochran (71). The trio is knotted at one-under 141.

NOTES: Pavin won the 1995 U.S. Open and Langer captured the Masters in 1985 and 1993...The third first-round co-leader Carl Mason, who is tied for most wins in European Senior Tour history with 23, shot a five-over 76 and fell into a tie for 13th at plus-one...Defending champion Loren Roberts is also one-over par...The 36-hole cut fell at seven-over 149 and Chip Beck, Craig Stadler and Sandy Lyle missed the mark.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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