07/03/2009 - Bethesda, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods nourished his momentum with a handful of scrambling par saves, shooting a four-under 66 on Friday to take the second-round lead at the AT&T National.
Woods finished two trips around Congressional at 10-under 130 and will carry a one-shot advantage into the weekend as he tries to win his tournament for the first time.
Australia's Rod Pampling shot a six-under 64, one off his career record, and climbed into second place behind Woods at nine-under 131.
Defending champion Anthony Kim, after posting a course-record 62 in the first round, fell to third place with a middling 70, remaining at eight-under par.
Jim Furyk had another steady round, carding a 67 to sit fourth at seven-under 133.
Woods started his second round on the back nine and made a bogey at the 11th hole, coming up short of the green. But he collected three birdies during a four-hole stretch beginning at the 13th, including one at the 15th that was set up by an approach shot to tap-in range.
While those birdies set up a day of good scoring for Woods, it was a slew of par saves that had the tournament host happiest with himself.
He got up and down from in front of the green at the 17th, holing a three-foot putt. It was the first of three tough par saves in a span of five holes. He got lucky with a good lie at No. 2 and saved par after hitting his approach way right at No. 3.
During that stretch, Woods spun a bunker shot to within seven feet at No. 1 -- his 10th hole -- and made a birdie.
Not as accurate off the tee or crisp with his irons as he was Thursday, when he opened the tournament with a 64, Woods was still able to coax a good score out of his second round, keeping the momentum going with the par saves.
He knocked a sand-wedge within three feet at No. 8 for his final birdie of the day.
"Either I hit it pretty close to the hole, within 10 feet, or I was missing greens," said Woods. "So it was a little bit of two ends today. It was nice to actually get a score out of it."
Woods has often blamed an inconsistent putter for his sometimes fitful play this season. But he's seemed more confident on the greens at Congressional this week, even as he ranks somewhere near the middle of the pack in putting.
Although he took one more stroke with the putter than he did in the first round, Woods said he felt better with the club in his hand on Friday, when the greens were still soft from rain that fell overnight Wednesday.
"The pins were a little bit more difficult today, so if the greens would have been even firmer, it would have been a pretty good test," he said.
Pampling shared the lead with Woods at minus-nine after a birdie on the 15th, but parred the remainder of his holes to finish a shot behind. The two-time PGA Tour winner has a good history at this event, tying for third place last year and sharing 19th in 2007.
"It's positional golf, and you have to think about what you're doing out there," said Pampling. "Obviously we're hitting the ball well, which allows you to get it into where they can tuck a pin. It's just a thinker's golf course, and I enjoy playing those."
Kim made three bogeys during a six-hole stretch beginning at No. 9, hitting into a bunker each time. He only managed to make three birdies -- this after he collected eight birdies without dropping a shot in the first round.
"I hate the way I hit the ball today," said Kim, who hasn't won since last year's AT&T National. "It was okay for about six or seven holes, but the swing got loose and I couldn't find it out there."
Woods is trying to win his tournament for the first time. It was started in 2007, when Woods tied for sixth, and he missed it last year after having knee surgery.
He is 31-6 on the PGA Tour when holding the 36-hole lead.
"I need to hit the ball better than I did today, just clean up my round, and if I can get hitting the ball like I did yesterday and putt like I did today, we'll be looking all right," said Woods.
The cut line fell at two-over 142 with 76 players moving on to the weekend.
World No. 3 Paul Casey and 2007 AT&T champion K.J. Choi were among those who missed the cut.
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March Madness odds and printable March Madness brackets
With the field of 64/65 set, MySportsbook.com has the Florida Gators as the 4-1 favorite to successfully defend their National Championship. Men’s Division-1 College Basketball has not seen a team repeat as National Champions since Duke won back to back championships in ’91 & ‘92. After losing three out of four late in the season, the Gators are full of momentum as they won their last four games by an average of 18 points. Not surprisingly, right behind the Gators are the other three top seeds: Kansas 5-1, UNC 6-1, and Ohio State 7-1. Many consider Kansas to be the hottest team in the country, having won 11 straight. With Kansas, it is hard to ignore all of the early exits from the “dance” in recent years. With an impressive ACC Tournament, UNC ensured themselves the other top seed. UNC has about as much talent as any other team in the tournament but with a team that’s best players are primarily freshman and sophomores, could youth be a concern. Behind freshman sensation, Greg Oden, OSU will look to do what their football team failed to do just a few months earlier. OSU seems to have peeked at the right time, as they currently have a 17 game winning streak. Since the tournament field was expanded in 1985, there has never been an instance where all four #1 seeds advanced to the Final Four. It is obvious that each of the top seeds have the talent to make it through to Atlanta. But as everyone knows, when makes the NCAA Tournament so special are all of the spoilers and “Cinderella” stories that knock off the favorites on a daily basis.
