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09/15/2007 - Cologne, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thomas Bjorn fired a six-under 66 on Saturday to join fellow Dane Soren Hansen in the lead after three rounds of the Mercedes Benz Championship.
Hansen, the overnight leader, bogeyed his last three holes for a one-under 71 at Gut Larchenhof, falling into a tie with Bjorn at 12-under 204.
They held a one-shot lead on Alastair Forsyth, who posted nine birdies, an eagle and one bogey for a 62 that was still two shots off the course record. He stood at 11-under 205.
Lee Westwood, who opened with a 61 on Thursday, shot a 72 in the third round and was tied for fourth place with Richard Green (66) and Simon Khan (69) at 10-under 206.
Overall, there were 11 players within five shots of the leaders. Tournament host Bernhard Langer was among them after carding a 70 to join Philip Archer (66) and Niclas Fasth (69) at nine-under 207.
Bjorn had three birdies on both the front and back nines, posting a bogey-free round to climb from a tie for sixth place into a share of the lead. He is playing for just the second time in two months.
"I've never had a summer holiday since I was 14 and now with three kids I really wanted to spend some time with them," said Bjorn, 36. "I was working very hard but things were going nowhere and it was nice to take some time out when the kids were out of school."
Sunday, Bjorn will be seeking his 10th European Tour victory and first since the 2006 Irish Open.
"I'm at a crossroads in my career. I've made a conscious decision about how I want to swing the club and play the game, but I have no goals whatsoever," he said. "I just want to play some golf and enjoy myself and this is a huge step forward. I haven't had many rounds in the 60s and you're not going to compete in tournaments if you don't shoot low."
Bjorn benefited from Hansen's late-round collapse after the onetime European Tour winner lost a three-shot lead with three straight bogeys to end the day. Hansen avoided a double-bogey at the 18th by scrambling for a bogey after hitting his tee shot into the water.
He almost knocked his third shot in the water as well.
"I lost a little bit of touch over the last few holes, and it cut me to the bone. I didn't feel really comfortable, and I pulled a few shots, but I managed to hit a great chip on the last," said Hansen.
"It gave the crowd a bit of excitement."
Sunday, the same crowds will see two countrymen play together for the first time since they finished near the bottom of the World Cup last December.
"Soren is a huge talent. He has sorted his putting out this summer, which was always the weak part of his game," said Bjorn. "I've always pushed him harder and harder to make him realize how big a talent he is. All he needs to do is win another tournament. I hope tomorrow it's me winning, but if it's not me, then I hope it's him."
Added Hansen, "Thomas has not been playing to his potential this year, but a Thomas Bjorn in form is a very dangerous man, so I will have to play well to beat him."
<< Klose strikes again as Bayern ties Schalke
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miroslav Klose ended a long scoring drought
against Schalke, scoring his fourth goal of the season to give Bayern Munich a
1-1 tie in a battle of unbeatens on Saturday.
Klose hadn't scored against Schalke s
<< Hearts hands Rangers first defeat of season
Edinburgh, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hearts entered its contest with
Rangers on Saturday having won just one of its first five games this season.
However, the Edinburgh club stunned the previously unbeaten Glasgow side 4-2
at Tyne
<< Mariners continue set with Devil Rays
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners try to keep their slim playoff hopes
alive this evening when they continue a four-game series with the Tampa Bay
Devil Rays at Safeco Field.
Seattle won in dramatic fashion in the second game of this s
<< Angels resume set with White Sox hoping to keep Thome in the yard
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago slugger Jim Thome will attempt to become the 23rd
player in major league history to reach the 500 home run mark this afternoon
when the White Sox resume their three-game series with the visiting Los
Angeles Angels of
N. Iowa dominates second half in 31-17 win over S. Dakota St. >>
BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) -Corey Lewis scored three touchdowns, and Northern Iowa came from behind in the second half to beat South Dakota State 31-17.Lewis rushed for 125 yards and scored on runs of 7, 5 and 2 yards for the fourth-ranked Panthers (3-0).
Notre Dame QB Jones to transfer >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Notre Dame quarterback Demetrius Jones has
transferred to Northern Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reported Saturday.
Jones, a sophomore, did not make the trip with the Fighting Irish to Michigan
on Friday,
Morelli has career day as Penn State hammers Buffalo >>
University Park, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anthony Morelli tossed a career-high
four touchdowns and Rodney Kinlaw ran for a career-best 129 yards and a score,
as No. 12 Penn State broke the game open after a sloppy start to down Buffalo,
45-24,
Hill helps Wisconsin escape against Citadel >>
Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - P.J. Hill rushed for 168 yards and four
touchdowns and also added a TD reception as seventh-ranked Wisconsin pulled
away in the second half to defeat The Citadel, 45-31.
Looking to follow in the f
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.
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.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
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