Westwood vaults into Dubai lead

Golf Betting Lines

02/11/2012 - Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lee Westwood fired a five-under 67 on Saturday to vault into the lead at 15-under par after three rounds of the Dubai Desert Classic.

Westwood was three shots behind Rory McIlroy and Thomas Bjorn when the day started, but finished it with a one-stroke edge over playing partners Stephen Gallacher and Marcel Siem, as well as first-round leader Rafael Cabrera-Bello.

Gallacher and Siem each carded four-under 68s at the Emirates Golf Club, while Cabrera-Bello managed a two-under 70.

McIlroy is two shots back at 13-under after an even-par 72 on Saturday. He is joined there by Martin Kaymer, Scott Jamieson and Joel Sjoholm. Kaymer and Jamieson each shot rounds of two-under 70, while Sjoholm had the low round of the day with a six-under 66.

Bjorn stumbled to a one-over 73 and is tied for ninth at minus-12 with Ben Curtis and George Coetzee.

Westwood was coming off a seven-under 65 on Friday that concluded with three straight birdies. He added three birdies on his first four holes Saturday to reach 13-under.

"I got off to a very good start, three under after four, rolled the ball well on the greens and hit a lot of good quality iron shots," the world No. 3 said Saturday.

Westwood sandwiched a pair of birdies around a bogey late in his opening nine and made the turn at 12-under, then put together three more birdies over his first four holes on the back side and closed the round with five pars.

"I played nicely again," the Englishman added, "very solid."

Westwood has 21 career European Tour victories and has had a decent start to 2012 with a tie for 17th at Abu Dhabi and a tie for 12th at the Qatar Masters.

"I've won 30-odd times in my career," stated Westwood, who has also won two PGA Tour events and 10 other times around the world. "So I'm used to knowing what to do when I'm leading a tournament."

McIlroy, the second-ranked player in the world and the 2009 Dubai champ, had a birdie and a bogey on an uneventful front nine, then bogeyed the par-five 10th to start an up-and-down back. He added two more bogeys and three birdies over the final eight holes.

Bjorn, the 2001 Dubai winner, held a two-shot lead at 15-under after a birdie at the 10th, but bogeyed three of his last four holes.

NOTES: Defending champion Alvaro Quiros managed a one-under 71 Saturday and is tied for 35th at minus-five...Paul Lawrie, last week's winner in Qatar, is six-under par, as is American John Daly...Colin Montgomerie is one-over par after struggling to a five-over 77 Saturday.

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Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

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Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

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