Sleepers: Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya

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Feb. 25, 2009

The PGA TOUR is working double duty this week with tournaments in Arizona and Mexico. Here's who the PGATOUR.COM experts selected as sleeper picks for the Mayakakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun:

SLEEPER PICKS
How it works: Our 10 experts from PGATOUR.COM select any player who isn't ranked in the top 20 of the FedExCup rankings, the top 30 of the Official World Golf Rankings and hasn't won that season. By using a draft process, no two picks can be the same.
EXPERT PICKS
Who do our experts think will capture the Mayakoba Golf Classic title? Here's who they've picked to win. Click here
Sleeper picks: Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun
Expert
 
Pick order Player selected
 
Mike
McAllister
CHRIS STROUD. He's had two top-15 finishes in his first five starts, including a tie for sixth at Pebble Beach. Every other start thus far seems to produce a decent performance, and this is the "good" week for him.
Brian
Wacker
BILL LUNDE. A rookie on the PGA TOUR, Lunde hasn't been playing like one. He's played really well every other week this season, with a T14 at the 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer and T6 at a rain-shortened AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
T.J.
Auclair
BRETT QUIGLEY. He's been one of the most successful players on TOUR without a win - a label he'd love to drop. Brian Gay was in a similar situation last season, so why can't Quigley turn the trick this time around?
Lauren
Deason
STEVE MARINO. Mark my words - he's too talented not to win soon. Even if it's not this week - Marino has missed three straight cuts after starting the year with two top 25s - it will happen before the year is out.
Mark
Spoor
RICH BEEM. He's got a pair of top-15 finishes so far this season including a tie for 13th against a pretty solid field at the Northern Trust Open last week.
Ryan
Smithson
CHARLES HOWELL III. Yep, he's a sleeper all right. I couldn't believe it either. I get to keep climbing up the sleeper standings.
Ceri
Mobley
SCOTT PIERCY. A rookie with two top 25s and a top 10 in four starts is my kind of rookie. This guy is going to win this year, so let's hope it's this week to boost my sad position in the standings.
Win
McMurry
BILL HAAS. Haas is back in Mexico for the first time since the inagural 2007 tournament, where he finished fifth. He's off to a solid start in 2009 with three top 25s. Including a T9 at the Sony Open. He's another young player poised to break through.
Helen
Ross
SHIGEKI MARUYAMA. Ties for 12th and 10th in Hawaii and at Pebble Beach, respectively, have made me a believer. He's familiar with the course and motivated because his TOUR exemption evaporated when he finished 189th on the money list.
John
Swantek
CLIFF KRESGE. Fifth in Mexico last year, he fits the Brian Gay profile from a year ago; solid player for a number of years whose time has finally come.

LAST WEEK: Mark Spoor, Lauren Deason and T.J. Auclair all gained big points after their sleepers all tied for sixth last week at the Northern Trust Open. Each week, we'll update the standings based on the FedExCup points accumulated by the players selected by our experts. Here's how it stands after Week 7:

Standings after Week 7
Pos. Expert Wins Top 5s Top 10s Top 25s FedExCup points
1 Helen Ross
Chief of Correspondents, PGATOUR.COM
- 1 1 1 466.5
2 Ryan Smithson
Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM
- 1 1 2 431.75
3 Win McMurry
Host, PGA TOUR Today
- - 1 1 258.5
4 Mark Spoor
Coordinating Producer, PGATOUR.COM
- - 1 1 258.42
5 Lauren Deason
Editorial Coordinator, PGATOUR.COM
- - 1 3 245.5
6 Mike McAllister
Managing Editor, PGATOUR.COM
- 1 1 2 231.25
7 John Swantek
Fantasy Insider, PGA TOUR Productions
- - - 3 229.5
8 Brian Wacker
Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM
- - - 2 221.60
9 Ceri Mobley
Associate Producer, PGATOUR.COM
- - 1 1 191.5
10 T.J. Auclair
Interactive Producer, PGATOUR.COM
- - 1 1 182.99
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