Echenique birdies the last for the lead in Paris

Golf Betting Lines

07/04/2009 - Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Overnight leader Rafa Echenique birdied the last hole Saturday to hold on to his spot atop the leaderboard after the third round of the Open de France.

Echenique shot a one-under 70 and finished 54 holes at 11-under 202 and is one clear of first-round leader Martin Kaymer, who managed a 69, at Le Golf National.

Paul Waring posted a three-under 68 and is alone in third at minus-nine.

Seve Benson (68), Richard Green (70) and Peter Hanson (70) are knotted in fourth place at eight-under 205.

Echenique began the third round with a two-shot cushion, but a bogey at the first hole hurt him out of the gate. He atoned for the error with a birdie at the fourth and made it two in a row with a 12-footer for birdie at the par- four fifth.

Echenique dropped a shot at the par-three eighth hole and fell to 10-under par for the championship.

Kaymer, Waring and Charl Schwartzel all eventually tied Echenique atop the leaderboard. Schwartzel bogeyed 12, 14 and 15 to fall down the board, then Waring bogeyed 14.

Kaymer kept pace with Echenique thanks to smart, even-par golf. Kaymer, the German who matched the course record on Thursday, birdied six and seven and parred nine straight around the turn.

At the 17th, Kaymer holed a tricky, multi-breaking 25-footer for birdie to match Echenique atop the leaderboard at minus-10.

Echenique, playing in the final group, narrowly missed the fairway at the par- four closing hole. He knocked his approach to six feet and drained the birdie putt to take sole possession of first.

"That last birdie was very good because the putter just didn't work for me today," acknowledged Echenique. "When you are playing in the last group in these conditions then you are always going to be a little nervous, but after the first three holes I realized that I should calm down and try to play my game."

Echenique will be in search of his first European Tour victory on Sunday. He has two Challenge Tour titles, but never broke through on the big circuit.

It certainly looked like Echenique had a good chance at that first win last week at the BMW International Open. The Argentine holed his second shot at the par-five 18th on Sunday to scare eventual winner Nick Dougherty.

"This is one of the biggest and best events on the European Tour and I believe that I can do it," said Echenique. "I did it in the Argentinean Open, so why not here? I will try to keep the same strategy as I have all week -- try and take irons off of most of the tees and get the putter working again because it wasn't working great today. It would be very big for me to win here."

Schwartzel finished with a one-over 72 and is tied for seventh place with Lee Westwood (70) and Robert-Jan Derksen (68). The trio is knotted at seven-under 206.

Ian Poulter carded a five-under 66 and is alone in 10th at minus-six.

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Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.