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07/31/2010 - Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bernhard Langer continued his hot play Friday as he carded a two-under 68 to grab a two-stroke lead after the second round of the U.S. Senior Open.
Langer, who is coming off a win last week at the Senior British Open, completed 36 holes at three-under-par 137.
The German is trying to become the first player to win back-to-back majors on the Champions Tour since Tom Watson won the Senior British Open and the JELD- WEN Tradition in 2003.
Jeff Roth, the club professional at San Juan Country Club in New Mexico, fired a four-under 66 to match the low round of the championship. That helped him move into a share of second place at minus-one.
He was joined there by John Cook and Tommy Armour III, who both shot two-under 68s on Friday. They were the only four players to complete 36 holes in red figures.
Local favorite Fred Couples and Watson both shot 70 for the second straight day. They share fifth place at even-par 140 with Loren Roberts (72) and Michael Allen (71).
The round was completed despite a two-hour, 12-minute fog delay early in the day at Sahalee Country Club.
Langer was in one of the first groups out off the first tee on Friday. He opened with a six-foot birdie putt on the first, but faltered to a bogey on the par-four third.
After five straight pars, Langer stumbled to another bogey at the ninth after hitting his approach into a greenside bunker. He atoned for that mistake with a 20-foot eagle putt on the par-five 11th.
Langer again reeled off five consecutive pars to remain at minus-two. He converted a nine-footer for birdie on the par-three 17th and parred the last to finish at three-under.
"I hit it straight and made some putts. It's always the same, isn't it," Langer joked. "Just different venues, different conditions, but it's always same idea, hit it where you're looking and try and play smart, attack the holes that can be attacked and play smart on the other ones."
First-round leader Bruce Vaughan had yet to tee off when Langer finished. Vaughan struggled badly on Friday as he faltered to a 12-over 82, which dropped him into a share of 40th.
Roth isn't just in unfamiliar territory on the leaderboard, he is also unfamiliar with USGA Championships in general. The last USGA championship he competed in was back in 1975.
His unfamiliarity with the situation didn't show on Friday. Roth birdied the first, but tripped to a bogey on the third. He climbed to even-par for the championship with birdies on five, seven and nine.
Around the turn, Roth got to minus-one with a birdie at the 11th. He bogeyed the 16th, but closed with a birdie at the last to finish at minus-one.
"It's really kind of funny, because I've always tried to qualify for USGA events, and this is only my second USGA event I played in," Roth explained. "I think the way USGA sets up the golf course, it really is good for me, because I'm just one of those guys that grinds it out. I can make as good a par as anybody, and that's usually a pretty good score."
Cook played the back nine first Friday and was even-par with a birdie on 16 and a bogey at the 18th. On the front nine, he poured in three straight birdies from the second. Cook wrapped bogeys at seven and nine around a birdie on the eighth.
Armour was even-par for his round through 12 with birdies on two and four and bogeys at the third and 12th. He moved into a share of second thanks to birdies at 15 and 17.
Tom Kite (69) and Scott Simpson (71) are tied for ninth place at one-over-par 141. Mark Calcavecchia (73) headlines a group of five players at plus-two.
NOTES: There were eight sub-par rounds for the second straight day...Defending champion Fred Funk posted an even-par 70 Friday and is tied for 29th place at plus-six after two days....The cut line fell at 10-over-par 150 with 69 players making it to the weekend...Former champions Brad Bryant, Hale Irwin, Dave Eichelberger and Dale Douglass were among those that missed the cut as were Mark O'Meara, Ben Crenshaw and Fuzzy Zoeller.
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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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