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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
Bern, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johnny Oduya, Kristian Huselius and
Marcus Nilson each notched a goal and an assist, as Sweden finished its
qualifying round action with a 6-3 victory over France at the 2009 World
Hockey
<< Hyypia set for Leverkusen switch
Leverkusen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia
will end his decade at Anfield this summer after agreeing a two-year contract
with Bayer Leverkusen.
The 35-year-old Finn moved to the Reds from Willem II 10
<< United should expect a different Arsenal
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arsenal enters the second leg of its
Champions League semifinal against Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium
on Tuesday trailing 1-0.
And although they face a tall order in attempting to ral
<< Preakness Stakes appears to be next for Mine That Bird
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It appears as though Kentucky Derby winner
Mine That Bird will run in the Preakness Stakes on May 16 at Pimlico Race
Course.
After a day of speculation following the 50-1 longshot's stunning win Satur
Playoffs heat up with Elite Eight >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA's marketing machine came up with
the tag line "Where Amazing Happens" for this year's postseason.
We certainly got some "amazing" in the first round.
There were a couple of Game 7s, an Oscar Robe
United boosted by Rio's return >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United defender Rio
Ferdinand looks set to return to action in Tuesday's Champions League
semifinal second leg against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
The England interna
Moyes eyes fifth for Everton >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Everton manager David Moyes believes
fifth place in the Premier League table is now within his side's reach
following Sunday's 2-0 victory at Sunderland.
Moyes was delighted with the focus
Ravens sign QB Beck >>
Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Ravens have signed free
agent quarterback John Beck to a one-year contract.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Beck was a second-round selection by Miami in the 2007 NFL Draft,
Super Bowl XLIII isn't even a week old yet and oddsmakers have already released Super Bowl XLIV odds.
Despite the Pittsburgh Steelers winning Super Bowl 43, the New England Patriots are 8/1 favorites to win Super Bowl 44.
Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds
With their 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, the Steelers became the latest NFL champion. But believe it or not, oddsmakers from online sports book MySportsbook.com don't have the Steelers the favorites to win Super Bowl XLIV next season.
That honor belongs to the New England Patriots, who are 8/1 favorites to win despite not even qualify for the postseason in 2008. The Pats also have a major decision to make regarding what to do with Matt Cassel, who played well in Tom Brady's (knee surgery) absence last year but is also a free agent this offseason.
Ironically, the Steelers aren't even oddsmakers second choice to win Super Bowl 44, as the Dallas Cowboys are listed right behind the Patriots at 9/1 despite not making the playoffs themselves. Clearly oddsmakers think the public will hop back on the Cowboys' bandwagon considering the immense talent they have and the opening of a brand new stadium.
After Dallas, then comes Pittsburgh at 10/1, but they share those odds with the New York Giants, who won Super Bowl XLII. The Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers round out the top six teams at 12/1, while the Baltimore Ravens (14/1), Tennessee Titans (16/1), Carolina Panthers (18/1) and Philadelphia Eagles (18/1) complete the top 10.
The NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals got no love from oddsmakers as they were established as a 30/1 long shot to win next year's Super Bowl. They share those same odds with the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers – two teams that didn't even qualify for the postseason. Other long shots are the Kansas City Chiefs (100/1), Detroit Lions (100/1), St. Louis Rams (75/1) and Oakland Raiders (75/1).
To see a complete list of all the team's odds to win Super Bowl XLIV, check below.
NFL TEAM FUTURE ODDS TO WIN SUPER BOWL XLIV
New England Patriots 8/1
Dallas Cowboys 9/1
New York Giants 10/1
Pittsburgh Steelers 10/1
Indianapolis Colts 12/1
San Diego Chargers 12/1
Baltimore Ravens 14/1
Tennessee Titans 16/1
Carolina Panthers 18/1
Philadelphia Eagles 18/1
New Orleans Saints 20/1
Atlanta Falcons 25/1
Denver Broncos 25/1
Green Bay Packers 25/1
Jacksonville Jaguars 25/1
Minnesota Vikings 25/1
New York Jets 25/1
Arizona Cardinals 30/1
Chicago BearS 30/1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30/1
Buffalo Bills 35/1
Houston TexaNS 35/1
Miami Dolphins 35/1
Washington Redskins 35/1
Seattle SeahawkS 50/1
Cleveland Browns 55/1
Cincinnati Bengals 60/1
San Francisco 49ers 60/1
Oakland Raiders 75/1
St. Louis Rams 75/1
Detroit Lions 100/1
Kansas City Chiefs 100/1
Odds as of: 2/2/09
Bet Super Bowl XLIV Future Odds
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