Overton shoots 62 for Greenbrier Classic lead

Golf Betting Lines

07/30/2010 - White Sulphur Springs, WV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Overton fired an eight-under 62 on Friday to take four-shot lead midway through The Greenbrier Classic.

Chasing his first PGA Tour win, Overton had eight birdies in a flawless round and finished 36 holes on The Old White Course with a 14-under 126.

He moved past Boo Weekley, who collected seven birdies for a 63 earlier in the day to post a 10-under 130.

First-round co-leader Erik Compton, the two-time heart transplant recipient, followed his 63 with a 68 on Friday and slipped into a tie for third place with Jimmy Walker (64) at nine-under 131.

Chris Stroud had a 63 and was tied with Aaron Baddeley (65), Briny Baird (65) and Charles Howell III (67) at eight-under 132, while Jim Furyk (65) led a large group at 133.

Overton parred his last four holes after going eight-under through the first 14 to briefly raise the possibility of shooting a 59.

Not that he was thinking about it.

Learning from two prior experiences this season where he allowed the thought of shooting a 59 to creep into his head -- he missed the cut in both tournaments -- Overton just concentrated on the shots in front of him.

"To be honest, as soon as I hit my driver on the first hole and I hit a good wedge shot in there, I knew that I was gonna have a good round," he said. "I was very confident with the way I was swinging my driver, and I knew if I could continue just to put the ball in play and to keep balls in fairways, I knew I was gonna have a good shot at a low number today."

He was the latest among a sudden surge of players who have flirted with carding golf's magic number.

Paul Goydos had the fourth 59 in PGA Tour history on July 8 during the first round of the John Deere Classic. Steve Stricker shot a 60 the same day, nearly holing out for a 59.

Carl Pettersson shot a 60 during the third round of the Canadian Open last Saturday, just missing a long birdie putt at the 18th hole that would have given him a 59.

Overton's bid was all but stopped when he missed an eight-foot birdie putt at No. 6 -- his 15th hole -- to leave him needing birdies on each of his last three holes.

He parred all of them, settling for a career-low score on the PGA Tour.

"I don't really know when the last time I was playing with this much confidence, I guess you could say," said Overton. "I'm also feeling very comfortable."

Overton did most of his damage on the back nine -- his front nine -- by collecting five birdies for a 31.

He made back-to-back birdies at the 11th and 12th, holing an 18-foot putt for the first. But his real charge came with four consecutive birdies around the turn, beginning with a three-foot putt at the 16th.

Overton got up-and-down from a bunker for birdie at the 17th, rolled in a five-footer at the 18th and finished off the run with an approach inside three feet at No. 1, taking a two-shot lead.

Even when things didn't bounce his way, Overton was able to escape trouble. His tee shot at No. 3, a 205-yard par three, hit a sprinkler head and bounced into a greenside bunker. But he blasted out to four feet and saved par.

Overton's last two birdies came at the fourth and fifth, on putts from 12 and five feet.

"I'm hitting it well," he said. "If I can continue to drive it well, drive it down the middle of the fairways, I feel like I'm pretty confident with my game."

Although Overton has never won on tour, the 27-year-old has knocked on the door several times already this season.

He was runner-up in New Orleans, tied for second place at the Byron Nelson, shared third place at Colonial and took solo third at the AT&T National earlier this month.

Those finishes -- in less than a three-month span -- have helped Overton earn more than $2.4 million this season, placing him 10th on the PGA Tour money list.

The money is nice, but Overton is looking for more.

"I would take a win over 100 [second-place finishes]. That's what it's all about," he said. "It's about coming out here and playing, and for that given week, being able to say you were the best in the world at something."

NOTES: The cut line fell at two-under 138 and Goydos, David Toms, Kenny Perry and Jeff Maggert are among those who will miss the weekend...Overton's previous career low was a 63 in the first round at Colonial in May...Matt Every, who shared the 18-hole lead with Compton, had a 72 and dropped nine shots back at five-under 135...This is the first year of this event.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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