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NFL

Woods, Manning win The Match, help raise $20M

Rain filled the South Florida air on Sunday, threatening to make a mess of The Match: Champions for Charity at Medalist Golf Club.

Instead, four sporting icons didn’t let bad weather dampen what turned out to be an exciting, fun-filled exhibition that raised $20 million for COVID-19 relief efforts while highlighting the ups and downs of competitive golf.

Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning prevailed 1 up over Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady in Hobe Sound, Florida, but the outcome never really mattered.

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Mickelson trash-talked, as did announcer Charles Barkley.

On Sunday, $10 million was raised through online and text donations to go with the $10 million already pledged by the four players and WarnerMedia. Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images for The Match

As Brady sprayed it around the course, Woods and Manning took a 2-up lead through four holes and were 3 up through six. Although Manning made a nice birdie putt at the fourth hole, it was Woods who was the most impressive golfer. For the first time since Feb. 16, he was watched by the public while hitting golf shots, and he did not disappoint.

Woods, who is tied for the most wins in PGA Tour history with 82, did not miss a fairway on his home course and looked comfortable hitting all manner of shots.

It marked the first time he had played since he finished last among those who made the cut at the Genesis Invitational. He then skipped the WGC-Mexico Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. When Woods skipped the Players Championship, saying that his stiff back was not right, there was concern about his Masters title defense.

But the pandemic shut down the PGA Tour after one round of the Players Championship, and the time away has allowed Woods to regroup.

“I feel a lot better than I did then,” he told Discovery last month. “I’ve been able to turn a negative into a positive and been able to train a lot and get my body to where I think it should be.”

Things got off to a slow start due to the poor weather, which delayed the start by some 50 minutes. But once the players got going, there was some excellent banter and good golf. All of the players were outfitted with custom golf carts, with cameras focused on their faces and microphones available for questions from the announcers.

Woods got off a good shot at Mickelson when he was told to mark his ball on a green and quipped: “Do you want me to mark it with one of my U.S. Open medals?” Woods has won the tournament three times; Mickelson, infamously, has six runner-ups in the championship but no victories.

Manning was the most talkative, and Barkley had no problem dishing out as much abuse as possible.

Mickelson hit a few wayward shots to start, but the 44-time PGA Tour winner settled down and served as a cheerleader for Brady, trying to keep him in the game. The duo rallied on the back nine as the format shifted to modified alternate shot. Mickelson bombed a tee shot onto the short par-4 11th green, and Brady holed the eagle putt to bring them to 2 down.

“This is where it changes,” Mickelson said. He missed a good chance to bring the match close at the 13th but got within one hole when Manning missed a short par putt at the 14th. They could get no closer as the players proceeded in heavy rain and near darkness.

After Woods hit his tee shot in the fairway at the 18th, with Manning knocking the approach to the front of the green, all that was left was a two-putt par for the victory.

Soccer

Bundesliga Matchday 28 betting preview: Dortmund good value in Der Klassiker

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A wildly unnecessary stoppage-time goal denied us a 3-0 weekend in our Bundesliga picks, so we settled for another 2-1 finish. Either way, that’s consecutive weeks of profits since the return of Germany’s top flight.

And we get double the fun this week with Matchday 28 on Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of the typical weekend slate for Matchday 29.

Here are our best bets for the weekday action in the Bundesliga.

Bayern Munich (-118) at Borussia Dortmund (+260), Draw (+333)

Der Klassiker will have a strange feel to it without 80,000 screaming supporters at Signal Iduna Park, but it won’t diminish the magnitude and intensity of the derby. Just four points separate Bundesliga leaders Bayern from second-place Dortmund, and with seven matches remaining, a Die Roten victory would all but secure them the title.

Playing in an empty stadium mitigates the advantage Dortmund get from hosting this match, but that’s baked into this line. Bayern would be around +130 if this was played in front of supporters, but moving it to -118 is an overcorrection.

Dortmund have been close to unstoppable in 2020 since signing Erling Haaland, with the forward prodigy completely transforming their attack. Since January, they’ve won nine of 10 league matches, scoring 33 goals in the process. But it’s not just the attack that’s been unstoppable, as manager Lucien Favre has his side playing some flawless football at both ends. Dortmund have conceded just one goal during a span of six successive Bundesliga victories.

With the sort of form Dortmund are in, this side will be beaming with confidence ahead of a visit from Bayern, who are in the midst of their own terrific run of form, winning six league matches in a row and 12 of their last 13.

However, Bayern have won just one of their five fixtures this season against the top five clubs, and they are winless away from home in those, drawing 1-1 at RB Leipzig and losing 2-1 at Monchengladbach. Against a Dortmund side in impeccable form, they’re not about to break that trend.

Pick: Dortmund +0.5 (+103)

Koln (+180) at Hoffenheim (+130), Draw (+260)

No side in the Bundesliga has conceded more goals on home soil this season that Hoffenheim, who have allowed a staggering 34 in just 14 matches at Rhein-Neckar-Arena. They’ve conceded in nine straight at home – 26 total allowed – and have typically struggled against clubs in the bottom half of the table when required to force the issue as opposed to sitting back and countering.

Meanwhile, despite registering just the solitary goal in their 1-1 draw at Paderborn, Hoffenheim’s attack came to life with 17 shots on Saturday. They should have no issue getting after a Koln defense that ships goals in bunches and has conceded four times since the return, against two of the league’s lower-scoring sides.

Thanks to that leaky defense, Koln typically play an exciting brand of football away from home, with their 13 matches this term producing a total of 48 goals. They’ve scored in five successive matches away from home, scoring once at Dortmund and Gladbach, and a combined 11 against Eintracht Frankfurt, Hertha Berlin, and Paderborn. They should comfortably add to that tally, with this match set to fly over the total.

Pick: Over 3 (-110)

Paderborn (+290) at Augsburg (-105), Draw (+275)

Augsburg have been playing some excellent football since the restart. They were unlucky to lose to Wolfsburg in the first match back before rebounding superbly to beat Schalke 3-0 on Sunday. Now they return home, where they’ve been outstanding against clubs in the bottom half of the table this season, posting a 5-1-0 record in those matches and outscoring their opponents 14-4.

Paderborn have managed to hold on for a pair of draws in their two matches back, but they hardly looked impressive in a scoreless affair with Fortuna Dusseldorf and rode their luck to steal a point in a 1-1 result at home to Hoffenheim. Their form has been far from inspiring and it’s not about to get any better against an Augsburg side that will be entering with a ton of confidence.

Pick: Augsburg (-105)

Full card:

  • Dortmund +0.5 (+103)
  • Leverkusen/Wolfsburg u3 (-103)
  • Monchengladbach (-135)
  • Hoffenheim/Koln o3 (-110)
  • Augsburg (-105)
  • Fortuna/Schalke u2.5 (-110)

Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.