This Sunday, Woods made his one shot victory was so intense that he went blank after holing a 25-foot birdie putt that caused pandemonium around the 18th hold at bay hill, and heartache for Bart Bryant, the challenger who gave Woods his stiffest test in the last 7 months. This win granted him his 64th win, tying him with Ben Hogan at No. 3 on the all time list.

Coming into the 18th hole he was tied with Bryant when he produced what he called the best swing of the week, a 5-iron from 164 yards into a stiff breeze over the water to a skinny green with bunkers behind it, then came that amazing putt.

“I was so into the moment of the putt going in and winning the golf tournament,” Woods said. “I kept telling myself, ‘I’ve done this before. I did it against Phil. And this time, it’s a little bit deeper into the green, and the putt has a little bit more break, and it has a little more grain. I’ve done it before and I can do it again.”

This time Bryant was the opponent. He made 2 birdies, 2 clutch saves, shot 67 and became the only player to break par all four rounds at Bay Hill and that sill wasn’t enough.

“I heard a big cheer, and I got up and left,” Bryant said. “That’s why he’s Tiger Woods.”

No one can say these guys are laying down for Woods. He still had to fight to the finish under a sweltering sun and Bryant was visibly disappointed when he heard the roar and saw the putt.

“I was pretty hopeless sitting there in the trailer, but I did what I thought I was supposed to do, which was put the pressure back on Tiger to make the play,” Bryant said. “And he has a habit of making it when he needs to.”

The North Carolina Tar Heels have done just about everything you could ask a college basketball team to do. They wrapped up the regular season with just two losses. They got revenge for one of those defeats by beating Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium in the season finale. And they regained the No. 1 spot in the polls heading into the ACC conference tournament.

All great from a basketball standpoint, but here’s what matters to handicappers: 20-8 ATS. That’s the third most profitable record in the nation. Still, we’ve seen this movie before. The Heels were ACC champions last year and a huge moneymaker at 19-12 ATS before March Madness, where they coughed up a big lead and lost to Georgetown in the Elite Eight.

This year’s team can also be beaten, as Duke and Maryland have already shown. North Carolina is ranked 23rd overall in defensive efficiency. Can the Tar Heels protect their Achilles’ heel this time?

Ok this might not be your list of the greatest athletes of all time but since I am the one who’s writing it I get to be the one who picks. Let me know what you think:

1) Michael Jordan
Well this is an obvious pick. He has have 5 MVPs, 3 All Star MVPs and 6 Final MVPs. Sometimes I don’t like this guy but only because his name was shoved in our faces in the 90’s but you got to admit Michael’s got game.

2) Wayne Gretzky
With a nickname like the “Great One” I feel as if it’s my duty to include him in my list. Wayne changed the face of hockey and had skills that players don’t even have today. This guy even has a street named after him!!

3) Muhammad Ali
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” There is a reason why he is known as the greatest of all time. He’s probably the most well known athlete on earth and is always used as a reference to greatness.

4) Lance Armstrong
At 21 Lance won the 1993 World Cycling Championship, then overcoming cancer he went on to win the Tour de France 7 times in a row. What more can I say?

5) Tiger Woods
Ok I have to admit Im not a golf fan but honestly I would know nothing about the sport if it wasn’t for this guy. He’s almost broken every record in the sport and if that’s not domination I don’t know what is.

6) Roger Federer
He is like the God of tennis. Any thing you can do Roger can do better. Sorry but its true. He is so close to perfection it’s a little scary.

Charting the rise and fall of NBA teams is essential to good handicapping. Thus the explosion of power rankings on the Web. My current Top 5 is a blend of John Hollinger’s stat-based rankings and recent ATS performance.

1. Houston Rockets: Seventeen straight wins at press time, 14-1 ATS in their past 15 outings. Fifth in the Hollinger Rankings.

2. Los Angeles Lakers: The best team in the league right now in terms of quality. Scorching hot at 13-2 since the Pau Gasol trade, but may have peaked at 2-3 ATS in their last five.

3. Utah Jazz: After a 5-4 SU and 3-6 ATS run to close out February, Utah has won and covered three straight. Hollinger ranks the Jazz sixth overall.

4. Orlando Magic: Were down to Carlos Arroyo and Hedo Turkoglu (!) at point guard, but getting healthy now. Orlando is 8-2 SU and ATS in the last 10 games and seventh in Hollinger.

5. New Orleans Hornets: No. 8 on the Hollinger list, yet a title contender and 4-1 SU and ATS in their last five.

Country Clubs and elegant courses found far away from urban centers are one thing. But if you don’t have the time or necessarily the pocket book for one of these extravagant golf outings then take a look at our list of the top 10 golf cities in America. Ranked on weather, affordability and quality, the results might just surprise you.

