Woods struggles Friday at The Barclays

Golf Betting Lines

08/27/2010 - Paramus, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One day removed from his best round of the year, Tiger Woods struggled to a two-over 73 Friday and fell five shots off the lead at The Barclays.

Woods, the first-round leader after six-under 65 on Thursday, played poorly on his back nine, the front side at Ridgewood Country Club, and fell to four- under 138.

He currently trails Australia's John Senden and Vaughn Taylor by four strokes, but both have their rounds to complete.

Woods needs a good week this week to continue his PGA Tour season. He's ranked 112th in FedEx Cup points and after this championship, the first playoff event, only the top 100 in the standings make the field next week at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

It seemed that maybe Woods' woes were behind him after his 65 on Thursday, which was his first competitive round since his divorce from Elin Nordegren was made public on Monday.

The simple answer for Woods' problems on Friday can be traced to one club.

"I didn't putt well at all," acknowledged Woods. "I didn't have the speed at all on the greens. I was leaving it way short or blowing it by the hole. Couldn't figure out the speed."

Woods needed 33 putts on Friday, which is up six from Thursday. He still leads the field in driving accuracy, which is somewhat of a shock considering he's ranked 180th on the PGA Tour this year in driving accuracy.

Woods claimed the lead on Friday with birdies at 11 and 18. He was eight-under par, but as soon as he made the turn, Woods began to show signs of trouble.

He made an eight-foot par save at No. 1, but missed the green right at the par-three second and couldn't save par from 25 feet.

The par-four fifth might have been the most puzzling bogey of the round for Woods. At around 275 yards, Woods elected to lay up off the tee with an iron, then hit his second 12 feet short of the stick. Woods missed the birdie putt, then walked up to tap in his two-foot par save, but missed that putt as well. He finally kicked in his bogey putt to fall to minus-six.

"That's just the way it is," Woods said. "Put it behind me. Striped the next one and hit a loose iron shot and ended up making bogeys, back-to-back bogeys."

Woods' dropped shot at six left him at five-under par. At the ninth, he missed the fairway left and couldn't make the green in regulation. He chipped to eight feet and missed that putt to limp in with his 73.

"A good weekend, you play around here and post good numbers, you'll move up the board," said Woods. "The guys aren't going to be tearing this place apart."

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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.