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09/28/2008 - West Midlands, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano parred the third playoff hole Sunday to beat defending champion Lee Westwood and win the British Masters.
The pair played the 18th at the Belfry for a third time and the duo both found the short grass. Fernandez-Castano hit a three-iron to the left fringe, but Westwood missed the putting surface left with his approach.
Westwood was in thick rough and could only get his chip within 12 feet of the stick. Fernandez-Castano's putt narrowly missed and he tapped in for the par. Westwood had to drain his putt to extend the playoff another hole and could not, giving Fernandez-Castano the victory.
The win was Fernandez-Castano's fourth on the European Tour and first since last year's Italian Open.
"I have to say it's probably the best victory of the four," admitted Fernandez-Castano. "I'm really happy, and of course my main goal was to get into the last Volvo Masters in Valderrama, and I think I've done that. So I can't ask for any better than that."
The third round was completed Sunday morning after play was stopped for darkness on Saturday. A few fog delays set the tournament back, but the final round was completed Sunday evening.
Fernandez-Castano shot a five-under 67 in the final round, while Westwood managed a two-under 70. The pair finished regulation tied at 12-under 276 and returned to the course for the extra session.
At the first playoff hole, the famous par-four 18th at The Belfry, both players hit the fairway, although Fernandez-Castano used a three-wood off the tee. His second with a five-wood stopped 15 feet from the stick, while Westwood pulled an eight-iron left of the green.
Westwood elected to putt his ball from the rough and ran it eight feet past the stick. Fernandez-Castano's birdie effort missed by three feet. Westwood sank his par save and the Spaniard made his to head back to the tee.
On the second playoff hole, Westwood found the fairway off the tee, while Fernandez-Castano's drive ran into the right rough. Westwood got a four-iron to the left fringe, but Fernandez-Castano hit the gallery and landed in the left rough short of the green.
Fernandez-Castano hit his third to 10 feet and Westwood chipped down to two feet. Fernandez-Castano sank the clutch par putt, then Westwood kicked in his par save to force a third sudden-death hole.
The Spaniard won on that hole to keep Westwood from being the first repeat champion since Greg Norman in 1982.
"I just struggled with my swing all day and didn't feel under control at any point," said Westwood. "I just couldn't feel my swing. I hit a lot of poor iron shots."
Former U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell shared the third-round lead with Westwood, but only managed an even-par 72 in the final round. He finished alone in third at minus-10.
Mikael Lundberg shot a two-under 70 on Sunday and came in fourth at eight- under 280.
Fernandez-Castano collected back-to-back birdies at four and five, but it was a three-foot birdie putt at the 10th that got him within one of Westwood, who missed a short birdie putt at the same hole.
The Spaniard chipped in for a par save at the 12th, then rolled in a seven- foot birdie putt to match Westwood atop the leaderboard.
Both players birdied 15 and Campbell got within one after a birdie at 17.
On the closing hole, Westwood found the short grass and Fernandez-Castano drove into a fairway bunker. Westwood got his second onto the green, but Fernandez-Castano missed the putting surface.
He got up and down for par and Westwood two-putted for par to set up the playoff. Campbell made bogey to cement his status in third.
Charl Schwartzel (72) and Jeev Milkha Singh (73) shared fifth place at six- under 282.
Magnus A. Carlsson (72), Ross Fisher (73) and Louis Oosthuizen (66) tied for seventh at minus-five.
<< Wolfsburg loses unbeaten record
Karlsruhe, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last unbeaten team in the Bundesliga
fell on Sunday as Wolfsburg dropped a surprising 2-1 contest to Karlsruhe.
Wolfsburg opened the season with a 2-0-3 mark, but goals from Massimilian
Porcello
<< Panthers' T Gross leaves game
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carolina Panthers left tackle Jordan
Gross left Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons in the first quarter.
With 9:45 left to play in the first, Gross was running across the field to
make a
<< Tottenham's troubles continue
Portsmouth, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham remained rooted to the bottom
of the Premiership table on Sunday as they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Portsmouth
at Fratton Park.
Former Spurs striker Jermain Defoe converted a penalty kick
<< NFL Inactives (Sunday, September 28, 2008)
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The following is a list of inactive players
for today's NFL games.
HOUSTON TEXANS AT JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS, 1:00 P.M. (ET)
Texans - RB Ahman Green, S Brandon Harrison, S Eugene Wilson, G Kasey Studdard,
Oklahoma new No. 1 after topsy-turvy week in college football >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oklahoma Sooners are in a familiar spot,
No. 1 in the latest Associated Press college football rankings.
The Sooners regained the top after an upset-filled week which saw previous No.
1 Southern Californ
Cardinals scratch Lohse with contract in mind >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher
Kyle Lohse was a late scratch Sunday as the club is reportedly close to
signing the right-hander to a contract extension.
Lohse, who posted a career-hig
Denver's Russell leaves game against KC on stretcher >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denver Broncos wide receiver Clifford
Russell left Sunday's game against Kansas City with a possible head or neck
injury.
On a kickoff in the fourth quarter, Russell charged down the field and was
Romero wins third '08 title at SAS Championship >>
Cary, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eduardo Romero closed with a six-under 66 for a
comfortable three-shot win Sunday at the SAS Championship, his third victory
of the season.
The 54-year-old Argentine, who won the U.S. Senior Open Championship last
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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