Expert picks: The Masters

text size

The first major of the year takes place this week as the TOUR travels to Augusta, Ga. Here's how the PGATOUR.COM experts sized up the top contenders:

EXPERT PICKS How it works: Our 10 experts from PGATOUR.COM select the player they think will win this week's event. By using a draft process, no two picks can be the same. SLEEPER PICKS Of the players who didn't make the cut for our top 10 picks, which have the best chance as sleepers? Here's how our experts see it. Click here

Expert picks: the Masters

Expert   Pick order Player selected   Win McMurry TIGER WOODS. The number's at four as he chases down Jack's record of 18 major wins. I give him AT LEAST the first of the year's four majors...   John Swantek PHIL MICKELSON. Here's what you do with that 77-76 MC at Houston; flush it and forget it because Phil already has. The 35 mph winds + 29 holes in a day = no rhythm. The mental shift to Augusta happened the moment his final putt of Round 2 dropped. He'll be ready. If Swantek had the top pick ... Woods Mike McAllister GEOFF OGILVY. Ogilvy has finished progressively worse since his first Masters start in 2006 when he tied for 16th, so Augusta may not be his best course. But he's had the hottest hand on TOUR this year. Plus, he's due to win his second major. If McAllister had the top pick ... Woods T.J. Auclair PAUL CASEY. It rarely happens where a player wins on the PGA TOUR one week and then follows it up with a major the following week. In most cases I wouldn't lean in this direction, but Casey has three top-11 finishes in four starts at Augusta National. If Auclair had the top pick ... Woods Ryan Smithson ZACH JOHNSON. I am pleased to announce...with the fifth overall pick in this year's Masters draft....from Cedar Rapids, Iowa...the 2007 Masters champion...having a huge year in '09...Zach Johnson. If Smithson had the top pick ... Ogilvy Mark Spoor PADRAIG HARRINGTON. Lest we forget, Harrington has won the last two major championships. Also, he tied for fifth last year at Augusta National, so it's clear he knows his way around. If Spoor had the top pick ... Woods Brian Wacker MIKE WEIR. I have about as much faith in Weir as I do in my chances of winning the media lottery to play Augusta National on Monday, but my choices are pretty limited and he's done well here with a win, a T5 and a T11. If Wacker had the top pick ... Woods Helen Ross ERNIE ELS. So much of playing well at Augusta National is experience and Els has plenty. He's been runner-up twice in 15 starts and has four other top-10s. He hasn't missed a cut in '09, and recovered from an opening 75 for a T14 in last week's "western" Masters. If Ross had the top pick ... Woods Lauren Deason SERGIO GARCIA. It's risky to select a player who's missed the cut in three of his last four starts at the Masters, but he does also have two career top-10s at Augusta National. Besides, it'd be nice to get a free TaylorMade driver (see GolfSmith's recent offer). If Deason had the top pick ... Ogilvy Ceri Mobley RORY MCILROY. Having the last pick gave me WAY too much time to think about this. Tough choice between Rory and Robert Karlsson, but I'm going with the kid. He's just playing so well right now, and I'm 10th, so I can take chances. If Mobley had the top pick ... Harrington

LAST WEEK: Win McMurry moved even closer to Mike McAllister when her expert pick, Geoff Ogilvy, tied for sixth at the Shell Houston Open. Here's how it stands after Week 13: