Kaymer off to record-tying start in France
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07/02/2009 - Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Kaymer got off to a flying start Thursday as he fired a nine-under 62 to take a three-stroke lead after the first round of the Open de France.
Kaymer matched the course record at Le Golf National that Eduardo Romero set in 2005.
Peter Hanson carded a six-under 65 to share second place with 2006 winner John Bickerton, Thongchai Jaidee, Rafa Echenique and Scott Strange.
Nick Dougherty, who won the BMW International Open last week, is tied for seventh place with Paul Waring at minus-five.
Kaymer's round did not get off to a good start as he tripped to a bogey on the 10th. He reclaimed that stroke with a birdie on the 12th and followed with birdies on 13 and 14.
The German moved to three-under with a birdie on the 17th. Around the turn, Kaymer rolled in a seven-footer for birdie on the first.
Kaymer chipped in for eagle on the par-five third to jump to minus-six. He sank a 13-foot birdie effort on seven and came right back with a long birdie putt on the eighth.
At the ninth, Kaymer's last, he converted a 14-footer for birdie and a share of the course record.
Kaymer, who has been battling a blister problem on his feet, got his week off to a great start as his team posted a 16-under 55 to win the Pro-Am on Wednesday.
"I've been missing a lot of short putts, but everything came together and I hope it continues," said Kaymer. "The foot's still hurting, but I will survive. Yesterday when I was practicing it was unbelievable pain, but now I don't worry about it."
Bickerton posted three birdies on the front nine, then birdied four of the first six holes on the back nine. In that mix was a bogey on the 11th.
"I've changed a few things in my set-up. I was getting very crouched and very lazy and hadn't even noticed myself, so it was important to address those issues," Bickerton admitted. "The fairways are tight here, but if you do get the ball in the right places then you can get the ball close to the hole and the greens are quite receptive."
Miguel Angel Jimenez and defending champion Pablo Larrazabal are tied for ninth place at four-under-par 67. They are joined there by Robert-Jan Derksen, David Drysdale, Ricardo Gonzalez, Paul Lawrie, Jean Van de Velde, Thomas Levet, Sam Little, Francesco Molinari and Alejandro Canizares.
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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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