Picks: Knoxville Open presented by Food City

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Jun. 14, 2009

Knoxville Open presented by Food City: Tee times | Field | Power Rankings | MORE: St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx | Sleepers

PGATOUR.COM will have expert picks and sleepers for each Nationwide Tour event this year. Our experts -- Nationwide Tour producer Ceri Mobley and marketing assistant Jordan Crampton, who formerly worked for the Nationwide Tour -- will each choose two players they consider favorites that week and a sleeper pick (a player who is not inside "THE 25"). Here are their selections for this week's Knoxville Open presented by Food City.
Crampton's picks Mobley's picks
Kyle Reifers. Reifers finished really well here last season with a tie for third. It's been an up-and-down year so far, but Reifers has too much game to be outside "THE 25" at this point in the season. Hopefully, he can draw on last year's experience here and get the job done.
Hunter Haas. No, it's not just the name. Hunter has won this tournament before. Twice. That means he knows how to play here, and if you ignore his missed cut last week, he's coming off ties for 13th and 14th in his last few starts, so hopefully his game is sharpening up just in time.
Adam Bland. I'm sticking with the hot hand again this week, Bland tied for 12th for me last week, and his game has been very solid so far this year with only one missed cut. If Bland continues to consistently make cuts, it's only a matter of time before he notches that first Nationwide Tour win.
D.J. Brigman. I went with Brigman last week, and it didn't exactly pay off, but he tied for third in Knoxville last year, and he has two top-five finishes in his last three starts, so I like his chances at Fox Den. He also hasn't missed a cut since mid April, and that shows he has confidence in his game.
Crampton's sleeper Mobley's sleeper
Craig Bowden. A pair of top 15s in his last three starts has put Bowden in a good position after a tough start to his year. He did miss the cut here last season, but he finished inside the top 20 in 2006 -- the same year he finished fourth on the Nationwide Tour Money List.
Chris Baryla. Chris Baryla has only made two starts on the Nationwide Tour this season, but they've both been solid -- ties for fourth and 12th -- and they've both been recent. Six rounds in the 60s -- including a 63 at The Rex Hospital Open -- show me this guy is ready to move into "THE 25."

LAST WEEK: Mobley closed the gap between her and Crampton a little, but with no huge finishes out of either expert's picks, there wasn't much movement last week.

Standings after week 11
Pos. Expert Wins Top 5s Top 10s Top 25s Money earned
1 Jordan Crampton
Marketing Assistant, PGATOUR.COM
2 - 3 3 $324,833.78
2 Ceri Mobley
Associate Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM
- 4 2 5 $236,637.21
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