Bean cruises to a win; Haas takes Schwab Cup again

Golf Betting Lines

11/02/2008 - Sonoma, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Bean fired a six-under 66 in the final round and cruised to a record-setting win Sunday at the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

Bean finished four spectacular rounds at 20-under-par 268 for a nine-shot win over Gene Jones, the largest margin of victory in tournament history and the largest on the Champions Tour this season.

Jay Haas managed only an even-par 72 in the final round and a tie for 16th place at four-under 284, but it was enough to win the season-long race for the Charles Schwab Cup.

Haas claimed a $1 million check for his second Schwab Cup in three years, beating Fred Funk by just 12 points in the final standings.

Jones had a 71 in the final round to finish a distant runner-up to Bean at 11- under 277. Brad Bryant (69) finished in third place at 10-under 278 and Loren Roberts (70) was fourth at nine-under 279.

Bean and Haas shared a trophy presentation at the end of a long day.

The third round was suspended on Saturday due to inclement weather, with Bean holding a two-shot lead through four holes. Another weather delay Sunday morning stalled play even further, but the tournament was completed with daylight to spare.

Bean finished off a 68 in the third round to remain in the lead. But he really distanced himself from the field with a run of four consecutive birdies in the final round, beginning at the sixth.

Among those birdies was a tee shot to inches at the par-three seventh and a birdie putt from off the green at the ninth that moved his lead on the edge of double-digits.

Bean added just one more birdie on the back nine at the 16th hole, and he also made his first bogey since midway through the third round at the 15th. But none of it had an effect one way or the other. Bean was already well on his way to his third career Champions Tour victory and second of the season.

"What can we say? Today was the perfect day," Bean said, all smiles, after he tapped in for a closing par at the 18th hole.

Known for his dedication to practice, the 55-year-old Bean wrapped up the biggest win on the Champions Tour since Funk's 11-shot victory at the Turtle Bay Championship in January 2007.

It came in stunning fashion: at the end of a marathon day that saw Bean play 32 holes and against the senior circuit's top players.

"I have been hitting the ball good," said Bean, who won $442,000, "but today makes practicing fun because this is the result you get."

Bean's only misstep came in celebration, when he lifted his trophy and watched as the tiny club slipped from the metal golfer's hand on top of the prize. Bean laughed, calmly snatched the club from off the ground and placed it back in the golfer's hand.

"That's about as short as I've ever seen Andy throw a club," Haas laughed later while accepting the Schwab Cup for the second time since 2006.

Haas didn't receive any points for his 16th place finish -- only top-10s count towards the yearlong Schwab Cup points race -- but he didn't need any. Funk, in second place, tied for 25th place and didn't receive any either.

"It was certainly one of my goals when I started off the year," said Haas. "So to have [the trophy] at home with me is certainly something special."

Also on Sunday, Bernhard Langer wrapped up the 2008 money title with a tie for 18th place that netted him $42,500 and put him over the $2 million mark for the season.

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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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