09/05/2008 - Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Australia's Marc Leishman fired an eight-under 63 Friday to take a one-shot lead after two rounds of the Utah Championship.
Leishman completed two rounds at 14-under-par 128. His 63 matched the course record first posted by Mark Hensby in 2000 and matched eight other times since, including by Michael Putnam in Friday's second round.
Kyle Thompson entered the day tied for second and then carded a six-under 65. He is now alone in second place at minus-13. Brendon Todd shot five-under 66 and is alone in third at 12-under-par 130.
Chris Nallen and Blake Adams each shot six-under 65 Friday. Nallen is in fourth at 11-under-par 131, while Adams is one shot back at minus-10.
With just five full-field events left on the Nationwide Tour schedule, players are trying to jump into the top 25 on the money list to earn their PGA Tour cards for next season. The top-five players on the leaderboard all need big weeks. Todd is closest to the top-25 as he is 53rd on the money list, while the other four rank between 68th and 87th.
Leishman, No. 75 on the money list, opened with birdies on the first and third. He moved to minus-nine with a birdie at the sixth. However, Leishman tripped to a bogey on the par-three seventh.
The Australian bounced back from that bogey with three straight birdies from the eighth at Willow Creek Country Club to move to 11-under.
After a par on 11, Leishman dropped in birdies on 12 and 13 to move into the lead at 13-under. He parred three in a row before dropping his third shot within five feet at the par-five 17th.
Leishman rolled that putt in for birdie to get to 14-under. He parred the last to finish one shot off the tournament's 36-hole scoring record.
"That's big around here because there's five of them," said Leishman, who birdied all five par-fives. "I birdied four of them yesterday. I've been playing ok, but the biggest challenge is that I have never seen most of the courses. You make a few silly mistakes and hit it in the wrong spots, but it's starting to come together. The last few weeks have been pretty good."
Thompson played the back nine first and parred his first four holes. He birdied 14 and 15 to move to minus-nine.
Around the turn, Thompson birdied the first and third to move into a share of third place. Birdies on seven and eight got Thompson within one of Leishman. Thompson missed a birdie putt at the ninth, his last, to end alone in second.
Television commentator Bobby Clampett carded a four-under 67 to move into sixth place at nine-under-par 133.
Putnam's 63 moved him into a share of eighth at eight-under-par 134. He was joined there by Mark Brooks, Roger Tambellini, Ricky Barnes, Matt Weibring, Bubba Dickerson, Bill Lunde, Spencer Levin, Gary Christian, Fabian Gomez, Jeff Curl, Won Joon Lee and Daniel Summerhays.
Dickerson carded a hole-in-one on the par-three 18th. After four aces on Thursday, the five holes-in-one for the event set a Nationwide Tour record for most aces in one tournament.
First-round leader David Branshaw stumbled to a one-over 72 and is tied for 20th at minus-seven.
The cut line fell at four-under-par 138 with 63 players moving on to the weekend. Among those missing the cut were the Nationwide Tour's leading money winner Brendon De Jonge (139), No. 5 on the money list Rick Price (142) and Scott Dunlap (149), who won the Panama Championship earlier this year.
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Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers outfielder Marlon Byrd left
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Pedroia's line drive in
Braves notch back-to-back wins over Nats >>
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Washington Nationals.
Kelly Johnson had three hits, including a pair of doubles,
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three-g
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White Sox thump Halos to keep pace in AL Central >>
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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout
An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.
Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off. Randy was not impressed though. Paula thought he started off fantastic. "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either.
Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed. Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact. He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition.
Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula. Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.
Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next. Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential. Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell. He sang "Careless Whisper".
22 year old Chris Richardson was up next. He was listed with +1100 odds coming in. He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great.
Nick was boring and pitchy. Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week. Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition.
Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds . These of course were the early odds. He was considered original for picking an "odd song". He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night.
Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good.
Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds. Great voice and a great sense of humor. He's a real standout. Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit. Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig".
Jared Cotter followed. He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition. The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good.
22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next. "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon. Though the judges felt he performed okay. Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.
Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition. He was the last to perform. He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start.
Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys. Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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