Defending champion in the hunt

Golf Betting Lines

07/18/2008 - Southport, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Padraig Harrington was only 75 percent sure he'd even defend his British Open Championship title on Wednesday because of a wrist injury.

Good thing he teed it up.

Harrington finished with two birdies and an eagle in his final four holes for a two-under 68 on Friday. He is at plus-two, within two shots of the lead currently held by Greg Norman at Royal Birkdale.

"I like this challenge," said Harrington, who defeated Sergio Garcia in a playoff last year at Carnoustie. "Having won one certainly makes it easier to come back. You don't want to come back and just try and make a good defense, you want to come back and try and win. It's nice to be in there the year after you win and try and win it again."

Harrington collected his first birdie at the par-four second when he holed out from a bunker. He bogeyed the sixth hole for the second time in as many rounds, bogeyed 10, then found serious trouble at the par-four 11th.

Harrington appeared to hurt himself at the 11th. He hit a poor drive into some fescue and immediately shook the wrist after impact.

"I hit in a really bad lie and once it came out there was a little reaction," acknowledged Harrington, who bogeyed the hole. "The reaction wasn't the pain that was there earlier in the week. Once that happened, I was confident the rest is solid now."

Harrington was fine and hit a wedge to three feet to set up birdie at the 15th. He parred 16, then landed his second 30 feet from the hole at the par- five 17th. The Irishman rolled in the eagle putt, one of the straightest he had all day, and found himself at plus-three.

At the closing hole, Harrington drove just into the left rough, but hit a great approach to six feet. He drained the birdie effort to get in at two-over 142.

Harrington is now in the hunt for his second consecutive claret jug and won't have to worry about his bothersome right wrist.

"It's only a sprain, a flesh wound let's say," noted Harrington. "I could hurt it more in terms of spraining it again, but not in terms of long-term or the rest of the season."

So Harrington will have nothing holding him back come the weekend.

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Terrell Owens could return for Cowboys next game
A bye week will allow Terrell Owens broken hand to recover just in time for the next game the Dallas Cowboys are slated to play, according to reports. MySportsbook.com, an football sportsbook, has posted football betting lines on TO playing.

Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger Sunday night and had a plate surgically attached to it Monday. Although Owens' hand was swollen and aching Wednesday, Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said he's optimistic the receiver will be back at work next week and catching passes a week from Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

MySportsbook.com online sportsbook listed Terrell Owens with odds of 7-2 (or $7 paid out for every $2 bet) to return back for the game against Tennessee.

"I certainly wouldn't rule it out now," Parcells said, referring to Terrell Owens immediate return. "Maybe five days from now I might, but I wouldn't rule it out now. ... I know we're looking to try to get him moving around pretty good in the next day or so. So we'll see where we are."

Owens did not speak with reporters Wednesday, but said Sunday he'd be out two to four weeks. A return against the Titans would be 13 days after the surgery. The Cowboys were listed as an early -7 1/2 favorite vs. the Tennessee Titans for Week 4 at MySportsbook.com

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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