Korda takes lead at Women's Australian Open

Golf Betting Lines

02/11/2012 - Victoria, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - On a Saturday when many players near the top of the leaderboard struggled, Jessica Korda shot an even-par 73 to claim the lead after three rounds of the Women's Australian Open.

The American Korda sits at four-under-par 215, one shot in front of Nikki Campbell, Hee Kyung Seo and So Yeon Ryu.

The shuffling of the leaderboard came after another tough round at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club.

Ryu, the reigning U.S. Women's Open champion, was the second-round leader but stumbled to a three-over 76 on Saturday. She reached minus-eight early in her round and looked like she might take control of the tournament, but went on to post six bogeys.

Seo was right below Ryu after the second round, but carded a 75 on Saturday.

"It's one of the hardest courses I have ever played," said Seo. "It's probably in the top-five or the top-three, and sometimes the breeze is quite crazy. Also, the green is firm and fast, plus the undulations. Most of the players struggled at times."

Campbell was one of a few players to take advantage of the second-round leaders' struggles, firing a 70 to gain a share of second place.

"The wind was a lot stronger than the first two days," Campbell said. "You had to trust your shots a lot more and stay patient."

Two-time defending champion Yani Tseng (71), Katie Futcher (71) and Lorie Kane (72) are tied for fifth at two-under-par 217.

Ryu and Seo were threatening to pull away from the field early in their rounds.

Ryu birdied the par-five second and followed that with another birdie at the par-three third. Meanwhile, Seo birdied the third, after which Ryu was at eight-under and Seo sat at six-under.

But Ryu's round started to unravel when she gave both shots back with bogeys at the fifth and sixth. She birdied the eighth, but again followed that up with a bogey to make the turn at six-under.

Seo also birdied the eighth, but posted a bogey at the holes immediately before and after and made the turn at five-under.

They began the back nine with their scores back where they were after the second round, but both continued to struggle.

Ryu didn't have a single birdie during her final nine holes, instead recording bogeys at the 11th and 14th. She still had a share of the lead heading to the last, but bogeyed that was as well to drop into second.

Seo double-bogeyed the par-four 14th and bogeyed the 16th to fall two shots behind Korda, but ended the round on a positive note. A birdie at No. 18 lifted her into second.

Like Ryu and Seo, Korda had an up-and-down round. She bogeyed the fifth, but responded with birdies at Nos. 7, 9 and 10 to reach six-under. That would have left Korda as the decisive leader had she stayed at that score, but she dropped shots at the 13th and 17th.

Korda is the daughter of Petr Korda, a former professional tennis player who won the 1998 Australian Open.

"My dad was world No. 2," Korda said. "I told him I want to beat that. It would be a great accomplishment, an awesome thing."

Julieta Granada and Melissa Reid were tied for third with Korda after the second round, but both endured above-par rounds on Saturday. Granada shot a 76 to fall into a tie for eighth at one-under with Brittany Lincicome (73). Reid posted a 77 and sits at even-par overall, tied for 10th with first-round co- leader Stacy Lewis (77).

NOTES: Only nine players sit below par...German Sandra Gal began the third round in contention at one-under, but shot a 10-over 83 on Saturday to tumble into a tie for 53rd...Amateur Lydia Ko, 14, fired a 72 and sits in a tie for 18th at three-over 222. Ko is the youngest winner of a professional golf tournament, having claimed the title at the NSW Open in January.

Wwgamble Golf Betting News

<< Croatia takes 2-1 advantage over Japan in Davis Cup
Hyogo, Japan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ivan Dodig and Ivo Karlovic downed the Japanese tandem of Tatsuma Ito and Yuichi Sugita on Saturday to give Croatia a 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup. The two nations entered play tied at 1-1 after spli

<< Westbrook, Thunder cruise past Jazz
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russell Westbrook scored a game-high 28 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder cruised to a 101-87 victory over the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena on Friday. Kevin Durant added 19 points and Serge Ib

<< Sharks outlast struggling Blackhawks
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Benn Ferriero's goal early in the third period proved to be the winner, as the San Jose Sharks kept the Chicago Blackhawks reeling with a 5-3 victory at HP Pavilion. Justin Braun, Dan Boyle, Joe Thornton a

<< Kings place Stoll on IR
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings placed center Jarret Stoll on injured reserve Friday with an abductor muscle injury. Stoll suffered the injury in the latter stages of the third period of Thursday's 3-1 loss

<< O'Reilly's late goal leads Colorado past Carolina in OT
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan O'Reilly scored the game-winner with 1.2 seconds left in overtime to give the Colorado Avalanche a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. With time winding down, O'Reilly picked the pocket of Jus

Thunder's Brooks to coach West All-Stars >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oklahoma City's Scott Brooks will coach the Western Conference at the All-Star Game later this month. The Thunder's 101-87 win over Utah on Friday enabled Oklahoma City to clinch the conference's best r

Westwood vaults into Dubai lead >>
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 Thom

Hantuchova to face Kirilenko for Pattaya crown >>
Pattaya City, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Daniela Hantuchova and Maria Kirilenko were semifinal winners Saturday and will meet for the title at the Pattaya Open. The third-seeded Hantuchova eased past Taiwanes

Thrashers activate Stapleton off IR >>
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Winnipeg Jets have activated center Tim Stapleton off injured reserve. Stapleton had been sidelined since January 20 with a lower body injury. He has appeared in 37 games this season, entering Saturda

Jets activate Stapleton off IR >>
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Winnipeg Jets have activated center Tim Stapleton off injured reserve. Stapleton had been sidelined since January 20 with a lower body injury. He has appeared in 37 games this season, entering Saturda

Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.