Expert picks: Mercedes-Benz Championship

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It's a new year ... and a new format for PGATOUR.com's weekly expert picks and sleeper selections. We've changed the list of experts who are doing the selecting, as well as changing the process of how we're making our picks. Instead of having 10 experts each trying to explain why Tiger is their favorite, we are now taking a page from fantasy sports and "drafting" our picks.

Here's how it'll work: The expert with the top pick can choose anybody in the field. The expert with the second pick can choose anybody except the No. 1 pick. The expert with the third pick can choose anybody except the first two picks ... and so on through the 10 picks.

Just to make sure our experts with the lower picks don't get bent out of shape, we'll provide each expert's overall top pick. And the order of the draft will be determined by the previous week's results (since the Mercedes-Benz Championship is the season opener, this week's order was drawn randomly).

And who'll do the picking? Here are our 10 experts this year (in alphabetical order):

T.J. Auclair, Interactive Producer, PGATOUR.com
Lauren Deason, Editorial Coordinator, PGATOUR.com
Mike McAllister, Managing Editor, PGATOUR.com
Win McMurry, Host, PGA TOUR Today
Ceri Mobley, Associate Producer, PGATOUR.com
Helen Ross, Chief of Correspondents, PGATOUR.com
Ryan Smithson, Producer, PGATOUR.com
Mark Spoor, Coordinating Producer, PGATOUR.com
John Swantek, Fantasy Insider, PGA TOUR Productions
Brian Wacker, Producer, PGATOUR.com

All right, now that the explanations are out of the way, here are the expert picks for this week's Mercedes-Benz Championship in Maui.

Expert picks: Mercedes-Benz Championship

Expert   Pick order Player selected   Lauren Deason VIJAY SINGH. Singh won the Chevron World Challenge to close out 2008 after a three-month injury break. The 2007 champion at Kapalua is ready to pick up right where he left off last season.   Win McMurry ANTHONY KIM. After a breakthrough season, this rising superstar is making his first start in Maui. At the last event of the year, the Chevron World Challenge, he was again in contention in a first-class field. Look for him to ride that momentum throughout 2009. If McMurry had the top pick ... Vijay Singh Mark Spoor CAMILO VILLEGAS. Take a look at not only the way he ended last season, but how he played in marquee events. Along with his wins in the final two Playoff events, he was T3 at the Deutsche Bank, T4 at the PGA Championship and T9 at the U.S. Open. If Spoor had the top pick ... Camilo Villegas Brian Wacker J.B. HOLMES. Kapalua can be a bomber's paradise and that's right up Holmes' alley. The sultan of swat also plays his best golf early in the season -- six of his eight career top 10s, including a T4 at the '07 Mercedes, have come before April. If Wacker had the top pick ... J.B. Holmes Mike McAllister GEOFF OGILVY. He played well in two big Australian events in December, so consider this a momentum pick. But the Plantation course has not been kind to Ogilvy; he's a collective 7 over in eight rounds in Maui. If McAllister had the top pick ... Anthony Kim Ceri Mobley STEWART CINK. He has played just three times at Kapalua but has never finished worse than T12. Why not follow up a hot 2008 with a sizzling start to '09? If Mobley had the top pick ... Anthony Kim John Swantek DAVIS LOVE III. Healthy and confident, with the momentum from the late-season Disney win rolling into '09. Love is motivated to earn a Presidents Cup berth without Fred Couples having to burn a Captains pick on him. If Swantek had the top pick ... Vijay Singh Helen Ross BOO WEEKLEY. He has shown he can win at Harbour Town. Now it's time to hoist a trophy outside the state of South Carolina. If Ross had the top pick ... Anthony Kim T.J. Auclair K.J. CHOI. It takes a lot of discipline to negotiate the brutal winds players will face at the Plantation Course. Choi is one of the coolest, even-keeled players out there. If Auclair had the top pick ... Anthony Kim Ryan Smithson KENNY PERRY. He should be well rested, and I like how he played late in the season in South Africa. If Smithson had the top pick ... Vijay Singh