11/16/2008 - Guadalajara, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Angela Stanford carded a three-under 69 Sunday to hold off Annika Sorenstam and Brittany Lang to win the inaugural Lorena Ochoa Invitational.
Stanford, who has posted five straight top-five finishes, completed her third LPGA Tour win at 13-under-par 275.
"It was a great day, you couldn't ask for anything more to be at Lorena's tournament and playing with Annika in the final round. That's just pretty special," said Stanford, who collected $200,000 for the win.
Sorenstam nearly pulled off a miraculous comeback. Down two shots on the 16th, she holed out from a bunker then made an up and down from short of the 17th green.
At the last, Sorenstam had a chance to force a playoff, but her seven-foot birdie putt lipped out giving Stanford the win.
"I still can't believe the putt didn't go in," Stanford exclaimed. "I'm still speechless."
Sorenstam also closed with a 69 to tie Lang in second at minus-12. Lang closed with a course-record and career-low, seven-under 65.
Tournament host and world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa closed with a two-under 70 to share 14th at four-under-par 284.
"It was a fun moment and very special on 18," said Ochoa, who closed with a birdie. "I am so pleased. It is a blessing to have the best players in the world right here in my home course. I couldn't ask for anything better, it has been amazing."
Stanford led by one to start the round and she parred the first five holes. Katherine Hull birdied the second and third to match Stanford at 10-under.
The 30-year-old Stanford rolled in a long birdie putt at the sixth to move one clear of Hull. However, Hull again forged a tie for the lead with a tap-in birdie on the eighth at Guadalajara Country Club.
Stanford moved back in front with an up-and-down birdie on the 10th. She came right back with a seven-foot birdie putt on the 11th to move two shots clear at minus-13.
Hull stumbled to a bogey on the 13th to fall three back and she never recovered.
Meanwhile, Sorenstam parred the first nine holes. At the 10th, she two-putted for birdie then ran home a long birdie putt at 14 to move to minus-11, where she trailed Stanford by two strokes.
Stanford parred four in a row from the 12th. At the par-four 16th, Stanford came up short with her approach, but chipped within two feet and kicked that in for par.
Sorenstam knocked her second over the green into a bunker. Facing a difficult up and down, Sorenstam hit a perfect bunker shot as the ball landed just on the green and tracked into the hole for birdie. She moved within one thanks to the stunning birdie.
At 17, Sorenstam got up and down for par from the front edge of the green. Stanford two-putted for par to hold a one-shot lead heading to the last.
Both Stanford and Sorenstam played their second shots down the fairway at the par-five closing hole. Stanford knocked her third to 15 feet. She just missed on the left edge and tapped in for par.
Sorenstam, whose approach shot nearly spun back into the cup, had seven feet for birdie. Her putt almost fell into the right side of the cup, but spun out giving Stanford the title.
"I thought I played really well. On the front, I really didn't make anything. A lot of lip-outs today," Sorenstam said. "It's a bummer. It was pretty much in on the last and it decided not to go in. I fought to the end and made some great saves the last three, four holes."
Lang birdied four of the first five holes to jump to minus-nine. After a bogey on the eighth, she birdied nine and 10 to get within one of Stanford. Lang birdied 14 and 17, but could only two-putt for par at the last to share second.
Hull, Meena Lee, Jeong Jang, Jee Young Lee and Sun Young Yoo shared fourth place at eight-under-par 280. In-Kyung Kim was one shot back at minus-seven.
<< Landry leads No. 25 Wisconsin past Long Beach State
Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcus Landry scored 23 points on 7-of-10
shooting, and 25th-ranked Wisconsin held on for a 68-61 win over Long Beach
State in the Badgers' season-opener.
Jason Bohannon scored 12 points, but made
<< Gators sink Braves with three-point show
Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Werner scored 17 points on 6-of-11
shooting to lead the Florida Gators to a convincing 81-58 victory over the
Bradley Braves in the 2008 O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic.
Nick Calathes added 13
<< Lyon edges Bordeaux to open seven-point lead
Lyon, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Karim Benzema and Kim Kallstrom scored in the
first half and Lyon held on for a 2-1 victory over Bordeaux on Sunday, a result
that may catapult the seven-time defending Ligue 1 champions to another title.
Ly
<< Barca tops Recreativo to extend unbeaten run to 16
Andalusia, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lionel Messi and Seydou Keita scored in the
second half as Barcelona topped Recreativo 2-0 on Sunday in Spain's La Liga to
open a three-point gap atop the standings and extend its unbeaten streak to 16.
B
Warner, Cardinals hold on to beat Seahawks >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kurt Warner threw for 395 yards while J.J.
Arrington ran for a touchdown and caught a scoring pass, as the Arizona
Cardinals fended off a late rally by the Seattle Seahawks and held on for the
26-20 w
Three-Peat: Johnson captures record-tying third-straight Cup title >>
Homestead, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmie Johnson became the second driver in
NASCAR's 60-year history to win three consecutive Cup championships. Johnson
finished 15th in Sunday's season-ending Ford 400 at the Homestead- Miami
Speedwa
Perfect 10: Collins, Titans upend Jags with big second half >>
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kerry Collins and Justin Gage connected on
a pair of long touchdowns, including a back-breaking, fourth-quarter toss as
Tennessee shook off an 11-point halftime deficit to move to 10-0 for the first
time in
Portis in uniform against Cowboys >>
Landover, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Redskins running back Clinton Portis will give
his injured knee a go on Sunday night, as he is in uniform in Washington's NFC
East battle with the Dallas Cowboys.
Portis, officially listed as questionable o
The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back
With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.
"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."
Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .
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