The McGladrey Classic: Potter can produce his wizardry, says The Punter

Ted Potter Jr, one of The Punter's seven for starters

Our man hasn't had any problem finding candidates for this week's Fall Series event from Georgia but he's managed to restrict himself to just seven Sea Island selections for starters...

Tournament History
This is just the third staging of the McGladrey Classic.

Venue
Seaside Course, Sea Island, Georgia

Course Details
Par 70, 7,055 yards
Stroke index in 2011 - 69.57

Originally made up of two separate nine hole courses - a 1929 Colt and Alison classic and a Joe Lee 1973 creation called the Marchside Nine, the Seaside Course was created in 1999 when Tom Fazio combined the two. Positioned right on the southern tip of St.Simons Island this sea-side links style Bermudagrass course is susceptible to very windy conditions, though the forecast suggests it won't blow too hard this week.

Useful Sites
Event Site
Course Map
Tee Times
Weather Forecast

TV Coverage
Live on Sky at 7.00pm, Thursday - Sunday.

First Two Winners
2011 - Ben Crane -15 (playoff)
2010 - Heath Slocum -14

What will it take to win the McGladrey Classic?
Length off the tee is almost an irrelevance this week - it's all about accuracy and good putting. These Bermuda greens are tricky and fast and you don't want to be trying to find them from the rough. Look to players with good Greens In Regulation stats.

In-Play Tactics
Given that there's only been two McGladrey Classics, we don't have an awful lot to go on but looking at the evidence we do have, slow-starters will struggle. Both Ben Crane and Heath Slocum were inside the top-seven after day one and last year, none of the top-ten on the final leaderboard were worse than tied 16th after round one. If you're planning to play in-running, it may be worth doing so early on.

Market Leaders
Sea Island resident, Zach Johnson, heads the market and so he should. He has all the right attributes to succeed here and he'll know the course well. He finished tied 12th in 2010, after a slow start, before surprisingly missing the cut last year. In fine form when last sighted at the Ryder Cup, if he can get out of the blocks a bit faster he could take all the beating.

Jim Furyk's loss to Sergio Garcia at the Ryder Cup will be one of my abiding Medinah memories. I like Jim and seeing him capitulate was quite a sad sight. The way he wilted was reminiscent of his collapses at the Bridgestone Invitational and the US Open, earlier on in the season and I fear he'll find it hard to win again. He's a winner at nearby Hilton Head and like Zach, this will be right up his street but he's not for me at such a short price.

Jason Day just doesn't win anywhere enough to be considered at a similar price to Jim and fourth best Jonas Blixt looks short enough too. Having finished third two weeks ago, before winning last week's Frys.com, he's clearly in top-form but back-to-back's a huge ask, especially for someone who this time last week was looking for his first win.

Selections
I had no problem whatsoever in finding candidates but getting the prices I wanted was a different matter. I was quite keen on the chances of Michael Thomson but a number of shrewd judges beat me to the price there and he's a shade too short now at just 40.039/1. Others I liked include David Toms, George McNeil and Sean O'Hair but in the end I've plumped for seven big outsiders from the get-go.

Given a fast start looks important, the field should whittle down very quickly and I'm going to concentrate most of my efforts in-running. That's the plan anyway but he's my seven for starters...

Chez Reavie's tied 16 at last week's Frys.com was a fair effort after an opening 73 and he played well at the back end of last season too. Once he struck form, he finished in the top-ten three times and he should have won the Deutsche Bank Championship, where he lost in a playoff to Webb Simpson. He's not long off the tee but he's very accurate and this is definitely a venue he can thrive at.

Like Reavie, Garth Mulroy also opened up with a lacklustre 73 last week, before climbing the leaderboard, eventually finishing tied 29th. He's a very solid putter with a very accurate game off the tee. He already has a fourth and a first placed finish in Georgia on the Web.com to his name and given that he very nearly did me a huge favour at the recent Italian Open, I thought I'd give him another chance here.

Chad Campbell, Brian Gay and Rory Sabbatini all have form at similar venues to this one, most noticeably Waialae, home of the Sony Open in Hawaii, and all three have shown brief glimpses of form of late. It takes a bit of faith to believe they can figure this week but they're priced-up accordingly.

You really would have thought event host and Sea Island resident, Davis Love III, would just want a break after captaining the US Team in the Ryder Cup but having played in the last two events, and fairly well too, he pitches up here as well. It's a big ask, but 190.0189/1 is a big price.

My final pick is Ted Potter Jr, nicknamed The Wizard, who has already won in this, his first season on the PGA Tour, having taken the Greenbrier Classic back in July. He understandably went off the boil a bit after that and he hasn't been since shooting 81 in the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship, but the break might just do him some good. He opened up the season with an eye-catching tied 13th at the Sony Open which is basically why I'm backing him. That was his only other decent finish this season and it was on the course I'd suggest matches Sea Island the closest.

Selections:
Chez Reavie @ 140.0139/1
Garth Mulroy @ 140.0139/1
Chad Campbell @ 160.0159/1
Brian Gay @ 170.0169/1
Rory Sabbatini @ 180.0179/1
Davis Love @ 190.0189/1
Ted Potter Jr @ an average of 270.0]

I'll be back later with my preview for the Perth International.