Sorenstam among eight leaders at Lorena's event

Golf Betting Lines

11/13/2008 - Guadalajara, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Annika Sorenstam chipped in twice on Thursday, including one for birdie at the last, en route to a four-under 68 and a share of the first-round lead of the Lorena Ochoa Invitational.

Sorenstam, Karen Stupples, Nicole Castrale, Hee-Won Han, Brittany Lang, Seon- Hwa Lee, Angela Stanford and world No. 2 Yani Tseng are knotted atop the leaderboard at Guadalajara Country Club.

Ochoa's first round as a tournament host was not a memorable one in terms of the on-course performance. The world's best birdied her last for a one-over 73, but she is tied for 24th place, five behind the huge pack in first.

"This was difficult," admitted Ochoa. "Just a lot of emotions. Unfortunately, I didn't play the way I wanted to. I'm really happy. I'm going to try and make a lot of birdies tomorrow."

Ochoa brought an elite field of 36 players to her home country. This is her first experience as a tournament host, but her first event certainly brought a competitive balance.

Sorenstam, who is playing in her second-to-last event on the LPGA Tour, was spotty on Thursday, but her short game kept her in the mix.

The Swede birdied three of her first six holes, then got to four-under after a birdie putt from off the green at 10. Sorenstam chipped in for birdie at 12 to take the lead at minus-five, but trouble loomed.

Sorenstam missed short par saves at 14 and 16, but appeared to have one more good birdie opportunity at the par-five closing hole. She missed the green with her second, but chipped in a second time for her piece of the first-round lead.

"I'm very pleased," said Sorenstam. "I'm very happy with the start. I worked a little bit on my swing with my coach the last few days and it feels a lot better. I feel like my game is coming around."

It's an odd time for Sorenstam's swing to come around considering she has this event and next week's ADT Championship to finish off her LPGA Tour career. She has three wins in her final year on tour, but has not visited the winner's circle since the Michelob Ultra Open in early May.

There are still players with something to earn this week. Lang for one needs a victory in this tournament to get a spot in the field next week.

"I knew I would have to do something pretty special, but I didn't know I'd have to win," admitted Lang, who birdied four of her last five holes, including three in a row to finish.

Tseng also could use a good week. Despite winning her first major at the LPGA Championship, Tseng doesn't have Rookie of the Year honors wrapped up, but is in the lead on the points list. She is 263 points ahead of Na Yeon Choi, so Tseng would like a strong finish or even a victory.

"I really like this course," said Tseng, who converted a three-footer for birdie at the last hole to join the logjam in first. "(Rookie of the Year) is my first goal for this year. You only have one chance to be Rookie of the Year."

Choi holed her third shot at 18 for an eagle and a three-under 69. She is tied for ninth place with Sophie Gustafson, Jee-Young Lee and Meena Lee only one back.

Paula Creamer, a four-time winner this season, struggled to a three-over 75 and is one shot out of last place. Sophia Sheridan, a sponsor's exemption, managed a 76 on Thursday for 36th.

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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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