Letzig fires 60 to lead Nationwide Tour Championship

Golf Betting Lines

11/01/2007 - Lakeside, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Letzig fired an 11-under-par 60 on Thursday to open up a three-stroke lead after one round of the Nationwide Tour Championship at Barona Creek Golf Club.

Letzig posted the seventh 60 in Nationwide Tour history and it was the lowest round in Nationwide Tour Championship history by three strokes. Chris Nallen and Tyler Williamson were the last to shoot 60, both of which came in 2004.

"I managed to keep myself focused on the shot at hand," said Letzig. "It was crazy I made all those putts."

The big battle this week is to finish inside the top 25 on the money list. That gives players their PGA Tour card for 2008. Letzig is the odd man out right now standing 26th on the money list.

Gary Christian and Tjaart van der Walt, who are both looking for their first tour win and are both outside the top 25 on the money list, share second place at minus-eight.

James Driscoll, who is 24th on the money list, is alone in fourth after opening with a seven-under-par 64.

Letzig had a solid front nine, before really turning it on around the turn. He opened with a two-putt birdie at the first before parring the next three holes.

The 27 year old birdied the fifth and seventh, then made the turn around the turn at minus-four thanks to a 12-foot birdie putt on nine. On the back nine, he parred the first two holes before catching fire.

Letzig drained a 10-foot birdie try on the 12th and followed that with an eagle on the par-five 13th, from 30 feet out, that got him to seven-under. He birdied the 15th to gain a share of the lead at minus-eight.

He made it two straight as he birdied the par-three 16th. Letzig kept rolling with a birdie on 17 and made it four in a row to close out the round as he drained a 45-foot birdie putt on the 18th.

"It is amazing when it rolls where you're looking," commented Letzig of his putting. "I was just trying to play my own game. This was the first round of golf I've played with a new putter in five years.

"I've really been struggling. I didn't plan on changing, but I didn't make anything last week."

Van der Walt had two hot streaks that left him in a share of second. He birdied three of the first four holes before parring the next eight. Van der Walt ran off five consecutive birdies from No. 13 to move to eight-under.

Christian birdied the first. He drained back-to-back birdies from the sixth and got to minus-four with a birdie at 10. Christian poured in three straight birdies from the 13th and closed with a birdie at the last to share second.

"I've been playing putrid golf for the last four months," admitted Christian. "I didn't believe I was good enough to make the top 25. It was my fault for not setting my goals high enough."

Jim McGovern and B.J. Staten, who are both outside the top 25, opened with rounds of six-under-par 65 and they were joined in fifth by Athens Regional Foundation Classic winner Martin Laird.

Eight more players -- Brad Adamonis, Fabian Gomez, Richard Johnson, Jeff Klauk, Franklin Langham, Brenden Pappas, Tom Scherrer and Peter Tomasulo -- are tied for eighth at minus-five. Of the group, only No. 6 Richard Johnson and No. 25 Brendan Pappas are inside the top 25 on the money list.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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