07/19/2008 - Blaine, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - R.W. Eaks fired a nine-under 63 on Saturday to grab a three-shot lead heading into the final round of the 3M Championship.
Eaks, who claimed both of his Champions Tour wins last season, stood at 16- under 128 following a rain-delayed second round at the TPC Twin Cities.
Loren Roberts shot a 65 and Gene Jones had a 67 to share second place at 13- under 131, while first-round leader Dana Quigley managed just a 70 to fall into solo fourth place at 12-under 132.
Bernhard Langer (66) was the only other player within five shots of Eaks at 11-under 133.
Eaks was not among three co-leaders when play was suspended around 2:45 p.m. local time as a line of thunderstorms rolled through the area. But after a delay of nearly three hours -- play resumed at 5:30 -- he began taking control.
He birdied two consecutive holes, the sixth and seventh, on putts inside two feet. A poor chip-shot at No. 8 led to his only bogey of the round, but Eaks would play the next 10 holes at six-under par.
"It was one of my best ball-striking rounds," he said.
And it showed.
Eaks knocked a six-iron to eight feet at the ninth hole, dropped a wedge shot inside seven feet at the 10th and knocked another wedge shot to just inches at the 11th to set up three consecutive birdies.
He made back-to-back birdies at the 14th and 15th holes, both set up by good mid-iron shots, then knocked a five-wood onto the back of the 18th green and two-putted for a birdie as darkness settled on the course.
It marked the first time Eaks held the 36-hole lead in a Champions Tour event since his last victory, at the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn last September. Both of his victories -- he also won last July's Dick's Sporting Goods Open -- have come after he held the second-round lead.
On Saturday, it may have taken Eaks a while to realize he was leading. There aren't many leaderboards at the TPC Twin Cities until the 17th and 18th holes.
"And I'm a leaderboard watcher," said Eaks.
Although he's had mixed results on tour this season -- one top-10 finish in 15 starts -- he may also have an excuse. Eaks has been playing on a pair of bad knees.
"I need two new ones," said Eaks. "Therapists out here have been helping me. I've been contacted by a company that has these braces I can wear at night. They say it will really help me.
"It's renewed my outlook on things and I think there's a light at the end of the tunnel. I have bad days and really bad days."
Saturday was neither.
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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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