Americans lead after foursomes at Solheim Cup

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09/14/2007 - Halmstad, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The American team took a 2 1/2 - 1 1/2 lead after Friday morning's foursomes matches at the Solheim Cup at Halmstad Golf Club.

The first match was the only one that went the distance. The European tandem of Suzann Pettersen and Sophie Gustafson did not draw even until the 17th hole, but hung on to halve Pat Hurst and Cristie Kerr.

Americans Laura Diaz and Sherri Steinhauer built an early lead on the front nine, but got caught around the turn by Annika Sorenstam and Catriona Matthew. The U.S. team hit some spectacular shots on the back nine and walked away with a 4 & 2 win.

Paula Creamer and Juli Inkster took advantage of some loose shots late by their European counterparts Laura Davies and Becky Brewerton. Europe lost the 16th and 17th holes to give the U.S. a 2 & 1 victory.

Europe won the last match with relative ease as Maria Hjorth and Gwladys Nocera handled Morgan Pressel and Natalie Gulbis, 3 & 2.

"It was pretty close," said American captain Betsy King. "Most of the matches were fairly tight. I think it's going to be that way the whole way. Normally we haven't done that well in the alternate-shot, so this is a very good start for us."

Kerr and Hurst never trailed in their match and won the first two holes. They conceded the 11th hole to the European team and halved the next five holes.

Hurst missed a seven-footer to lose the 17th. The sides were even with one to play and Europe seemed to have the advantage despite missing the fairway at the closing hole.

Pettersen was able to get the team's second to 15 feet, while Kerr knocked her ball into a bunker. Hurst blasted out to six feet, while Gustafson ran her birdie effort for the win three feet by the hole.

Kerr made her gutsy par save, then Pettersen converted her knee-knocker to give each team a half point.

"Hard-fought battle," said Kerr. "That last putt made everything right."

Diaz converted a three-foot birdie putt to win the second hole and the American pair seemed in control. Steinhauer had a chance to pick up another hole at six, but her putt lipped out hard on the right. Unfortunately for the Europeans, Matthew lipped out from two feet closer and lost the hole to fall 2-down.

Europe clawed back thanks to the former world No. 1. Sorenstam holed out from close to a bunker to win the ninth, then took No. 10 when Steinhauer missed a four-footer for par.

The match was all-square but Diaz sank a four-footer for birdie to win the 11th. The U.S. won the par-three 13th when Steinhauer knocked her tee ball to five feet.

Steinhauer made another birdie at the 15th to get 3-up with three to play. When Matthew landed her tee ball in water at the 16th and the Americans stayed dry, Europe conceded the match.

"We kept talking to each other and I think that was really important," said Steinhauer, who won the LPGA State Farm Classic two weeks ago.

Creamer and Inkster lost the 10th and 12th holes to bring the European team back to all-square. It stayed that way until the par-three 16th when Davies knocked her tee ball into the water. The European pair conceded the hole and lost the 17th thanks to more errant shots.

"I was hitting my irons good and she's been putting the ball fantastically," said Creamer. "When you have that combination, you're pretty deadly out there."

In Friday morning's anchor match, Europe looked to be in trouble at one thanks to a horrible drive from Hjorth. The team scrambled to a par, won that hole and lost only one hole through the entire match.

Friday afternoon will feature four fourball matches and King is emptying her bench. All four golfers that sat out in the morning are in action in the afternoon, while European captain Helen Alfredsson kept Linda Wessberg and Bettina Hauert out of action.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.


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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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