Howell's 64 leads Irish Open

Golf Betting Lines

07/29/2010 - Killarney, Ireland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England's David Howell fired a seven- under 64 on Thursday to take the first-round lead at the Irish Open at Killarney Golf & Fishing Club.

Richard Green and Damien McGrane both posted rounds of six-under 65 and share second place.

Last year's runner-up Robert Rock finished with a 65, but was disqualified after his round. Two of his scores were inverted on the back nine, so he signed for an incorrect scorecard.

"I'm reasonably thorough," said Rock, who lost a playoff last year to then- amateur Shane Lowry. "It's my responsibility to check the card. I actually checked. I know the difference between a three and a four."

The three biggest Irish names in the field are in the mix.

Rory McIlroy, ranked eighth in the world, shot a four-under 67 and is tied for 13th place.

Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington posted a three-under 68 and is part of a group tied for 25th place.

U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell only managed a one-under 70 and shares 50th place.

"I just need to sharpen up across the board," said McDowell, who earned his first major title last month at Pebble Beach. "I said someone would go super low, but you can defend this course by hiding the pins."

Howell, 35, parred his first three holes, then broke into red figures with back-to-back birdies from the fourth. He tallied his other front-nine birdie at the par-five seventh to make the turn in three-under 32.

Howell once again parred his first three holes, this time on the second nine. He birdied the 501-yard, par-four 13th and two holes later birdied the par- four 15th.

At the par-five 17th, Howell made an eagle to leapfrog over Green and McGrane and into first place on his own.

"That was nice. Haven't done that for a long time but I holed a few bombs today," said Howell. "I chipped in and I think I holed three long ones as well. As it happens, I had a few more chances that I missed but I certainly holed more than my fair share, which in fairness you normally do when you shoot 64."

Howell, a two-time Ryder Cupper, has four European Tour victories, but none since his two-win season of 2006 when he captured the HSBC Champions Tournament and the BMW Championship.

Due to various injuries and inconsistent play, Howell hasn't reclaimed that form. He did some television work when he wasn't on the course, but Howell has yet to record a single top 10 this season with his best finish a tie for 14th at the Open de Espana in early May.

Howell admitted there was a time when he thought about quitting.

"I've never wanted to give up, but it's crossed my mind that if I carry on playing as I did last year I wouldn't have a career to be worried about," said Howell, who made only 10 cuts last year and registered one top-10.

Darren Clarke, Marcel Siem, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet, Anton Haig, Seung-yul Noh, Brett Rumford, Michael Hoey, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and 1999 British Open winner Paul Lawrie are knotted in fourth place at five-under 66.

NOTES: Lowry opened with a three-over 74 and is tied for 118th place...Justin Rose, a two-time winner this year on the PGA Tour, also carded a 74 on Thursday.

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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

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