Ilonen claims second win of '07

Golf Betting Lines

08/19/2007 - Stockholm, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikko Ilonen birdied the par-three 18th Sunday, then watched as Martin Kaymer closed with a double-bogey.

Kaymer's closing double handed Ilonen his second win of the season. Ilonen completed the event at six-under-par 274 thanks to a final-round 68.

"Unbelievable finish. First I dumped it in the water on 16, then I miss a birdie on 17," Ilonen stated. "Then for the first time, I hit that green on 18 and make birdie. I'm out of words."

The 22-year-old Kaymer, who was going for his first win, shot three-over 73 and ended in a share of second at minus-four. He was joined there by Peter Hedblom (69), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (68), Christian Cevaer (69) and Nick Dougherty (70).

Kaymer and Ilonen, who hails from Finland, battled throughout the round. After both players birdied the par-five 15th, it looked as though the 16th at Arlandastad Golf Club would be the turning point.

Ilonen's tee ball came to rest on the edge of the water right of the green. He tried to play out of the water, but advanced his ball just a few feet. He pitched his third to eight feet, but two-putted for double-bogey to slide to five-under.

Kaymer, now leading by two, knocked his tee shot over the green at the 16th. He chipped to seven feet, but only two-putted for bogey to slip to six-under.

Neither player could take advantage of the par-five 17th as they both made par.

Ilonen, playing one group ahead of Kaymer, hit a stellar tee shot to six feet at the 18th. He knocked that in for birdie to move to minus-six, then watched from the scoring trailer to see what Kaymer would do.

Kaymer pulled his tee shot left, then his chip came up short of the green. He tried to putt through the fringe, but his ball stopped eight feet short of the hole. He two-putted from there for double-bogey to end tied for second.

"You never wish for a finish like that, but someone has to win and someone has to lose," said Ilonen. "I'm sure Martin is going to win very soon. He's been up there a couple of times now. I'm sure he's lifting a trophy in the next few months."

Ilonen collected his second win of the season as he also won the Indonesia Open back in February.

Ilonen had three birdies and a bogey over the first six holes to move to minus-six, one clear of Kaymer who bogeyed four and five. Ilonen bogeyed the seventh, but recovered that shot with a birdie on nine.

Kaymer birdied the ninth to join Ilonen in the lead at six-under and set up the big finish.

Cevaer posted four rounds of one-under 69 to end in a share of second. He posted four birdies and three bogeys on Sunday. Dougherty managed just two birdies and two bogeys in the final round to end at minus-four.

Gonnet parred his first 11 holes, before collecting two birdies over the final seven holes to cap a bogey-free 68 that left him tied for second.

Hedblom opened with nine straight pars before collecting three birdies and two bogeys on the back nine to end at four-under.

James Kingston, who entered the final round tied for the lead with Kaymer, struggled to a four-over 74. That dropped him into a share of seventh at three-under-par 277, where he was joined by Paul Broadhurst and Corey Pavin.

Wwjazzsports Golf Betting News

<< Miller's double allows Celtic to slip past Aberdeen
Aberdeen, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kenny Miller scored two goals in the game's final five minutes to give Celtic a 3-1 win against Aberdeen at Pittodrie Stadium on Sunday. The two teams were deadlocked at 1-1 heading into the

<< Zambrano, Cubs resume critical series with Cards at Wrigley
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off a new contract extension, Chicago Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano will take the ball tonight in the third test of a four-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field. Zambrano agreed to a five-year cont

<< Tribe goes with C.C. against Devil Rays
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty C.C. Sabathia faces one of his all-time favorite foes today when the Cleveland Indians visit the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for the finale of a three-game series at Tropicana Field. A 27-year-old Californian, Sabathia is

<< KC aims for another win against Oakland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals will try and continue their recent mastery of the Oakland Athletics this afternoon, as they try and complete a three-game sweep at McAfee Coliseum. Kansas City has won six of the nine matchups

<< Zambrano, Cubs wrap up critical series with Cards at Wrigley
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off a new contract extension, Chicago Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano will take the ball tonight in the third test of a four-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field. Zambrano agreed to a five-year cont

Mets' Easley placed on DL >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets placed infielder Damion Easley on the 15-day disabled list with a Grade 3 left ankle sprain. Easley left the Mets' 7-4 victory against the Washington Nationals Saturday in the sixth i

Hamburg wins again; Bechmann double carries Bochum >>
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rafael van der Vaart converted a penalty kick in the second half to help Hamburg to a 1-0 defeat of Bayer Leverkusen while Tommy Bechmann scored a pair of goals to lead Bochum to a 2-1 victory over En

Devil Rays place Zobrist on DL >>
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Devil Rays placed shortstop Ben Zobrist on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with a right oblique strain. Zobrist was hurt swinging at a pitch in the team's 8-1 loss to Cleveland

Rain postpones Cup race >>
Brooklyn, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sunday's NASCAR Nextel Cup race at the Michigan International Speedway was postponed due to rain. The 3M Performance 400 has been pushed back until Monday and the green flag is scheduled to drop, weather

Blue Jays down O's on Hill's sac fly in 10th >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Hill hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th to lift the Toronto Blue Jays past the Baltimore Orioles, 3-2, in the finale of a three-game series at Rogers Centre. Vernon Wells scored the game-

FOOTBALL BETTING : Cassel Signs Contract

Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.

NFL Betting
After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."

NFL Betting Lines

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.