Echenique in front in France

Golf Betting Lines

07/03/2009 - Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rafa Echenique was in the news last week for his amazing double-eagle on the 72nd hole of the BMW International Open that almost snatched him the trophy.

On Friday, he made the news for a different reason.

Echenique posted a four-under 67 to take the second-round lead of the Open de France. He finished 36 holes at 10-under 132 and is two clear at Le Golf National.

Overnight leader Martin Kaymer struggled to a one-over 72 on Friday and fell into a tie for second place. Charl Schwartzel (66) and Steve Webster (65) joined Kaymer at eight-under 134.

Richard Green (67) and Peter Hanson (70) share fifth place at seven-under 135.

Echenique, an Argentine, began the second round three shots off Kaymer's lead.

He started poorly on Friday with a bogey at the first. Echenique reclaimed the lost stroke with a birdie at No. 2 and moved to eight-under for the championship with an eagle at the par-five third.

At the par-four sixth, Echenique sank an eight-foot birdie putt to get to minus-nine. He tied for the lead with a 10-footer for birdie at No. 9, then found himself alone atop the leaderboard when Kaymer began to struggle on the back nine.

Echenique missed an eight-foot par save at the 12th, a hole he birdied in Thursday's first round. That momentarily dropped him into a tie for first, but thanks to more Kaymer mistakes and more strong play from Echenique, the leader grabbed sole possession of the lead.

Echenique rolled in a six-foot birdie putt at the 13th for his second birdie in as many days at that hole. Kaymer bogeyed the last and Echenique converted a nine-foot birdie putt at 17 to grab a three-stroke advantage.

The Argentine found some trouble at the last and made bogey. Echenique will take a two-shot lead into the third round in his quest for his first European Tour victory. He has two Challenge Tour titles, but has yet to break through in the major leagues, although with that double-eagle last Sunday, he came close.

Lee Westwood (68) and Paul Waring (70) are tied for seventh place at minus- six.

Seve Benson (67), Francesco Molinari (70) and Scott Strange (72) are knotted in ninth place at five-under 137.

Defending champion Pablo Larrazabal struggled to a two-over 73 and fell into a tie for 18th at minus-two.

The 36-hole cut fell at one-over 143 and Masters champion Angel Cabrera (145) and last year's British Open winner and PGA Champion Padraig Harrington (147) missed the weekend.

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Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards

Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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