Harrington, Casey share lowest round at Masters
Golf Betting Lines
04/07/2007 - Augusta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After the opening round when just two players notched rounds in the 60s, the field improved on that Friday as three players carded sub-70 rounds.
Ireland's Padraig Harrington and England's Paul Casey carded matching rounds of four-under 68 to share low score of the week through two rounds.
"This golf course always gives you a chance to shoot a good score," Harrington said. "So, yeah, I can see somebody shooting a good score, no question about it. You've got four par-fives that can be reached. If you play very well, you do feel like you can shoot a good score."
World No. 1 Tiger Woods voiced a dissenting opinion.
"They aren't going low here," said Woods. "I played with Casey and he played a great round and shot 68. You're not going low here. With the conditions coming up we will all have to grind. It doesn't matter whether you are a rookie or a veteran."
Both players fought their way back into the top-20 Friday after poor opening rounds.
Harrington moved to plus-one after opening with a 77. Casey, who was paired with four-time Masters champion Woods the first two days, had struggled to a seven-over 79 on Thursday. Casey stands alongside Woods at plus-three.
The Irishman got off to a rare start at Augusta National. He drained three straight birdies putts from inside 15 feet to quickly move back to plus-two overall.
"The difference between my rounds (Thursday) and today is I hit a drive today on one straight up just inside the bunker and it bounced dead straight and finished one yard left of the bunker," Harrington stated. "That's the difference between shooting 69, 68 and maybe 74, 75. So that was a positive."
Harrington found the trees off the seventh and that led to a double-bogey. He recouped one of those strokes with a birdie at eight.
After bogeying the 10th for the second straight day, Harrington birdied the tough par-four 11th. That was one of just nine birdies on the 11th through two rounds.
Harrington picked up birdies on 15 and 18 to end at plus-one.
"I thought the course was excellent today, an excellent test," Harrington said. "It's set up very well and some reasonable pin positions for making some birdies and difficult ones, but a good mental test, knowing when to go for which pin and which pin to play safe."
Casey, on the other hand, converted one of three eagles on the par-five second Friday. He bogeyed the fourth for the second straight day, but bounced back with a birdie on five.
The Englishman birdied the eighth, then nearly aced the par-three 12th. Casey kicked in a short birdie putt there before getting to plus-two with his second birdie in two days at the 17th.
Casey closed with a bogey at the last to finish at three-over par, five strokes behind the leaders.
The European contingent is still searching for its first major championship title since Paul Lawrie won the 1999 British Open. England's Justin Rose is the lowest European on the leaderboard at even-par 144, one clear of Harrington, Welshman Bradley Dredge and England's David Howell.
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Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence
Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.
Work left to do:
Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.
Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.
DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...
West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.
Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.
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