Jenkins and Thorpe lead 3M Championship

Golf Betting Lines

08/04/2007 - Blaine, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tom Jenkins and Jim Thorpe both fired rounds of eight-under-par 64 on Friday to share the first-round lead of the 3M Championship.

Champions Tour leading money winner Jay Haas, Craig Stadler, Bobby Wadkins, John Jacobs, D.A. Weibring, John Harris, Gil Morgan, Q School winner Boonchu Ruangkit and the all-time wins leader on the elder circuit, Hale Irwin share third place at minus-seven.

This event went off as scheduled when organizers decided to press forward after Wednesday's tragic bridge accident. The TPC of Twin Cities is about 15 miles from the site of the tragedy.

"In the wake of the recent tragedy in our community, we will additionally raise money for the Minnesota Red Cross through on-site efforts this weekend with support from the tournament, the players and the Champions Tour," 3M Championship Director Hollis Cavner said on Thursday.

The golf was spectacular on Friday as 57 of the 78 players broke par. The 69.833 average on Friday was the lowest in tournament history and the second- lowest this year on tour.

Jenkins collected his first birdie of the round at the par-five third, then closed his front nine with birdies at seven and nine. He did most of his damage on the back nine.

The 59-year-old rattled off back-to-back birdies at 11 and 12, then birdied 14 to reach six-under par for the championship. Jenkins birdied the par-four 16th and sank a 20-footer at the last to get in at minus-eight.

Jenkins has seven wins on the Champions Tour and has at least one win every year since 2002. His best finish in 2007 was a tie for fourth at the AT&T Champions Classic in mid-March.

Thorpe also broke into red figures with a birdie at the par-five third. Like his fellow co-leader, Thorpe picked up two more birdies on the front before going off on the second nine.

He birdied 12, three in a row from 14 and two-putted from close to 50 feet for a birdie at the last.

Thorpe has 12 wins on the elder circuit, but none this year.

Defending champion David Edwards shot a three-under 69 on Friday and is tied for 27th place with, among others, recent Senior British Open champion Tom Watson, Peter Jacobsen and Loren Roberts.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.