Golf Events / Editor / 19 August 2007 / Leave a Comment

After the excitement of the FedExCup play-offs, all attention will turn back to the regular tour where the early betting looks wide open for the inaugural Turning Stone Resort Championship - the first of seven events in the 2007 PGA Tour Fall Series.

Atunyote Golf Club in Verona, New York, has the honour of staging the tournament after successfully hosting the B.C Open at the last minute last year but it's a fair bet the players that played the 7,315-yard course in 2006 will find it much harder 12 months on.

Customers thinking of heaving a bet should note considerable work has been carried out on lengthening the course, relocating trees and enhancing the layout's several water hazards to make it a tougher test.

John Rollins won the 2006 B.C Open by one stroke from Bob May thanks to a birdie at the final hole and, having already earned two runners-up finishes this year, could be a player to follow again at decent odds.

Japan's Shigeki Maruyama also showed a liking for the course in finishing two shots behind Rollins. He was one of the first players to confirm his participation and it may be worth paying attention to his odds.

Coming so soon after the FedExCup play-offs, it's likely some of the tour's bigger names will choose to sit out the week but the Turning Stone Resort Championship has already attracted a high-quality field and there is likely to be some good value to be found in the betting markets.

Woody Austin will probably be one of the more popular bets in the pre-tournament betting after winning the 2007 St Jude Championship and finishing second twice - including following Tiger Woods home at the US PGA Championship.

Austin's style of play appears to suit this course and he is expected to be short odds in the betting along with US Ryder Cup star Chris DiMarco who, despite three second places at the majors, has not won in America for the last four-and-a-half-years.

Veterans Fred Funk and Jerry Kelly may also come into the reckoning and are likely to be available at attractive odds while two-time major winner John Daly always attracts plenty of interest in the betting.

Daly has accepted a sponsors' invitation to play after losing his playing privileges and, having expressed his delight at the course and the greens after playing it in an invitational event in 2005, he could be worth an each-way bet at long odds at a venue he feels comfortable with.

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