Derksen, Lucquin share lead in Mallorca

Golf Betting Lines

10/26/2007 - Mallorca, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robert-Jan Derksen and Jean-Francois Lucquin both fired rounds of five-under 65 Friday to move into a share of the lead during the second round of the Mallorca Classic.

Derksen and Lucquin share the top spot on the leaderboard at nine-under-par 131. Peter Lawrie (68) and Mads Vibe-Hastrup (66) are tied for third at minus- six.

Defending champion Niclas Fasth, who led after the first round, managed an even-par 70 in round two.

Fasth was joined in a share of fifth by Thongchai Jaidee, Sam Little, as well as Alastair Forsyth, who is through seven holes of his second round.

The second round was suspended due to darkness. The start of the round was delayed as the first round was completed earlier Friday after storms halted play on Thursday.

The second round is scheduled to resume Saturday at 8:45 a.m. local time with the third round to follow. Players will go off split tees in threesomes for round three.

Derksen played the back nine first and opened with back-to-back birdies from the 10th to move to minus-six. After dropping a shot on the 14th, Derksen birdie the 15th at Pula Golf Club.

The two-time European Tour winner tripped to another bogey at the 16th to slip to minus-five. Derksen parred three straight around the turn before catching fire.

Derksen ran home a birdie effort on the par-three second and came right back with a birdie on No. 3. He parred the next three before consecutive birdies from the seventh got him in at minus-nine.

"If the tour gave out awards for consistency it would be great, but unfortunately it doesn't work like that," said Derksen, who has missed just three cuts in 27 starts this year. "I've been very consistent all season and to top it off with a win would be great."

Lucquin, who owns just three top-10s all year, was steady throughout his round. He carded his first birdie on the second and came back with another birdie at the par-four fifth.

The Frenchman ran off eight straight pars from the par-five sixth. Lucquin moved to minus-seven with a birdie on the 14th.

Lucquin made it two straight as he also converted a birdie at 15. For the second straight round, he birdied the 18th and that gave him a share of the lead.

Carl Suneson fired a six-under 64 to move into a share of ninth at four-under- par 136. He was joined there by Barry Lane, Francesco Molinari and Marcel Siem, all three of whom shot 68 Friday. Also at minus-four are Graeme Storm, who is through nine holes, and Andrew McLardy, who completed five holes of round two.

Sergio Garcia, who hasn't finished outside the top two here in the last three years, is one of eight players tied for 15th at minus-three. Garcia has completed nine holes of his second round.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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