Miyazato leads Safeway Classic by one

Golf Betting Lines

08/20/2010 - North Plains, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ai Miyazato fired a six-under 66 Friday to take a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the Safeway Classic.

Miyazato, who has won four times this season, currently stands No. 2 in the world. She had been No. 1 earlier this year and could return there with a victory this week at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club.

Teresa Lu and Jee Young Lee share second place at five-under 67.

Chella Choi, Brittany Lincicome, Momoko Ueda and Amy Hung are one stroke further back at minus-three.

Miyazato, who missed the playoff in this event last year by two strokes, played the back nine first on Friday and opened with back-to-back birdies. She moved to three-under with a birdie on the par-four 15th.

Around the turn, Miyazato converted a birdie chance on the par-four first to get to four-under. She parred her next five holes.

Miyazato birdied the seventh to grab a share of the lead. She moved atop the leaderboard with a birdie on the par-five eighth. Miyazato parred the par-five ninth to finish one clear of the field and close out a bogey-free round.

Lu stumbled to a bogey on the third. She came right back with a birdie on the fourth and moved into red figures with another birdie on No. 6.

After a par on seven, Lu drained three consecutive birdie efforts from the eighth to jump to minus-four. Lu posted her final birdie on the par-three 16th.

Lee, who played four groups behind Lu, posted her first birdie on the fourth and carded another at the seventh.

The South Korean converted back-to-back birdie efforts from the ninth. After four straight pars, Lu drained a birdie putt on the 15th. She gained a share of the lead with a birdie on the 17th, but Lu bogeyed the last to share second.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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