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05/04/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods and Sean O'Hair text each other.
This is not news -- not when we have reporters texting soon-to-be NFL draft picks, congressmen "tweeting" from the floor of the house and Ashton Kutcher posting underwear pics of wife Demi Moore online.
We live in one hell of a well-connected world. If I wanted to, I could see the color of the roof on your house. But I don't want to.
Here at The Sportsbook Betting Lines, we've written about O'Hair a lot. We've spent more column space on him than other equally-deserving young golfers. Part of the reason is that we have a personal relationship with the young man, so...that's how that goes.
We live in one hell of a well-connected world.
O'Hair won the Quail Hollow Championship on Sunday for the third -- and by far biggest -- victory of his career and his first $1 million check. It's a whale of a tournament, won in the past by Woods, Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, David Toms and Anthony Kim.
In beating one of the best fields outside of the four major championships, O'Hair became the only American player under the age of 30 with three PGA Tour titles. Kim, Dustin Johnson, Charles Howell III and Boo Weekley each have two.
O'Hair also joined Sergio Garcia (seven victories) and Adam Scott (six) as the only under-30 players of any nationality who have won at least three times on the PGA Tour.
Now, we could write all we want about what that means: about how O'Hair, and not Howell or Kim, might be the real Next Great American Golfer. But it's way too early for any of that -- even if the victory moved O'Hair to No. 12 in the world rankings, ahead of Kim.
O'Hair won despite coughing up a two-shot lead with back-to-back bogeys on the last two holes. Only a bogey by Lucas Glover on 17 saved him.
Coming just five weeks after he lost a five-shot lead to Woods at the Arnold Palmer Invitational -- Woods beat him with a birdie on the last hole -- his victory on Sunday didn't come in convincing fashion.
Not the way we expect the Next Great American Golfer to win tournaments, at least.
Yes, O'Hair was the only player among the final groups to break 70, but his scrambling finish -- he three-putted from 26 feet at the 18th after missing a slippery downhiller from the back of the green -- didn't inspire waves of confidence in his closing abilities.
But it was a step in the right direction -- OK, a giant leap in the right direction.
Of course, there are other things to consider with O'Hair. Things like the estranged father who pushed him too hard; and that fact that, at age 26, O'Hair has already played professionally for a decade.
These are well-known and well-worn stories -- "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" stuff.
"It feels like a whole 'nother life," O'Hair said about his days playing the mini-tours. "My wife and I have been through a lot ... I remember being on the Gateway Tour in '04 and having $2,000 in our bank account and we didn't have enough money to play in any tournaments in the summer.
"It was basically we were playing for a meal ticket for the next week. I mean, it was actually that tough. We constantly talk about that stuff and reminisce. I think that's the stuff that makes this so sweet. It makes the hard work worth it, and it's just really nice to enjoy it with her, especially from where we came from."
O'Hair and Woods have struck up something of a friendship on tour -- Woods calls O'Hair "Chicago" after the Windy City airport -- and that shouldn't be overlooked.
Woods, 33, is a man whose professional golfer friends tend to be much older -- think 52-year-old Mark O'Meara or 51-year-old John Cook -- so it's eye-opening to see him embrace a youngster like O'Hair. Especially one who is on everybody's "Who will challenge Tiger?" radar.
The world No. 1, after finishing fourth, waited around to congratulate O'Hair on his victory.
"He's got all the talent. We know that," said Woods, who admitted being a friend -- and fan -- of O'Hair's. "We've seen how well he's played. It's just he's been through a lot off the golf course, and it's just a matter of time before all that settles in."
"He's got a great family," Woods continued, "and you can see now he's starting to gain confidence with what he's working on. I think he's gone back to his old coach, and things are working out pretty good for him."
When O'Hair arrived for Masters week two Mondays after losing to Woods at Bay Hill, he spotted Woods during a practice round.
"I saw Tiger, and he looked over and I kind of nodded, and he said something, and I'm like, 'That son of a b---h!'" O'Hair laughed. "The guy is a fierce competitor."
The fiercest.
A colleague is always harping on the topic of "learning how to win." He wrote often about how Michelle Wie was never given a chance to learn how to win, how she was thrust into the spotlight on the LPGA Tour and pushed to play against the men on the PGA Tour.
In some ways, her story could end up like O'Hair's. She could be -- there's a good chance she will be -- a three-time winner by the time she is 26. But she needs to learn how to win.
O'Hair is almost there. Three wins into his still-young career, a spot just outside the top-10 in the world rankings and a slew of good performances to start the season, and it's clear O'Hair is learning.
But he nearly gave away another win on Sunday.
Luckily for him, Lucas Glover is not Tiger Woods.
O'Hair talked more about seeing Woods at Augusta, so soon after he had become just the latest Sunday offering to the Best Player in the World.
"I just saw him, and he smiled and I smiled back. He's a good guy. You know, he texted me afterwards and said some nice words. The guy is just -- no matter how friendly you are with him, he wants to slit your throat on the golf course, and I respect that. That's a true competitor."
And that's where O'Hair needs to be.
<< Sweden doubles up France at Worlds
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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout
An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.
Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off. Randy was not impressed though. Paula thought he started off fantastic. "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either.
Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed. Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact. He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition.
Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula. Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.
Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next. Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential. Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell. He sang "Careless Whisper".
22 year old Chris Richardson was up next. He was listed with +1100 odds coming in. He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great.
Nick was boring and pitchy. Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week. Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition.
Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds . These of course were the early odds. He was considered original for picking an "odd song". He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night.
Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good.
Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds. Great voice and a great sense of humor. He's a real standout. Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit. Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig".
Jared Cotter followed. He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition. The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good.
22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next. "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon. Though the judges felt he performed okay. Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.
Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition. He was the last to perform. He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start.
Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys. Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.
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