A leader in the clubhouse (and stat sheet)

Turner's open-minded approach comes from long baseball journey

- ETHAN DIAMANDAS

On a sunny day in mid-April, a foursome of Blue Jays players marched the freshly cut fairways of Torrey Pines in San Diego, stoked for their first 18 holes of the year.

Chris Bassitt, clad in a flowery polo, was the big bomber, with long limbs propelling his deep drives. Ernie Clement was the wedge man, shaving strokes off his game with perfect approaches to the green. Davis Schneider, short and stocky, held his own with a well-rounded game.

And Justin Turner? "It was a little rusty, but I'll take it for the first day out in three months," he said, his final score of 88 far behind Clement, who led the group with a 74.

While Torrey Pines hosted the 2008 U.S. Open, the coastal course didn't quite match the stakes of a major-league field, so the players upped the ante. There was plenty of cash on the line - no one admitted how much and they spiced it up with long-drive competitions and putting contests throughout the six-hour endeavour. Clement, a scratch golfer, cleaned everyone's pockets.

Amid the chirps and button-pushing on a day off before a series against the Padres, the outing brought the group closer together. They laughed. They shared stories, like how Bassitt met his wife at a ball game in North Carolina, when he wrote his phone number on a baseball and tossed it to her in the stands. Everyone let their guard down and personalities came alive.

That's the Turner effect.