Levet gets fifth European Tour win

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05/03/2009 - Girona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - France's Thomas Levet posted a four-under 68 on Sunday to get a two-stroke victory at the Spanish Open at the Stadium Course at PGA Golf Catalunya.

Levet finished at 18-under 270 for his fifth European Tour title. His last win came last year at the Open de Andalucia, but on Sunday, Levet hung through some tough times on the front nine to get the traditional treatment when a Frenchman wins on tour - a champagne bath.

But, as the bubbly was drenching him, Levet was thinking more of a national icon.

"When I won the tournament, I thought of Seve," said Levet of Spanish golf star Seve Ballesteros, who is battling brain cancer. "I dedicate it to you, Seve. He's having a hard time at the moment. He was one of my heroes as a kid."

Fabrizio Zanotti fired a seven-under 65 on Sunday to finish in second place at minus-16.

Last year's winner Peter Lawrie had a good showing in his title defense. He shot a three-under 69 and tied for third place with Thomas Bjorn, who carded a 66, at 14-under 274.

Levet began the final round with a two-shot lead, but that was erased quickly by his playing partner, Stuart Davis. The Englishman birdied his first two holes and Levet made bogey at No. 2 and that gave Davis a one-shot edge.

Both players birdied three, then Levet bogeyed the fourth to fall two back. He reclaimed a share of first when Davis landed in the water en route to a double-bogey at the fifth.

Levet didn't stayed tied in the lead for long. He rolled in an 18-foot birdie putt at six, a tap-in birdie at seven and a 25-footer for birdie at No. 8 to quickly grab a three-stroke cushion.

Zanotti closed the gap to two, but never got closer until later in the round. Levet reached the par-five 12th green in two, but hit a terrible eagle putt that left him with almost six feet for birdie. Levet stepped up and drained the birdie effort to get his three-stroke advantage back.

Zanotti got within two again after a seven-foot birdie putt at 13, but dropped a stroke with a bogey at 14. Levet drove against a tree at the 14th and pitched out instead of attempting a full shot that surely would've snapped the club and maybe injured his arm. Levet hit his third to 18 feet and two-putted for a bogey.

In the group ahead, Zanotti two-putted for birdie at the par-five 15th and that shrunk the margin to a single shot. Levet once again left a long eagle try short at the 15th, but sank a six-footer for birdie to take a two-shot lead into the final three holes.

At the par-four 17th, Levet knocked his approach almost 20 feet from the flagstick. He ran home the birdie putt to take an almost insurmountable lead on to the final hole.

Just in front, Zanotti managed a birdie at 18 to make it a two-shot difference. Levet hit his second on to the putting surface and two-putted for the two-shot victory.

"As long as I made pars and birdies, I knew I wasn't going to be touched today," said Levet. "At the end, I was concentrating on putting the ball on the fairway. One mistake on 14, that's all I did on the back nine. I was very, very pleased."

Charl Schwartzel shot a three-under 69 and took fifth at minus-10, followed by Rafael Cabrera-Bello (68) and Marcel Siem (70), who tied for sixth at nine- under 279.

Gregory Bourdy (66), David Horsey (66) and Jose Manuel Lara (71) finished knotted in eighth at minus-eight.

Davis struggled badly after the double-bogey at five. He tallied six bogeys, a double-bogey and a birdie the rest of the way for a six-over 78 and a shared 15th place at six-under 282.

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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook

Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

Barry Bonds 50-1

Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW 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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