TOUR Insider: Ginn Sur Mer Classic at Tesoro  PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent Another stop in the Fall Series, another new event, another chance for redemption for the many talented practitioners of the ancient game on the PGA TOUR.  The TOUR Insider thinks this could be the week for Sean O'Hair. (Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage) This week's stop, the penultimate event on the TOUR schedule, is the Ginn sur Mer Classic at Tesoro in Port St. Lucie, Fla., which is offering a $4.5 million purse and more than one second-chance story line. Consider that the Ginn sur Mer Classic wasn't on the original schedule, but was added in June when the Running Horse Championship in Fresno, Calif., had to bow out because of construction problems. Under terms of the five-year agreement with Ginn Resorts, the Ginn sur Mer Classic at Tesoro will rotate throughout various Ginn Resorts properties. First up in the rotation is the Palmer Course at Tesoro Club, which features wide corridors lined by mature trees, mostly oaks, pines and palm, and winds over and around various wetlands, making it an aerial target examination of precision. Power will be necessary, too. Designed by Arnold Palmer and opened in 2005, the Palmer Course measures 7,381 yards, par 73, though the 18th hole from the adjacent Tom Watson-designed course has been incorporated into the tournament course configuration. Only eight other courses on the TOUR this year played longer, and the forced carries from the wetlands and water hazards could definitely come into play, especially on the weekend when palms start getting sweaty. Ginn Sports Entertainment is hosting its fourth golf event this year after two LPGA events and a Champions Tour tournament. Worth knowing: Former two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen has struggled a bit this year, but he'll be highly keen to play well this week at Tesoro. Not only does he need a good finish to move up from his current spot of 159th on the money list, but he also is sponsored by Ginn Resorts. Other players sponsored by Ginn include Brian Gay, Ken Duke and Lucas Glover. Those three all are in the top 100 in earnings. Six players have jumped into the Top 125 since the start of the Fall Series: Bill Haas, Alex Cejka, Johnson Wagner, Jesper Parnevik, Mathias Gronberg and Michael Allen. Cejka tied for sixth in Scottsdale and moved from 124th to 110th.  Lee Janzen could really use a big week. (Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage) Ben Curtis is entered in the Ginn sur Mer Classic, one week after withdrawing after eight holes of the first round of the Fry's Electronics Open due to illness. The former British Open champion was 1-under par at the time. Eric Axley and Craig Kanada are this year's iron men on TOUR. The Ginn sur Mer Classic will be Axley's 35th start of 2007. Kanada will be making his 33rd start this week. Kent Jones moved up from 141st to 134th on the money list with his tie for 16th at the Fry's Electronics Open, but more remarkable is that it continues a stellar fall run in which he started out 229th on the money list after THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. This is Joe Durant's time of year. Until the third round of the Fry's Electronics Open, Durant had cobbled together 24 straight rounds of par or better. Durant will defend his title next week in the season finale at Disney. There is only one player between 120 and 139 on the money list missing from the entry list this week: Brett Quigley, who is 126th. With two tournaments left, only 14 of 44 tournaments have been won by the leader or co-leader heading into the final round. Tiger Woods accounts for three of them. TOUR Insider's power ranking for the Ginn sur Mer Classic at Tesoro: |
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