Creamer still three in front after third round

Golf Betting Lines

07/11/2010 - Oakmont, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paula Creamer rolled in a four-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Sunday to move three shots clear after the third round of the U.S. Women's Open.

Creamer finished the third round Sunday morning and posted an impressive, one- under 70 at a difficult Oakmont layout. She is the only player under par and got through 54 holes at one-under 212.

Wendy Ward also had a 70 in round three and is second at plus-two.

Suzann Pettersen (72), Christina Kim (72) and Amy Yang (71) are knotted in third place at three-over 216.

The third round was completed on Sunday morning after play was halted for darkness on Saturday.

The championship has played catch up after inclement weather halted action on Friday and forced the second round to be completed earlier Saturday.

Once the second round was completed, players went off the first and 10th tees in threesomes. More than half the field managed to complete round three before darkness fell at Oakmont Saturday night.

The players will go back out in threesomes off split tees for the final round, and with a bright forecast for Sunday, there should be no problem completing the final round.

Creamer was one-under for the championship after a missed short par putt on 13 Saturday night. The horn blew, but Creamer, well within her right, elected to putt out and missed a two-footer.

On Saturday, Creamer parred 14 and 15 and had a mere two feet left for par at the 16th. She missed that par putt to fall to even-par for the tournament, but the putter, and maybe nerves, got in the way again.

Creamer had three feet for birdie at the short, par-four 17th, but that putt never hit the hole. She was still at even, but hit a spectacular approach to four feet at the tough closing hole.

Creamer converted the birdie putt to build a three-stroke cushion with one round to go.

Creamer hasn't won a major, but has won several of the LPGA Tour's biggest events. She claimed the 2005 Evian Masters, the Tournament of Champions in 2007 and the 2008 Samsung World Championship.

The win at the Samsung stands as Creamer's last LPGA Tour victory as she has battled a thumb injury through most of last year and the earlier part of this season as well.

In fact, this is just Creamer's fifth start of the year and fourth since having surgery on her injured left thumb.

Lexi Thompson, 15, finished her third-round 70 on Saturday and is sixth at four-over 217.

World No. 1 Cristie Kerr, who romped to victory at the last major, the LPGA Championship, carded a four-over 75 and is tied for seventh place with Sophie Gustafson (74), In Kyung Kim (73), Natalie Gulbis (72), Sakura Yokomine (76) and first-round leader Brittany Lang (75). The group finished at plus-five.

Wsouthwest Golf Betting News

<< Rays aim for series win over lowly Indians
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A four-game set and the first half of the season both come to a close today at Tropicana Field, where the Tampa Bay Rays host the Cleveland Indians. Tampa Bay enters its final test before the All-Star break two games behin

<< Phillies seeking sweep of hard-fought set with Reds
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A terrific first half of the season is having an unwanted ending for the Cincinnati Reds, who'll be out to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies when the two postseason hopefuls square off again th

<< Rookie Bumgarner tries to pitch Giants past Nationals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants got their first-ever look at Washington Nationals rookie sensation Stephen Strasburg in Friday's opener of this three-game series between the teams. Now they'll unveil their own top pitching prospect

<< Mets send out Santana in hopes of averting sweep by Braves
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having Johan Santana on top of his game would go a long way towards the New York Mets achieving their goal of overtaking the Atlanta Braves for first place in the National League East. Coming off his best performance of the s

<< Red Sox, Blue Jays to close out first half with rubber match
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays close out a three- game weekend set in American League East action from the Rogers Centre, with the rubber match to take place this afternoon. Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka will be on

Nalbandian sends Argentina past Russia in Davis Cup quarters >>
Moscow, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Nalbandian gave Argentina a Davis Cup quarterfinal victory over Russia with a straight-set triumph over Mikhail Youzhny in Sunday's fifth and decisive singles rubber. After Nikolay Davydenko ke

Cardinals try to end first half with needed win over Astros >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The skidding St. Louis Cardinals can climb within a game of first place to end the season's unofficial first half today, when they visit Minute Maid Park for the finale of a three-game series with the Houston Astros. The

Brewers ready brooms for skidding Bucs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran lefty Randy Wolf pitches for the sweep when the Milwaukee Brewers host the Pittsburgh Pirates today in the finale of their three-game series at Miller Park. Milwaukee has taken one-run verdicts in each of the first

Red-hot Rockies attempt to draw even with sliding Padres >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies appear to be putting together one of those long winning stretches they've become known for during the past few seasons, much to the chagrin of the rest of the National League West. The resurgent Rockie

France completes whitewash of Spain >>
Clermont-Ferrand, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gilles Simon and Julien Benneteau each won reverse singles matches for France on Sunday to complete a 5-0 rout of Spain in the Davis Cup quarterfinals. The Spaniards were the two-time defendin

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.