Creamer leads by three at suspended Women's Open

Golf Betting Lines

07/10/2010 - Oakmont, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paula Creamer was one-under par through 13 holes of the third round Saturday when play was halted for the day at the U.S. Women's Open due to darkness.

Creamer was atop the leaderboard at minus-one and was three shots clear of Wendy Ward. Creamer, an eight-time winner on the LPGA Tour, is in search of her first major championship title.

Ward is also minus-one for her round and stands at plus-two through 17 holes of the third round.

The championship was playing catch up all day 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 Country Club.

Creamer and Sakura Yokomine shared the lead when the second round was completed earlier Saturday.

Suzann Pettersen is alone in third at plus-three. Fifteen-year-old Alexis Thompson is the leader in the clubhouse at four-over-par 217. She carded a one-under 70 in the third round.

Thompson was joined in fourth place by Amy Yang (15 holes) and Brittany Lang (14 holes).

Creamer started her third round with three straight pars and that allowed her to take a one-shot lead at even-par, as Yokomine fell apart early in the third round.

The 23-year-old Creamer birdied the par-five fourth to move one ahead of Lang, who had birdied the second and fourth to gain a share of the lead. After a pair of pars, Creamer tripped to a bogey on the seventh, but was two clear of Lang, who bogeyed three of four holes from the fifth.

Creamer got back to minus-one with a birdie on the par-four 10th. She moved to two-under with a birdie on the long par-five 12th, a hole which she had bogeyed the first two rounds.

At the par-three 13th, Creamer faltered to a bogey in the waning light and that was her last hole of the day.

Creamer hasn't won a major, but has won several of the LPGA Tour's bigger 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 fifth start of the year and fourth since having surgery on her injured left thumb.

Natalie Gulbis and Jeong Jang, who are both through 17 holes, are tied for seventh place at plus-five. They stand alongside In-Kyung Kim (16 holes) and Christina Kim (14 holes).

Karrie Webb (73), Na Yeon Choi (72) and Jiyai Shin (72) are tied for 11th at six-over-par 219. Stacy Lewis, Sophie Gustafson, Cristie Kerr and Yokomine also stand at plus-six with holes remaining in their third rounds.

NOTES: The third round is slated to resume at 8:00 a.m. (et) Sunday with the final round to follow at approximately 10:20 a.m....Defending champion Eun-Hee Ji is tied for 34th at 12-over par...Ji is plus-two through 13 holes of the third round...Amateur Kelli Shean, who shared second place after the first round, has struggled ever since...Shean has tumbled into 64th place at plus-19 after shooting a 12-over 83 in round three.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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