Fisher flirts with 59, takes Irish Open lead

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07/30/2010 - Killarney, Ireland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ross Fisher fired a 10-under 61 on Friday to grab sole possession of first place after the second round of the Irish Open.

Fisher finished 36 holes at 12-under 130 and is three strokes clear at Killarney Golf & Fishing Club.

Francesco Molinari posted a five-under 66 on Friday and is alone in second at minus-nine.

Two Irish stars made big moves in the second round.

World No. 8 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland shot a three-under 68 and moved into a tie for third place at seven-under 135.

"I'm only five back going into tomorrow. If I get off to a fast start, hopefully I can close the gap on Ross a little bit," said McIlroy, who mixed six birdies and three bogeys. "It was quite frustrating to be honest. It seemed like every time I made a birdie, I made a bogey and it sort of halted me in my tracks."

Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington carded a four-under 67 and is part of the large group tied with McIlroy at minus-seven. Much like McIlroy, Harrington wasn't completely satisfied with his round.

"I didn't play anywhere near as well as I played yesterday," acknowledged Harrington. "I drove it superbly yesterday and drove it poorly today. I'm very happy that my short game is good."

But they have work to do to catch Fisher.

The Englishman opened with a two-under 69 on Thursday and parred his first two holes on Friday. Fisher caught fire starting at the third and birdied six holes in a row.

"I got off to a steady start, a couple pars on the first two, and then the putter caught fire really," said Fisher, who was eight-under for the championship after the turn. "I had a nice little run."

Fisher parred the 10th, then went on another spectacular run. He birdied his next four holes, including a 25-footer at the 13th, and was 10-under through 14.

Naturally, thoughts of 59 popped into Fisher's head.

"It was obviously a shame that it came to an end on nine, but I just kept on hitting good shots and got on to a little patch on the back, as well," said Fisher, who has won each of the last three seasons on the European Tour. "I had a chance on 15 from eight feet; unfortunately I pulled it."

Fisher parred his final four holes and lost his chance at becoming the first player to shoot a 59 on the European Tour.

"All I wanted to do was give myself chances coming in the last four holes, and I gave myself four good looks at birdie. Unfortunately I didn't make them so I have to be satisfied with 61," said Fisher, who held a piece of the lead at some point in all four majors last year. "It's pretty flawless golf to be fair."

Anders Hansen (68), Seung-yul Noh (69), Brett Rumford (69), Gonzalo Fernandez- Castano (69), Michael Hoey (69), David Dixon (68) and Richard Green (70) joined McIlroy and Harrington in third at minus-seven.

Defending champion Shane Lowry, who won this title in a playoff as an amateur last year, fired a six-under 65 on Friday to move into a tie for 24th at three-under 139.

NOTES: Fisher just missed the 36-hole record at this championship. Patrik Sjoland established the mark of 129 in 2000 and Lowry matched it last year...U.S. Open winner Graeme McDowell and Justin Rose, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour this year, made the cut on the number at even-par 142...Kenneth Ferrie, Jose Manuel Lara and Sam Little withdrew on Friday...First-round leader David Howell struggled to a four-over 75 and fell to three-under par.

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

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