Compton, Every share Greenbrier lead
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07/29/2010 -
White Sulphur Springs, WV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Erik Compton, the two-time heart
transplant recipient, fired a seven-under 63 Thursday to share the first-round
lead with Matt Every at The Greenbrier Classic.
Playing on another sponsor's exemption and still battling stamina issues,
Compton birdied nine of his last 15 holes for a career-best score on the PGA
Tour.
Finishing his round after an 80-minute weather delay, Every matched his career
low to tie Compton. He missed a 10-foot birdie putt on his last hole with a
chance to take the lead by himself.
Jeff Overton, George McNeill and Pat Perez shared third place at six-under 64,
while Brendon de Jonge, Charles Howell III, Aron Price, Matt Bettencourt and
John Rollins all shot 65.
Compton's previous best score was a 67 in the first round of the Mayakoba Golf
Classic in February.
"I'm not thinking about winning," he said. "I'm just thinking about one shot
at a time and getting through the weekend."
Compton, of course, has had bigger things on his mind.
He was diagnosed as a child with cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart
muscle, and received his first heart transplant when he was 12 years old. The
second came in 2008.
Now 30, Compton is not just chasing his first win, he's grinding his way
towards earning full-time playing privileges on the PGA or Nationwide Tour
after losing so much time -- about four years in his late-20s -- to illness.
"In some aspect, I look at myself as an old guy," said Compton. "I also look
at myself as a young guy in a career playing golf."
Compton has tried to make the best of his playing opportunities this season,
which include six previous starts on the PGA Tour. He has also played two
European Tour events in the Middle East and made one start on the Nationwide
Tour.
He is playing this week for the third time since the U.S. Open, where his
condition was thrust into the spotlight on one of golf's biggest stages. He
shot 77-81 at Pebble Beach, the first of three straight missed cuts.
Compton likes to say that he knows he's supposed to shoot bad scores, but that
isn't the way he feels things have been going for him recently.
"I was getting some bad breaks, and it was hard to take advantage of plugged
lies and things like that," he said.
"Some guys miss six, seven cuts in a row and then win. I know I'm a good
player, and I have a lot of the adversity in front of me with the game and
health. But I always feel like if I stick in there and keep trying, something
eventually good is gonna happen."
He found trouble early on The Old White Course with back-to-back bogeys at the
second and third holes. But Compton made nine birdies and six pars the rest of
the way.
"I hit some really close shots, a couple good putts, and I guess the round
just kind of developed like that," he said.
Among his birdies was a 30-foot putt at No. 5 and "it was pretty much a blur
after that," Compton said. "I was taking one shot at a time."
Compton knocked his second shot at the 572-yard 17th about 18 yards short of
the green, pitched to three feet and rolled in the birdie putt to move atop
the leaderboard by himself.
The round was delayed for 80 minutes because of threatening weather
conditions, and when the second half of the draw returned to the course, Every
made his move.
He finished off a birdie at the 17th -- his eighth hole -- with a four-foot
putt to move within two shots of Compton's lead.
Every followed with a 14-footer at the 18th for his third straight birdie,
polishing off a 30 on the back nine that also included a 15-foot eagle putt at
the par-five 12th.
He followed that with five straight pars, then rolled in a 14-foot birdie putt
at the sixth hole to tie Compton at seven-under.
"I drove it great and then made some putts," said Every. "My irons were pretty
standard, but I ... was in play every hole. So it was nice."
Every earned his PGA Tour card by winning the season-ending Nationwide Tour
Championship last October. He denied possessing marijuana after being
arrested, along with two other people, at a hotel two days before the start of
John Deere Classic earlier this month.
NOTES: This is the first year of this event...Compton and Every both earned
their first 18-hole leads on the PGA Tour...Every also shot a 63 in the first
round of the Phoenix Open in February...Justin Leonard (67), Jim Furyk (68),
Sergio Garcia (68), John Daly (69) and David Toms (70) are some of the bigger
names in the field.
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After all the trouble that’s ensued since Braylon Edwards allegedly punched one of LeBron James’ homeboys in the face at a club, the Cleveland Browns have sent away their last remaining player of worth to the New York Jets. This is a great move for Dirty Sanchez and all, but it’s even better for the Knicks. Now Donnie Walsh can say, “You get to haunt Braylon Edwards with your posse if you sign here!” next summer.
Putting that aside for a moment, the move is a clear indication that the new-look Jets are gunning for the Super Bowl this year. I don’t think that New York thought that Dirty Sanchez was going to be such a rock star. With a 75.2 passer rating that was killed against the Jets, Sanchez is doing an admirable job of managing games and putting the Jets in a position to win. The defense has been the major story in New York thus far, but the acquisition of Braylon Edwards makes this offense loaded with talent that can dent any defense…as long as Dirty Sanchez continues his meteoric rise.
Thus far, Edwards has been a non-factor in the NFL piling up just 139 receiving yards on 10 catches. He has yet to find the endzone, and with the Browns mired in the most unsexy quarterback controversy of all time (Anderson vs. Quinn...yawn), there going nowhere fast. Edwards is two seasons removed from a career year which saw him catch 80 passes for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns when the Browns were the spread killing monsters of 2007. In 2008, injuries slowed the receiver down to just 873 yards and three touchdowns though he played in all 16 games.
So that being said, we really don’t know if Braylon Edwards is just a flash in the pan, or a legit threat. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he is a prototypical receiver. But he’s also shown a strange, and unwarranted, talent for dropping passes. Lining up opposite Jericho Cotchery, a speed demon with 23 catches, 356 yards and a single touchdown, may give Braylon the open looks he needs. A change of scenery may also rejuvenate the star receiver.
In return, the Browns will receive Chansi Stuckey, online football betting a special teams player you’ve never heard of and a pair of draft picks. That’s a tall order for a guy whose only real value right now is in his name, and it shows no promise to the Browns that they can rebuild around those acquisitions. Braylon was the only reason to hope for the Browns to go 3-14 SU this year. Without him, they don’t have a single guy on offense that can scare any team.
For the Jets, it’s a response to the pounding that they took at the hand of the Saints. Thomas Jones and Leon Washington have averaged around 4.0 yards per carry each on the ground, but striking a fair balance between the passing and rushing attacks in New York has been a struggle. You have to believe that the trio of Dustin Keller, Jericho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards will give Sanchez the weapons he needs to unleash through the air. Theoretically, that would open up holes for the rushing game. But the proposed public option health care plan works in theory too. We need to see the proof in the pudding before we start loading up mega bucks on the New York Jets to take the AFC.
The one wrinkle in this whole thing is that Braylon could very well be suspended by the league for disciplinary action due to his “brawl” with LeBron’s friend. If that’s the case, the Jets may have to bench him for a few games leaving them with a somewhat depleted receiving corps for a few games. Also, this is a guy who gets in fights with people at clubs. New York may not be the best place for him. Just sayin’.
The Jets have a long week before they meet the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football Betting in a virtual pick ‘em game. Braylon’s excess baggage may be a distraction, and his curiously low production may be what we should be expecting of him overall, but for the Jets, taking a chance to strike gold is well worth it. At the end of the year, they can simply just blame it on their rookie quarterback.
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