This Week in Golf - July 19th through July 25th

Golf Betting Lines

07/19/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - CANADIAN OPEN, St. George's Golf & Country Club, Toronto, Ontario - From one national championship to another, the PGA Tour moves north of the border this week for the Canadian Open.

Despite its position following the British Open, Canada's national championship has still attracted some top-level talent.

Among those making the trip to Toronto are world No. 8 Paul Casey, No. 9 Luke Donald, No. 16 Retief Goosen and No. 19 Sean O'Hair. All four finished in the top 11 at the British Open and Casey played in the final pairing with winner Louis Oosthuizen.

This week's event also offers an opportunity for the top players from the Canadian Tour to play for a bigger purse than they're accustomed to. Six players were awarded spots in the field, including Aaron Goldberg, who captured the tour's Players Cup on Sunday to earn his berth.

Reno-Tahoe Open champion Matt Bettencourt is also scheduled to play at St. George's, as is his runner-up, Bob Heintz.

At last year's Canadian Open, Nathan Green defeated Goosen with a par on the second playoff hole to win his first PGA Tour title. The tournament was pushed to a Monday finish following four days of rain storms that dumped more than four inches of water on the Glen Abbey course.

Green and 2001 winner Scott Verplank are the only champions from the last 10 years of the event who will be in the field this week.

Golf Channel will have coverage from 3-6 p.m. (et) on the first two days, while CBS will broadcast in the same time slot on the weekend.

Next week is the Greenbrier Classic, a new event on the PGA Tour schedule.

CHAMPIONS TOUR

THE SENIOR BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, Carnoustie Golf Links, Carnoustie, Scotland - This week marks the first of two consecutive majors for the Champions Tour.

At last year's Senior British Open, Loren Roberts hit the fairway and green on three consecutive playoff holes and made par at the third to knock off Mark McNulty to win his 10th Champions Tour title and fourth senior major.

Fred Funk, who set two scoring records during the week, also made the playoff but was eliminated on the first hole when he was the only one who didn't make a birdie.

Roberts captured his second Senior British title in four years. He will be joined in the field this week at Carnoustie by some other recent champions, including three-time winner Tom Watson, Bruce Vaughan and Pete Oakley.

ESPN will have coverage of all four rounds this week beginning at 12 p.m. (et) the first two days, at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Next week is the third major of the season, the U.S. Senior Open, which was won by Funk last year.

Tom Lehman won the season's first major, the Senior PGA Championship, in a playoff over Fred Couples and David Frost.

LPGA TOUR

EVIAN MASTERS, Evian Masters Golf Club, Evian-les-Bains, France - Last year, Ai Miyazato captured the Evian Masters for her first victory in four full seasons on the LPGA Tour.

This week, she returns to the site of that win as the No. 1 player in the world.

What a difference a year makes.

Miyazato beat Sophie Gustafson in a playoff last year to finally break through for her long-awaited maiden title. The talented Japanese star has already won four times this season and is currently the top-ranked women's player by a very slim margin over Cristie Kerr.

Outside of the major championships, the Evian Masters might be the next-best draw on tour, so all of the top names in women's golf will be in the field this week.

Among them are all three of the 2010 major champions -- Yani Tseng (Kraft Nabisco Championship), Kerr (LPGA Championship) and Paula Creamer (U.S. Open) -- as well as top draw Michelle Wie and former winner Natalie Gulbis.

Golf Channel will have coverage of all four rounds, including three hours on Saturday and Sunday from 1-4 p.m. (et).

Next week is the final major of the season, the Women's British Open, which was won by Catriona Matthew last year.

EUROPEAN TOUR

SCANDINAVIAN MASTERS, Bro Hof Slott Golf Club (Stadium Course), Stockholm, Sweden - British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen begins his post-St. Andrews schedule at this week's Scandinavian Masters.

The South African is set to lead the field at Bro Hof Slott a week after cruising to a seven-shot victory for his first major championship.

Last year's Scandinavian Masters was won by Ricardo Gonzalez, who closed with a four-under 69 on Sunday to wrap up his fourth career European Tour victory and first since 2004.

Golf Channel will have three hours of coverage of all four rounds beginning at 8:30 a.m. (et) the first two days and at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Next week is the Irish Open. Last year, Ireland's Shane Lowry became the third amateur in tour history to win an event when he parred the third playoff hole to defeat Robert Rock. Lowry has since turned pro.

NATIONWIDE TOUR

NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL INVITATIONAL, The Ohio State University Golf Club (Scarlet Course), Columbus, Ohio - Coming off a victory at the Chiquita Classic, Tommy Gainey leads the field at this week's Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational.

Gainey became the first two-time winner in 2010 when he rolled to a three-shot victory Sunday at the TPC River's Bend. He headlines a field that includes 19 of the top 20 players on the tour money list.

At last year's event, Derek Lamely defeated then-amateur Rickie Fowler with a par on the second hole of a playoff to capture his first Nationwide Tour win. Both players are competing on the PGA Tour this season.

Golf Channel will have coverage of all four rounds.

Next week is the Cox Classic, which was won by Rich Barcelo last year.

UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION

U.S. JUNIOR AMATEUR, Egypt Valley Country Club (Ridge and Valley Courses), Ada, Michigan - Jordan Spieth is defending his title this week at the U.S. Junior Amateur.

Spieth won the stroke-play portion of last year's event at Trump National, then cruised through match play to become the sixth 15-year-old winner in championship history.

He is trying to become the first back-to-back Junior Amateur champion since Tiger Woods won three in a row from 1991-93.

U.S. GIRLS' JUNIOR, The Country Club of North Carolina, Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina - Last year, Amy Anderson was the first stroke-play medalist in five years to win the Girls' Junior.

Anderson rolled to a 6 & 5 victory over decorated USGA player Kimberly Kim in their 36-hole match play final. Neither player is in the field this year.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.