Two former champions share lead in Wichita

Golf Betting Lines

08/04/2007 - Wichita, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bradley Hughes, the 2004 winner, fired a nine- under 62 Friday to grab a share of the lead after two rounds of the Wichita Open.

Hughes was joined at 13-under-par 129 by 1999 champion Brad Elder, who shot seven-under 64 in round two.

First-round leader Nicholas Thompson posted a two-under 62 to move to 11- under-par 131. He shares third with 2003 winner Jeff Klauk (64) and Justin Smith (65).

Aron Price carded a 64 and completed two rounds at minus-10. He is tied for sixth with 1997 champion Ben Bates, Vance Veazey, David McKenzie, Ryan Hietala and Mark Walker.

Hughes played the back nine first on Friday and opened with a birdie on the 10th. He parred the next before running off three straight birdies from the 12th on the North Course at Crestview Country Club.

The Australian made the turn in nine-under after a birdie on the 18th. Around the turn, Hughes birdied the third.

Hughes parred three in a row from the fourth, before catching fire again. He birdied the seventh and followed with birdies on eight and nine to grab a share of the second-round lead.

This is a big change for Hughes, who has made just two cuts in his last 12 starts and his best finish all year is a tie for 26th.

"I've been playing awful. I've struggled with my putter all year," Hughes admitted. "I finally felt comfortable rolling the ball and that has helped everything else. I haven't done anything different this week. I've won here before. There's something comfortable about coming back here."

Elder picked up birdies on three and five to start his round. He dropped a shot on the sixth, but came back to birdie No. 9.

The 32 year old made it two straight with a birdie at 10. Birdies on 14 and 16 got him to 11-under. Elder converted an eagle on the par-five 18th.

"It's a fun golf course. It fits my eye and I seem to play well when I come here," stated Elder. "I had a chance to win three years ago here. I have good thoughts coming here."

Martin Laird, the Athens Regional Foundation Classic winner, is one of eight players tied for 12th at nine-under-par 133.

The cut line fell at five-under-par 137 with 70 players moving on to the weekend. Among those who missed the cut were 2006 champion Kevin Johnson (141) and Knoxville Open winner Chez Reavie (144).

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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

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