1. Austin, TX
Home to 32 public courses.

2. Columbus, Ohio
66 public courses

3. Las Vegas, NV
53 public courses

4. Dallas, TX
107 public courses

5. Orlando, FL
86 public courses

6. Seattle, Wash.
62 public courses

7. San Jose, CA
23 public courses

8. Atlanta, GA
93 public courses

9. Portland, OR
49 public courses

10. Rochester, NY
65 public courses

Gary Shaw is going after Oscar De La Hoya, president of Golden Boy Promotions. Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez will fight in a rubber match for the WBC super Bantamweight title on Saturday. Since Shaw promotes Marquez and De La Hoya co-promotes Vazquez, it would make sense for these two to work closely to promote this fight, which will be televised live on Showtime.

The Golden Boy however, is not actively working the Vazquez-Marquez fight; he held a news conference on Tuesday but not to promote his fighter. The conference was to promote him and announce his May 3 bout with Steve Forbes.

Doing this infuriated Shaw, who was concerned about the impact this announcement would have on ticket sales for his fight.

“What happened (Tuesday) was also totally wrong,” Shaw said. “This week should belong to two Hall of Fame fighters, Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez, who have literally left their blood on the canvas in two prior fights, and are about to complete their amazingly exciting trilogy Saturday.”

“That is what this week is all about and should have been all about. Nothing personal against Golden Boy; we are going to sell out anyway. But for the life of me, I will never understand why they did what they did, especially when they co-promote one of the fighters. Why would a promoter try to take the limelight away from one of their own fighters? This should have been Israel’s time, not Oscar’s.”

Shaw went on to mock De La Hoya’s often stated intention to change boxing. He said actions such as what De La Hoya pulled shows he is only interested in promoting himself.

Saturday’s big UFC 82 show from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio is going to be off the chain. The middleweight “unification” bout between Dan Henderson (+115) and Anderson Silva (-145) has drawn the attention of hardcore MMA fans – especially fans of PRIDE, whose Welterweight title Henderson still holds. Their undying support is part of the reason “Hollywood” has been bet down slightly from +120 last week.

More casual fans are lining up to check out this event, as well. These are two powerful strikers; yes, there will be blood. Silva is the more proficient striker, while Henderson’s wrestling skills give him the advantage if and when he manages to get Silva off his feet. That’ll be the hard part. Silva is undefeated in five UFC bouts and hasn’t lost anywhere since getting disqualified two years ago versus Yushin Okami, who is also on this card as a –220 chalk over Evan Tanner.

UFC is bringing out the big guns for this one. Each of the 10 bouts scheduled for  UFC 82  has something to offer, and odds are available for the full card.

Here are the five bouts on the main card scheduled for Mar. 1, with odds at press time:

Middleweight: Anderson Silva (-150) vs. Dan Henderson (+120)
Heavyweight: Heath Herring (+145) vs. Cheick Kongo (-175)
Middleweight: Evan Tanner (+170) vs. Yushin Okami (-220)
Middleweight: Chris Leben (-165) vs. Alessio Sakara (+135)
Welterweight: Jon Fitch (-625) vs. Chris Wilson (+425)

That last fight jumps out at you because of the chalk Fitch is carrying. He was originally supposed to fight Akihiro Gono, but Wilson will make his UFC debut instead after Gono pulled out with a hand injury. Wilson is 13-3 (one no-contest) with a win over Ray Steinbeiss at BodogFight – Vancouver. He’s the wild card in this betting equation and might be worth supporting at that payout.

We’ve cleared the halfway mark of the 10th NBA season since the Michael Jordan Bulls charged into the sunset. The Eastern Conference has been dominated by the West ever since. And for every Kevin Garnett that comes in, out goes a Shaquille O’Neal and a Pau Gasol.

But maybe the New Jersey Nets will get their midterm grade raised by sending Jason Kidd to Dallas by next Thursday’s trade deadline.

Boston: A+
Detroit: A+
Orlando: A
Toronto: C+
Cleveland: C
Washington: C-
Atlanta: D-
New Jersey: F
Indiana: F
Milwaukee: F
Charlotte: F
Chicago: F
New York: F
Miami: F
Philadelphia: Satisfactory

Looks like half the conference needs remedial school. The Sixers have performed admirably since the Allen Iverson trade (more Western poaching) and therefore receive a Satisfactory mark for their rebuilding efforts. Charlotte is no longer an expansion team, so no slack for the Bobcats. And of course, Boston and Detroit are at the head of the class.

The NFL is the only one of the four major pro sports to have its All-Star Game at the end of the season. This makes some sense for the Pro Bowl; the league doesn’t need to interrupt its regular season to do any barnstorming. It’s also a more relaxed environment for the players – Honolulu in February, with no opponents to worry about the following week.

But will anyone watch when the AFC and NFC clash this Sunday? Nearly 100 million Americans have already seen one of the greatest football games ever at Super Bowl XLII. Conversely, last year’s Pro Bowl got a 5.1 rating, or roughly 5.75 million viewers. This year’s event might not even out-point NASCAR’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, not when Tom Brady and Randy Moss aren’t playing.

The Pro Bowl format can’t change until after next year, but don’t be surprised if the NFL moves the game to the weekend before the Super Bowl.