The British Open returned to Carnoustie Golf Club (or as some fittingly call it, Car-nasty) for the first time since Jean Van de Velde's collapse in 1999 this past weekend, and the legend of Van de Velde was visited over and over again.
   Sergio Garcia looked like he was on the way to wire-to-wire victory. Before the tournament, he was 30-1 to win his first major, according to Jeff Sherman's odds at the Las Vegas Hilton. After a strong start in Thursday's opening round, Garcia was lowered to 6-1, and after Friday's round Sherman made Garcia a heavy 9-4 favorite (just over 2-1). Then, with a three-stroke lead heading into Sunday's final round, he was an odds-on choice at 4-9. He was clearly in the driver's seat.
   Padraig Harrington, another established pro who was probably second to Garcia for the mythical title of "best player to have never won a major," was among those in pursuit but no one gave him much of a chance, and Sherman had him at 20-1. Andres Romero was given even less of a chance as he was part of the "field" bet at 25-1.
   But, while Garcia was giving away his lead, Romero put on a miraculous run that saw him birdie 10 of the first 16 holes to put him in position to become of the most unlikely of British Open champions. But he pulled a Van de Velde and double-bogeyed the last two holes. By the time Harrington reached the 18th hole, he held a one stroke lead over Garcia, who was in the group behind him. Harrington did his Van de Velde impersonation and double-bogeyed to fall one behind Garcia, who wasn't able to capitalize as he bogeyed the final hole himself to settle for a playoff.
   "It was tough to watch as it was more who wanted to give it away," Sherman said. "Try explaining that the winner of the tournament hit it into Barry Burn twice on 18 with a 1-shot lead and you have to think Van de Velde not winner."
   For the four-hole playoff, Sherman quickly put up the Harrington-Garcia line at pick'em, with -105 on each side. Harrington took a two-shot lead into the fourth and final playoff hole and nearly gave that away, too, before sinking a three-foot bogey putt to clinch the championship. Sherman said his book lost on the final head-to-head matchup, but fared well overall with Harrington winning and the other matchups and props that were available.
* On Monday morning, Sherman posted his odds for the PGA Championship to be held Aug. 9-12 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., with Tiger Woods the favorite at 3-1, followed by Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk at 15-1, Ernie Els at 20-1, Vijay Singh at 25/1, and the foursome of Harrington, Garcia, Retief Goosen and Justin Rose at 30-1.

No butts about it

   Bernard Hopkins is a boxing legend, but most people think his best years are behind him. That's to be expected as he's 42 years old (heck, I'm 40 and I can't do a lot of the things I could in my younger days, or at least not as well or as often) and bettors backed those opinions on the way to the windows for his fight Saturday night at Mandalay Bay vs. Winky Wright.
   After being around a -140 favorite leading up to the fight, Wright was bet as high as -200 at Mandalay Bay and the other MGM Mirage books.
   In a lot of ways it looked like the end of the line for Hopkins, especially as Wright was clearly the aggressor in the early action. But then something happened during the third round that turned the fight around. Wright moved Hopkins against the ropes and Hopkins came off and, as Wright was moving in for another punch, their heads clashed. A cut opened next to Wright's left eye and blood started to trickle down his face. He took a knee and the referee called time out and conferred with other officials to make sure the injury wasn't caused by a punch (which would have probably meant a knockdown for Hopkins since Wright went to a knee) or that the head-butt wasn't intentional (which could have resulted in a point deducted from Hopkins). It was ruled accidental. No harm, no foul, kind of. Wright went to his corner and had a doctor look at it, and then the fight resumed. But there was a change. Now, Wright shied away at times and he started complaining to the ref when their heads would bump.
   As I wrote in a thread in the ViewFromVegas Forums during the fight: "In the third round, Wright got cut next to his left eye...it was caused by a head-butt that looked incidental, but Hopkins, as a southpaw, is leaning in that way...blood continues to trickle down the side of Wright's face. It hasn't swelled up yet but it could be a problem if this goes the distance . . . Bigger problem for Wright might be that Hopkins has gotten inside his head as he's been complaining to the referee."
   Wright continued to be the pursuer, but not with the same vengeance, and it wore him down. I noted after the eighth round that Hopkins looked totally confident and in control. In the later rounds, Hopkins was definitely the fresher boxer and had more pop in his punches.
   The 12th and final round was full of flurries and it looked like Hopkins might finish off Wright, but it went the distance, as was expected as the "will go" 12 rounds was priced at -450. Two of the three judges had it 117-111 for Hopkins while the other had it 116-112, so bettors who backed Hopkins cashed out (as did the sports books who took in all that extra Wright money). In the decision/knockout proposition, Hopkins by decision was 8-5. The books keep all bets on the round-by-round KO prop as there wasn't one.