Haas leads Principal Charity Classic

Golf Betting Lines

06/09/2007 - West Des Moines, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jay Haas, the reigning Champions Tour Player of the Year, fired a six-under-par 65 on Friday to take the first-round lead of the Principal Charity Classic.

Dave Eichelberger posted a five-under-par 66 and is alone in second place at Glen Oaks Country Club.

Two former champions Bob Gilder and Jim Thorpe were joined in a tie for third place by Mark James and David Edwards. The quartet finished Friday's opening round at four-under-par 67.

Haas parred his first three holes, then recorded back-to-back birdies from the fourth hole. He added another front-nine birdie at the seventh to make the turn at minus-three.

Haas, the leading money winner on the Champions Tour, birdied two in a row from the 10th and seemed to be in command. He bogeyed the 12th for a momentary setback, but birdied two of his next three.

He dropped a shot at the par-four 17th, but reclaimed the lead by himself with a 24-foot birdie putt at the closing hole.

Haas already has two wins this season at the Toshiba Classic and Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf. Last week, he held the 36-hole lead of the The Boeing Championship at Sandestin, but shot a final-round 73 and tied for fifth place.

Eichelberger had an interesting front nine on Friday. He birdied three and six, but double-bogeyed the par-four fourth. He finished his front nine with an eagle at the ninth.

He parred his next five holes, but birdied the par-five 15th. Eichelberger, a six-time winner on the Champions Tour who has not visited the winner's circle since 2002, birdied 17 and converted a 10-foot birdie putt at the last to get within one of the lead.

Tom Wargo, Tim Simpson, Keith Fergus and Tom Purtzer share seventh place at three-under-par 68.

Defending champion Gil Morgan double-bogeyed his final hole en route to a one- over-par 72. He is part of a group tied for 31st place.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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