Be sure to logon to MySportsbook.com to see check out all of the early lines and “March Madness” props. Also be sure to enter the “$10,000,000 Perfect Bracket Contest”. If someone has the skills to predict every winner, they will be set for life and walk away with $10,000,000. Even if no one can cash in on the Grand Prize, with a $35,000 guaranteed prize pool and a Mazda RX-8 to the first prize winner, Sportsbook.com’s bracket is a must for all “March Madness” fans.
MySportsbook.com’s odds to win the Championship and Regions:
| EAST | National Championship | Region |
| Arkansas | 300-1 | 50-1 |
| Belmont | 1000-1 | |
| Boston College | 100-1 | 40-1 |
| Eastern KY | 1000-1 | |
| George Washington | 75-1 | |
| Georgetown | 10-1 | 3-2 |
| Marquette | 100-1 | 40-1 |
| Michigan State | 100-1 | 25-1 |
| New Mexico St. | 500-1 | 200-1 |
| UNC | 6-1 | 6-5 |
| Oral Roberts | 500-1 | |
| Texas | 15-1 | 5-1 |
| Texas Tech | 200-1 | 5-1 |
| USC | 75-1 | 20-1 |
| Vanderbilt | 100-1 | 30-1 |
| Washington State | 40-1 | 15-1 |
| WEST | ||
| Duke | 50-1 | 10-1 |
| Florida A&M | 1000-1 | |
| Gonzaga | 200-1 | 40-1 |
| Holy Cross | 300-1 | |
| Illinois | 300-1 | 60-1 |
| Indiana | 75-1 | 40-1 |
| Kansas | 5-1 | 13-10 |
| Kentucky | 100-1 | 40-1 |
| Niagara | 1000-1 | |
| Pittsburgh | 40-1 | 8-1 |
| Southern Ill. | 50-1 | 12-1 |
| UCLA | 10-1 | 3-2 |
| VCU | 500-1 | 100-1 |
| Villanova | 100-1 | 40-1 |
| VA Tech | 50-1 | 15-1 |
| Weber St | 1000-1 | |
| Wright St | 1000-1 | 300-1 |
| MIDWEST | ||
| Arizona | 50-1 | 30-1 |
| Butler | 40-1 | 30-1 |
| Davidson | 300-1 | |
| Florida | 4-1 | 4-5 |
| Georgia Tech | 75-1 | 25-1 |
| Jackson State | 1000-1 | |
| Maryland | 30-1 | 6-1 |
| Miami-OH | 300-1 | |
| Notre Dame | 100-1 | 20-1 |
| ODU | 500-1 | 100-1 |
| Oregon | 40-1 | 6-1 |
| Purdue | 300-1 | 60-1 |
| Texas A&M CC | 1000-1 | |
| UNLV | 100-1 | 30-1 |
| Winthrop | 500-1 | 100-1 |
| Wisconsin | 15-1 | 7-2 |
| SOUTH | ||
| Albany | 200-1 | |
| BYU | 200-1 | 40-1 |
| Central CT St. | 1000-1 | |
| Creighton | 100-1 | 35-1 |
| Long Beach St. | 500-1 | 200-1 |
| Louisville | 40-1 | 10-1 |
| Memphis | 30-1 | 4-1 |
| Nevada | 75-1 | 35-1 |
| North Texas | 500-1 | |
| Ohio State | 7-1 | 6-5 |
| Penn | 500-1 | |
| Stanford | 200-1 | 50-1 |
| Tennessee | 100-1 | 20-1 |
| Texas A&M | 12-1 | 11-5 |
| Virginia | 75-1 | 18-1 |
| Xavier | 100-1 | 40-1 |
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