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08/27/2010 - University Place, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Byeong-Hun An defeated Max Homa, 1-up on Friday to advance into the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur Championship.
An's quarterfinal victory at Chambers Bay on Friday keeps hope for alive for the repeat. He was the youngest U.S. Amateur champion in history last year at Southern Hills and if he can successfully defend, An would become the first repeat winner since Tiger Woods captured three in a row from 1994-96.
An's semifinal opponent will be David Chung, who knocked out NCAA individual champion Scott Langley, 1-up. It's a rematch of last year's quarterfinals.
This semifinal match features a Stanford guy (Chung) versus a Cal guy (An). The two saw much of each other in Pac 10 action, but Saturday's match is for a spot in Sunday's final.
"Well, it's my luck, I guess, playing a Stanford guy," said An. "We were playing each other a lot of times this year in college, too. If I play well, I'll beat Stanford again."
The other semifinal on Saturday will feature Patrick Cantlay, a 1-up winner over Jed Dirksen in 20 holes, and Peter Uihlein, a 1-up winner over Oklahoma State teammate Morgan Hoffmann.
An was in control through most of his match, building a 3-up lead through 12. Homa chipped away and after an An bogey at 17, An's lead was only 1-up with one to go.
Neither player played the 18th very well and both left with pars. An left with another win and with a win on Saturday, no matter what happens on Sunday, a return visit to Augusta National next year for the Masters.
"I just want to forget about that," An said. "Tomorrow's another match. I have two more matches to go. But if I win tomorrow, I go back to Masters. I'm trying not to think about going back to the Masters. I have to win first."
Chung had an up and down battle with the NCAA champion from Illinois. The match was all-square through 13 holes, but Chung won 14 with a par to go 1-up. Chung birdied the 246-yard, par-three 15th to move 2-up.
Langley went down fighting. He birdied the 17th to cut the deficit to 1-down with one to go, but both birdied the last to give the match to Chung.
Cantlay led after the turn, but Dirksen won 11 with a birdie and took the lead with a par at 14. Dirksen stayed 1-up through 17 holes, but a bogey at the last forced extra holes.
Both players parred the first playoff hole, but a Dirksen bogey at the second put Cantlay into the semifinals.
Uihlein, who could celebrate a U.S. Amateur title Sunday on his 21st birthday, will be waiting for him.
Uihlein and his college teammate battled throughout the match with neither player grabbing more than a 1-up lead.
Hoffmann squared the match at the 14th hole, but Uihlein inched in front with a birdie at 16. Both golfers parred out and it was Uihlein off to the semifinals.
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With In
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Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Freddie Ljungberg will return to Seattle on
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Ljungberg joined S
La. Tech football suspends four >>
Ruston, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Louisiana Tech head football coach Sonny Dykes
announced indefinite suspensions Friday for four players due to a violation of
team rules.
The four in question, wide receivers Tim Molton, R.P. Stuart and Cruz W
BYU to use two starting QBs >>
Provo, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brigham Young University will have two starting
quarterbacks for the upcoming season.
Cougars head coach Bronco Mendenhall made the announcement on Friday that the
two-quarterback system will be used, feat
Kaiserslautern shocks Bayern Munich >>
Kaiserslautern, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ivo Ilicevic and Srdjan Lakic
scored in a one-minute span late in the first half and Kaiserslautern shocked
Bayern Munich, 2-0, on Friday at Fritz Walter Stadium.
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Alouettes QB Calvillo rules self out for B.C. game >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony
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out for
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
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