Clark, Wilson share Canadian Open lead

Golf Betting Lines

07/23/2010 - Etobicoke, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Clark fired a six-under 64 Friday to grab a share of the lead after 36 holes of the Canadian Open.

Clark was joined in the lead by Dean Wilson, who carded a 65 in round two. They are tied at 10-under-par 130.

First-round leader Brent Delahoussaye posted a one-under 69 and slipped into a tie for third at minus-nine. He was joined there by Steve Wheatcroft, who shot four-under 66 Friday.

The second round was completed Friday despite a two-hour weather delay prior to the start of the round.

With a slightly different setup this week, players started on the first and ninth tees at St. George's Golf & Country Club for the first two rounds.

Clark, who finally broke through for his first PGA Tour win earlier this year at the Players Championship, started his round on the ninth, where he collected his first birdie.

The South African dropped in back-to-back birdie chances from the 11th to move to minus-seven. Clark parred four straight before a birdie on the 17th.

Around the turn, Clark birdied the third and fifth to climb to 10-under. He parred his final three holes.

"I certainly didn't expect to be scoring on this course," Clark admitted. "I thought in the Pro-Am it was going to be pretty tough. But you know, I've been hitting the driver really well and driving it in the fairway is a huge key on this golf course. I've done that and been able to stay out of trouble."

Wilson, whose lone PGA Tour win was at The International in 2006, got going with a birdie on the first. He gave that stroke back with a bogey at the fourth.

The 40-year-old atoned for that error with a birdie on the par-three sixth. Around the turn, Wilson moved to seven-under with a birdie at the 10th.

Wilson birdied 13 and 15 to move to nine-under. He was the first in the clubhouse at 10-under as he birdied the 17th.

"I'm happy the way I've been playing. I've missed a few cuts, so it's nice to get in contention and get in the mix," said Wilson, who has missed the cut in five of his last six starts. "So it just feels nice to have a little bit of control over my game."

J.J. Henry carded a five-under 65 Friday to move into a share of fifth at eight-under-par 132. He stands alongside Hunter Mahan (67), Rob Grube (66) and Brock Mackenzie (68).

Defending champion Nathan Green shot 65 to climb into a share of ninth at minus-seven. He was joined there by Bob Estes (67), Tim Herron (63), Vance Veazey (69) and Matt Jones (67).

NOTES: One day after Delahoussaye fired a 62 to match the tournament's 18-hole scoring record, Kevin Sutherland shot 62 on Friday...No. 8 Paul Casey, the highest ranked player in the field, tripped to a three-over 73, which put him over the cut line, which fell at one-under-par 139 with 79 players moving on to the weekend...Sean O'Hair, Fred Couples and Mike Weir were among those joining Casey with the weekend off.

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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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