Golf Tidbits: Where has Stuart Appleby's game gone?

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03/11/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Once the top-ranked Australian in the world, Stuart Appleby has plummeted in the world rankings as his winless streak stretches into its fourth season.

Appleby owns eight PGA Tour titles, including three straight wins at the winners-only Mercedes Championships, now known as the SBS Championship. The Australian ended his run of three straight wins at that event in 2006, and later that season won the Houston Open. Since then, nothing, at least in terms of wins.

Appleby had a decent 2007 with four top-10 finishes worldwide, and two top-12 finishes in the four majors. The following season, he was off to a blazing start. After missing the cut in his first start of the '08 season, Appleby reeled off six consecutive top-10s, five of which came on the PGA Tour. But following that hot start, he posted just two more top-10s the rest of 2008.

Despite making the cut in all four majors and tying for second at the WGC- Bridgestone Invitational, he was unable to break back into the winners circle.

Last year, Appleby had five times as many missed cuts (10) as top-10 finishes, (two). Two of his missed cuts were at the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship.

Things have not gotten any better this season. Appleby has started in seven PGA Tour events and made the cut just twice. Neither time did he finish in the top 60.

He will be absent from the WGC event this week, making it three in a row that he has missed after playing in 32 straight WGC events.

With all of his struggles, Appleby has plummeted to No. 151 in the world. Not only that, but there are now 13 fellow Australians ranked ahead of Appleby in the current world rankings. His star has fallen so much that he needed to use a one-time exemption to keep his PGA Tour card this season. The exemption he used stems from him being ranked in the Top 25 on the PGA Tour's career money list.

Last year was the first time since his rookie year that he finished outside the top 125 on the money list, which is the cutoff point to keep your tour card for the next season.

Appleby's poor form also cost him a spot on the International Presidents Cup team last year, after he had played the previous five teams.

His driving distance this year has fallen more than 18 yards from his peak of 300.6 yards in 2005, and his greens in regulation stats have fallen below 60- percent for the first time since he joined the PGA Tour.

Those two stats do not tell the entire story, but hitting the ball shorter and hitting fewer greens is a recipe for higher scores and poor results.

What makes his fall from grace unusual is that there is no injury to blame. Appleby has just has just lost his game. He went so far as to joke about it on his Twitter page.

After he made the cut last week at the Honda Classic, Appleby posted this on his Twitter account, "Made the cut...Stop the press."

LOOK OUT FOR THE MOLINARI BROTHERS

Francesco and Edoardo Molinari continue to set firsts on the PGA Tour, and in the golf world in general. This week, they were ranked back-to-back in the official world golf rankings.

Edoardo, the younger of the two and the 2005 U.S. Amateur champion, was ranked 47th, less than one average point ahead of Francesco.

The world golf rankings started in 1987, so it is difficult to say they are the highest-rated brothers ever. One thing is for sure, they will be the first brother combination to play at the Masters since Jumbo and Joe Ozaki in 2000.

It will be the second trip to Augusta for Edoardo, whose U.S. Amateur victory gained him a spot in the 2006 Masters field. Francesco caddied for his brother that week, when the younger Molinari played alongside defending champion Tiger Woods for the first two rounds.

In the past few months, they have established a pair of familial firsts. In November, they became the first brothers to win the Omega Mission Hills World Cup, and in February were the first brothers to qualify for a World Golf Championship event when they both competed at the Accenture Match Play Championship.

Francesco has won once on the European Tour, while Edoardo was victorious twice last season on the European Challenge Tour. However, Edoardo is off to a better start this year with a pair of fourth-place finishes.

Including the three Ozaki brothers - who combined for over 140 wins on the Japan Golf Tour - there have been other previous outstanding brother combinations in golf. Dave and Mike Hill posted over 51 professional wins, and Lanny and Bobby Wadkins had over 20 professional wins, including Lanny's victory at the 1977 PGA Championship.

Francesco and Edoardo have plenty of time to catch these "other brothers," as they are just 27 and 29 years old, respectively.

MINI-TIDBITS

- Ryo Ishikawa was one of two players ranked in the top 50 in the world to miss last week's WGC - CA Championship. His excuse? He was at his high school graduation.

- Steve Pate, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour and two-time Ryder Cupper, became the oldest winner on the Nationwide Tour when he won the Bogota Open last week. Pate will turn 49 on May 26.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect

LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.

Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.

Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.

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