Harrington shoots 63 to grab early lead at Riviera

Golf Betting Lines

02/16/2007 - Pacific Palisades, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ireland's Padraig Harrington fired an eight-under-par 63 Thursday to grab a three-stroke lead at the Nissan Open at Riviera Country Club.

Six players were left on the course as play was suspended due to darkness Thursday evening. Those six will return to the course at 11:00 a.m. (et) to complete their rounds. The second round will start as scheduled at 10:00 a.m.

Phil Mickelson, coming off his 30th PGA Tour win at Pebble Beach last week, posted a five-under-par 66. He was joined in second place by Briny Baird and Pat Perez.

World No. 2 Jim Furyk is among five players tied for fifth at minus-four. Furyk stands alongside Sergio Garcia, Cameron Beckman, Kevin Stadler and David Howell.

Harrington had a pair of hot streaks during the opening round. He opened with a birdie on the first and came right back with another birdie on two. At the third, Harrington drained a 15-foot birdie putt to quickly get to three-under.

The Irishman posted his fourth birdie of the round at five. Harrington was unable to save par on the eighth when he missed the green to the right.

Harrington recovered that lost stroke with a two-putt birdie from the front fringe at 10. He two-putted for birdie on the par-five 11th to move to minus- five.

At 12 and 13, Harrington left himself 15 feet for birdie. He converted both of those birdie putts to move two clear of the field at seven-under.

Harrington three-putted for bogey on the par-three 14th, but atoned for that mistake by converting a four-foot birdie putt on 15. He rolled home an 18-foot birdie effort on 16 before closing with a pair of pars for 63.

"Obviously I'm exceptionally pleased shooting 63. It's my first tournament here at Riviera and I think that might catch up to me not knowing the course that well," admitted Harrington, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour.

"There are a lot of pit falls on this golf course, but they didn't get me today," Harrington continued. "So a good day overall. I played nicely, holed the putts and got the breaks. Everything you need to do to shoot 63."

Mickelson, who is commuting via airplane from his home near San Diego this week, birdied the short par-four 10th to open his round. His only other birdie on his first nine holes came at the par-three 16th.

The 36-year-old got it going on the front nine with a birdie at the first. Mickelson came back to birdie the third and fifth to move to minus-five. He closed with four straight pars to finish out a bogey-free round.

"I'm happy with that first round. I thought I played very well," Mickelson said. "I thought that was an incredible round that Padraig played. It is good to get off to a good start."

Mickelson's trip from home wasn't too difficult on Thursday.

"I left the house at 5:15 a.m. and got here at 6:15 a.m. Thirty minutes in the air," he said of his flight.

Baird mixed three birdies and two bogeys over his opening nine, which was the back nine. He got to minus-two with a birdie on the first. Baird birdied three of the final five holes to gain a share of second.

Perez also started on the back nine, but got off to a flying start with birdies on 10 and 11. After a birdie on 14, he parred four in a row. Perez moved to minus-four with a birdie on one.

He birdied the sixth, but gave that stroke right back with a bogey on seven. Perez joined Baird and Mickelson in second with a birdie at the ninth.

Geoff Ogilvy, who will defend his title at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship next week, carded a three-under-par 68. He was joined in 10th place by Eric Axley, Aaron Baddeley, Rod Pampling and Vijay Singh.

Defending champion Rory Sabbatini is one stroke behind that group at minus- two. He is one of 15 players tied for 15th.

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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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