Kruger collects first win at Avantha Masters

Golf Betting Lines

02/19/2012 - New Delhi, India (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jbe' Kruger closed with a three-under 69 on Sunday to win the Avantha Masters by two strokes.

Kruger, who won for the first time on the European Tour, ended the event at 14-under-par 274.

"I'm very relieved to win for the first time. If you want to win, you need to make putts on the final day and I did that today," Kruger stated.

Jorge Campillo matched the low round of the day with his five-under 67. The Spaniard was joined in second place at minus-12 by Marcel Siem (70).

Marcus Fraser and Jose Manuel Lara both shot two-under 70 in the final round and they shared fourth at 11-under-par 277 at DLF Golf and Country Club.

As he had done the previous three rounds, Kruger parred the first three holes. He grabbed a share of the lead with his third birdie in three days on the par- four fourth.

Kruger, 25, took the lead with a birdie on No. 6. He also birdied the eighth from 20 feet out to regain a one-stroke lead over Lara.

After a pair of pars around the turn, Kruger converted a birdie effort on the par-three 11th to move to 15-under. He was three clear of Lara, who dropped a shot on the 13th.

Kruger kept his three-stroke cushion with five straight pars from the 12th. After going 36 holes without a bogey, Kruger dropped a shot at 17. He parred the last to close out his two-shot win.

"It's a big relief now that I've won, but I think I needed all those second- place finishes to be able to appreciate it," said Kruger.

"There was no pressure, even when I made my only bogey of the day on the 17th. I felt that victory was inevitable when I got to the 14th hole. I knew that I had a good chance as I had a comfortable three-shot cushion then."

Campillo had a birdie on the third, then ran off three straight birdies from the sixth. He moved to 12-under with a birdie at 10, but gave that shot back when he bogeyed the 14th. Campillo birdied the 18th for the fourth time this week to end at 12-under.

"I started really well and the whole time was up there on the leaderboard. So it was great fun and very exciting," Campillo said. "I just tried to play my best. I played okay on the back nine, not great, but I didn't make many mistakes and I chipped in on the last for birdie so it was nice to finish strongly."

Siem had a birdie and a double-bogey through five holes. He jumped within two of the lead thanks to three birdies in a four-hole span from the sixth. Siem twice traded a bogey for a birdie on the back nine to finish two back.

Peter Whiteford, who had at least a piece of the lead after the first two rounds, was disqualified on Sunday. On Saturday, he was playing his approach to the 18th hole.

He wasn't sure if his ball moved as he played the shot. Neither his caddie, nor playing partner noticed. Several people who viewed the event on television contacted the tour and said his ball did move.

After officials reviewed the footage, it was determined his ball did move and Whiteford should have taken a one-stroke penalty and replaced the ball. He did neither, and in turn signed an incorrect scorecard, which was the reason for the disqualification.

NOTES: Kruger, who earned 300,000 euros for the victory, will improve nearly 50 spots in the world rankings with this win...The European Tour will be in the United States for its next two events. First up is the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, where world No. 1 Luke Donald will defend his title.

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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

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MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect

LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.

Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.

Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.