Tiger two behind Olesen in Abu Dhabi
Golf Betting Lines
01/27/2012 - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods posted a three- under 69 Friday to move within two strokes of the lead after two rounds of the Abu Dhabi Championship.
Woods, who is playing this event for the first time, had five birdies and two bogeys in his second round. He ended 36 holes at five-under-par 139 and is tied for fourth place.
Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen fired a five-under 67 to move into the lead. He finished two rounds at seven-under-par 137 at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
Olesen is in his second full season on the European Tour and is still searching for his first victory on that circuit. He did have three second- place finishes last season.
Matteo Manassero had the low round of the day as he fired a seven-under 65. That helped him jump into a share of second place at minus-six. He was joined there by Gareth Maybin, who carded a two-under 70 on Friday.
Woods was joined in fourth place by first-round co-leaders Rory McIlroy and Robert Karlsson, who both shot 72 in round two, as well as Paul Lawrie (69), Robert Rock (70) and Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (71).
World No. 1 Luke Donald managed an even-par 72 in the second round. He finished two rounds at one-under-par 141, where he was joined by former British Open champion Ben Curtis (71) and six others.
Two-time defending champion Martin Kaymer had a better round on Friday, but he still missed the cut by four shots. Kaymer posted a 73 to finish at six-over- par 150.
Woods opened with a six-foot birdie putt on the first, but gave that stroke back when he failed to save par from a greenside bunker on the par-four third.
After four straight pars, Woods got up and down from a bunker for birdie on the eighth. He birdied the 11th for the second straight round, and came right back with a four-foot birdie putt on No. 12 to move to minus-five.
Woods inched within one of the lead with an 18-foot birdie putt on the 15th. After driving into the rough on No. 16, Woods muscled his second shot into a greenside bunker. He again failed to get up and down.
That bogey dropped him two strokes off the lead, and that's where Woods ended after a pair of two-putt pars on the final two holes.
"I thought I played well. A lot of the things Sean [Foley] and I are working on are starting to feel very comfortable," Woods said of his swing coach. "But it's tough out there, the rough's getting deeper and more lush."
Olesen got off to a flying start with three birdies over the first four holes. He birdied the first, second and fourth, all for the second straight day.
He stumbled to a bogey on the fifth to slip back to minus-four. The 22-year- old Olesen poured in three straight birdie efforts from the eighth to soar into the lead.
Olesen got to eight-under with a birdie on No. 12, then parred five in a row before faltering to a bogey at the last.
"I really like this course. It's very tough and everything is good about it," Olesen said. "You need to be straight, you need to be a good putter, you need to be good all around your golf game, so I think it's a great test of golf."
NOTES: World No. 2 Lee Westwood battled through a sore neck to card his second straight even-par 72...The cut line fell at two-over-par 146 with 69 players advancing to the final two rounds...Among those missing the cut with Kaymer were Colin Montgomerie, Jason Day, Edoardo Molinari, Todd Hamilton, Alvaro Quiros and reigning British Open champion Darren Clarke.
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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
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