Azinger has been a different captain

Golf Betting Lines

08/09/2008 - Bloomfield Hills Township, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Azinger was always going to be a different Ryder Cup captain than most.

In his Ryder Cup career, which only spanned four Ryder Cups, Azinger got into legendary confrontations with the famed "Spanish Armada" of Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal, and refused to back down to the man leading the other side against him in a month, Nick Faldo.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Azinger is imposing his will as the leader of the American Ryder Cup team.

When he took the job, Azinger got the PGA of America to totally revamp the selection process for the U.S. team. The Europeans always have a one-year qualifying window, thus, got the hottest players.

The U.S. always had a two-year period, with more emphasis on the second year and majors. Azinger told them to cram that system. He said to make it money- based and only count the majors from the prior season. The year of the Ryder Cup is when it should count, therefore you get the best players.

Tom Lehman, who led his American compatriots to slaughter at The K Club two years ago, tweaked the system. Azinger blew it up.

PGA of America agreed to Azinger's demands.

Azinger wanted four picks, not the traditional two. He also didn't want to have to use them the Monday after the PGA Championship. It didn't make sense to him to pick guys almost a month before the competition

So the PGA of America agreed. Now Azinger won't make his four picks until September 2nd, almost three weeks after the eight automatic players make the team. The U.S. players now have what has become essentially a three-week try out.

Perhaps more important than the three-week try out is that Azinger will make these four picks 17 days before the first ball is struck at Valhalla. Talk about getting the hottest guys before the tournament.

If three Americans win in the three weeks leading up to the picks, they will probably make Azinger's team. He said as much on Wednesday.

"I'm going to look at who is hot. If somebody wins Greensboro (next week's Wyndham Championship), he's going to get a really good look from me," Azinger said.

Azinger has pulled no punches with his prospective team as well. All you've heard all year is that Kenny Perry wanted to make the Ryder Cup team in his home state of Kentucky. He eliminated majors off his schedule to try and earn more points to make this team.

Azinger was strategically quoted as saying he only wanted winners on his team. Perry hoisted three trophies this year.

If Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson are looking for a rah-rah guy, they are going to be in for a rude awakening. Azinger is a cancer survivor and a dogged competitor, but inspiring?

"If they need to be inspired by me, then they are hurting," Azinger said on Saturday after a third-round, six-over 76. "I mean, if I'm an inspiration, I'm happy to be that. I think that they are going to be really motivated and they are going to be inspired to play well, and it's not really the captain's responsibility to do that."

Azinger will get them to Valhalla, but he's practical enough to know that his guys have to sink the putts. He can't do that for them. All Azinger can do is put what he believes is the best team on the course.

Azinger will have done that come September 19th thanks to imposing his will for what's best for the United States Ryder Cup team.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

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