Rookie Min leads LPGA Championship

Golf Betting Lines

06/10/2007 - Havre de Grace, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Na On Min was making just her sixth start on the LPGA Tour.

Sunday, she'll carry a lead into the final round at her first major.

Min, a rookie from South Korea, fired a seven-under 65 Saturday at Bulle Rock to take the third-round lead at the McDonald's LPGA Championship, the second women's major of the season.

She was at 10-under 206, one shot ahead of overnight leader Suzann Pettersen.

"Maybe tomorrow I'll be nervous. But I'll just do my best and not think about my position," Min, who has spoken English for less than two years, said in an on-course interview.

Pettersen made a 12-foot birdie putt at the 17th hole and shot a one-under 71 to join Min in the final group Sunday. She is at nine-under 207.

Karrie Webb, the 2001 champion, also had a 71 Saturday and was tied with Angela Park, another rookie, at eight-under 208. Park fired a 68 in the third round.

"I've never experienced anything like this before," the rookie said.

Morgan Pressel, the season's first major winner at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, shot a 70 and was alone in fifth place at seven-under 209.

Kim Saiki-Maloney (70) was a stroke further back at 210.

Behind her, Lorena Ochoa (69) led a group of six players who were knotted in seventh place at five-under 211. The world No. 1 is still looking for her first major championship.

"Hopefully I'm not too far back and I have a chance tomorrow," said Ochoa, who was five back.

Another young star wasn't so lucky.

Michelle Wie, bothered by a left wrist injury that forced her controversial withdraw from the Ginn Tribute last week, shot an 11-over 83 Saturday and was in last place out of 84 players who made the cut.

It was her worst round against the men or women since she shot an 85 in the first round of the LPGA Tour's CJ Nine Bridges Classic in November 2003, just weeks after her 14th birthday.

Wie, now 17, was at 14-over 230 and unsure if she would even play the final round Sunday.

"I really want to play," Wie said, her wrist wrapped in ice. "I think it would be awesome to get another experience, a round under my belt. Just have to see how it goes tonight."

Wie's highest round against the men was an 81 in the second round of last year's 84 Lumber Classic.

Annika Sorenstam, a vocal critic of Wie's withdrawal last week, and her subsequent practice rounds over the weekend at Bulle Rock, shot a one-over 73 and was tied for 13th place at four-under 212.

Sorenstam was one of 16 players within six shots of Min, whose 65 Saturday was the best round by three shots.

Min recovered from an early bogey at No. 2 with eight birdies over the next 14 holes. Her two-putt birdie from the fringe at the par-five 15th moved her into a first-place tie with Birdie Kim.

Pettersen moved one shot ahead of both players when she knocked her second shot at the par-five 11th within 10 feet and made the eagle putt to reach 10- under.

But Min tied her with a 10-foot birdie putt ahead at the 16th, and Pettersen fell two back when she made a sloppy double-bogey at the 13th after missing the fairway and taking a penalty.

That opened the door for Min's surprising overnight lead.

"This is my first major, so I'm nervous," said Min, who hit every green in regulation Saturday until the last two holes. "I will just try to keep my tunnel vision and play steady (on Sunday)."

Pettersen redeemed herself by making the 12-foot birdie try on 17, where her preparations included getting down on her stomach to read the putt.

The often intense Pettersen missed a chance to win her first major when she coughed up four shots in a three-hole stretch at the end of this year's Kraft Nabisco Championship, handing Pressel the victory.

Pettersen finally broke through for her first LPGA win at the Michelob ULTRA Open in May. Sunday, as she makes another run at her first major, she'll be paired in the final twosome with a player she's not sure she has even heard of.

"I'll probably know her when I see her on the first tee," Pettersen said.

Defending champion Se Ri Pak had a 74 Saturday and was 11 shots back at one- over 217.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.