TIGER IS BACK ON THE PROWL!
by Bob Acton of
Sportingbet USA - now SuperBook.com -
The PGA Tour may have officially kicked off January 5th in Hawaii,but make no mistake about it, San Diego is the real opener forthe 2006 season, as Tiger is back on the trail.
If your name is Chad Campbell, Stuart Appleby or David Tomshowever, Tiger can stay in Florida all he wants, as his absencefrom the tour’s first three events, had something to do with themall padding their bank account with a million or so extra dollars.
My apologies to “Lefty” Phil Mickleson who also decided to getoff the couch and join the fray and both these superstars haveeach won the Buick Championships three times each. Mickelson vanishedfrom the PGA Tour in the middle of October, skipping the TourChampionship and playing only one time -- a two-day appearanceat the PGA Grand Slam -- until he returned to competition lastweek in the Bob Hope Classic and tied for fifth.
Bet Now at Bdg.eu
The only other course Woods plays better on thePGA Tour is Firestone, where he has won four times and has neverfinished worse than a tie for fourth. His worst performance ineight starts at the Buick Invitational is a tie for 10th in 2004,and even then he finished two shots out of a playoff.
Duke tries to bounce Back:
Now that the undefeated season hopes of the BlueDevils is out of the way, Duke will travel to hostile Blacksburg,Virginia and a date with the Hokies.
Duke's unbeaten run, though, nearly ended 10games earlier, when Virginia Tech rallied from an 11-point deficitin the final five minutes to take a 75-74 lead with 1.6 secondsremaining. Following a timeout, Duke senior Sean Dockery heaveda desperate shot that went in, sending the Blue Devils into afrenzy and the Hokies into shock.
“Despite its 0-5 record in ACC play, VirginiaTech has given Duke fits since joining the conference last season.The Hokies upset then-No. 7 Duke 67-65 in Blacksburg last Februaryand nearly pulled off a second upset this season.
The UAB Blazers head to Memphis unbeaten in 10games and it was almost six seeks ago, that they last tasted defeat,yet they are double digit dogs to the Tigers. The Blazers havewon eight straight conference games, but Memphis is 12-2 at homeagainst UAB and leads the all-time series 20-9.
Meanwhile in California, the 10th ranked 16-2Huskies are visiting Leon Powe and the Golden Bears. The GoldenBears are 7-1 at home this season and are being led by resurgentsophomore forward Leon Powe, the conference's second-leading scorerwith 19.8 points per game. Powe, the 2003-04 Pac-10 freshman ofthe year who missed last season recovering from knee surgery,leads the league with 10.2 rebounds a contest.
My guess is the smart guys in Vegas want thepublic to grab the points with Memphis and also take the hot Huskieson the road. I’m going in the opposite direction!
| 
