Get with Hearn, Cauley and Adams down south

You know that a PGA Tour event is weak when Brendon de Jonge heads the pre-tournament betting at around 12-1 but someone has to win the True South Classic, which has attracted a B-list field due to the Open Championship in England.

That someone may end up being De Jonge but the Zimbabwean is not the kind of golfer whom one should back to win anything at such short odds. He has just one professional victory - the 2008 Xerox Classic - to his credit and that triumph on the Nationwide Tour was the best part of four years ago.

David Hearn, of Canada, makes much more appeal at 40-1 and bigger. Forgive him missing the John Deere Classic cut - he shot a bogey-free 65 but could not make up for his opening round of 74 - and he has the best recent form of anyone in the True South Classic field of middleweight competitors.

Hearn has made eight consecutive cuts and posted five top-25 finishes before his John Deere Classic blip and, at decent odds to win a second-rate tournament that may not take much winning, the 33-year-old Brampton, Ontario native who won the 2004 Alberta Open is one for the punting portfolio.

Another interesting True South Classic participant is Bud Cauley. No-one else among the entries has greater potential than Cauley, who took full advantage of an invite to last year`s corresponding event to finish in a tie for fourth.

Cauley, whom his mother calls William, was the equivalent of 116th on last year`s PGA Tour money list and, consequently, joined Gary Hallberg, Justin Leonard, Phil Mickelson, Ryan Moore, Scott Verplank and Tiger Woods as golfers who avoided Q-School and went directly to the main tour after college.

In years to come one may talk about the time that Cauley was 25-1 and longer to win a tournament as weak as this year`s True South Classic. The 22-year-old from Daytona Beach in Florida is going places fast - he has four top-10 PGA Tour finishes against his name already - and he shot rounds of 68, 67, 66 and 67 on the Annandale Golf Course in 2011.

Blake Adams is the general third favourite at around 20-1 and, while he has yet to win a professional title, he has obvious claims in such unheralded company. The 36-year-old, who was born in Oklahoma but grew up in Georgia, had made the weekend in each of his last nine PGA Tour appearances, fired a 10-under-par 62 in the second round of last year`s True South Classic and ought to handle the forecast weather conditions. It is tipped to be steamy in Mississippi.

There are six previous True South Classic champions in this year`s field: Steve Lowery (2000); Cameron Beckman (2001); Heath Slocum (2005), DJ Trahan (2006), Will MacKenzie (2008); and Chris Kirk (2011). Kirk is not in the worst of form but going back to back is difficult for seasoned winners, let alone someone with his career statistics.

Keep True South Classic stakes to a minimum if you decide to have a bet or two on the PGA Tour event for everyone who did not get invited to compete in the Open Championship.

Go To bet365

#Ad

17/07/2012     © Frixo 2024