Turning Stone betting preview

By David John Last updated: 2nd August 2010

The Turning Stone Resort Championship has moved from an early autumn slot and the organisers have been rewarded with a lovely forecast for all four days.

The field, which has had to contend with some dodgy weather in upstate New York in the last three renewals, looks all set to go hunting for birdies with the tournament record of 18 under par under considerable threat.

An interesting side issue to the event was the controversial decision of 60-year-old Turning Stone executive Ray Halbritter awarding himself one of the four sponsor's exemption rather than hand it to a Tour pro or top amateur as is the norm.

After much grumbling from those in the game, Halbritter has finally seen sense and withdrawn although a decision as to who will now take his spot has yet to be confirmed at the time of writing.

With four days of sun and temperatures in the 80s on the agenda, a sackload of birdies are going to be required to get the job done so market leader Brendon de Jonge is a man to have on your side.

He currently tops the chart this season in Total Birdies with a whopping 384 from 84 rounds and the big Zimbabwean is in the sort of current form to justify his place at the head of the betting.

"Obviously I'm getting very comfortable out here," he said after the final round of last week's Greenbriar Classic.

"I feel confident with the way my game is at the moment. Things are definitely trending in the right direction. It's been a lot of fun."

He has banked just shy of $1.8m so far in 2010 and his last seven events since the start of June have yielded results of T12-T33-T9-T33-T7-T13-3.

Impressively consistent by any standards and there seems no obvious reason why he won't keep up his streak on a course where he posted a T13 in 2007 after opening with a couple of 66s to lead at halfway.

Admittedly his effort petered out over the weekend but the de Jonge of 2010 is on the cusp of a victory and this looks like a tremendous opportunity.

It was good to see the classy Stuart Appleby get back on track last week in spectacular style with his closing 59 to win the Greenbriar Classic.

On the back of that, I reckon Australian compatriots John Senden and Greg Chalmers could take encouragement and make an impact at 28/1 and 66/1 respectively.

Senden has not enjoyed the most profitable season to date but there have been signs of late that he is getting his game into some sort of shape.

He started with a T12 at the John Deere Classic, a T48 at the Open Championship was not too disastrous and then a T21 last week at the Greenbriar Classic where he fired all four rounds in the 60s to finish at 12 under.

He has admitted in the past that he enjoys not only the course here but also the atmosphere and hospitality and that seems to be borne out by course form of T3-T27-5.

With the course expected to be running fast, it should suit Senden's game that is used to coping with the sand belt courses in his homeland.

Journeyman Chalmers should take plenty of inspiration from Appleby's win as he bids to build on the first half of a campaign that has seen him already post a couple of top five finishes, including recently in Canada (T4).

He was well down the field last week (T51) but did card all four rounds in the 60s - in fact his worst score from his last 12 rounds has been a 70.

Like Senden, the course conditions should suit him well and it is just about a year on since his best finish of 2009 (T2) when he chased home Tiger Woods at the Buick Open in Michigan.

You wonder if Chalmers will ever win on the PGA Tour but he could be worth risking at the prices.

Tips:

2pts e.w. Brendon de Jonge at 16/1 (1/4 1,2,3,4,5 general). Top of his game currently and big chance to claim a victory.

1pt e.w. John Senden at 28/1 (1/4 1,2,3,4,5 Paddy Power, bet365). Loves the Turning Stone Resort and recent signs of a recovery.

1pt e.w. Greg Chalmers at 66/1 (1/4 1,2,3,4,5 Sky Bet). Solid efforts of late and should be suited by conditions.