Feb. 24, 2009
The top 64 players in the world will participate in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship this week. Here's how the PGATOUR.COM experts sized up the top contenders:
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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 |
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| Expert picks: Accenture Match Play Championship |
Mike
McAllister |
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TIGER WOODS. There's the knee. There's the rust from his layoff. There's the unpredictability of match play. All are ways that Tiger could lose. But he wouldn't come back if he didn't think he could win. Time for another storybook finish.
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Brian
Wacker |
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PHIL MICKELSON. He's never made the final four, much less won, but he plays well in the desert and seems to have found something in his swing. He's got a favorable bracket and the stars seem to be aligned for a showdown with Tiger. |
| If Wacker had the top pick ... Woods |
T.J.
Auclair |
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GEOFF OGILVY. Already a TOUR winner in 2009, Ogilvy won at Accenture in 2006 and was the runner-up in 2007. Three of his five TOUR wins have come in World Golf Championships events. That trend could continue in Tucson. |
| If Auclair had the top pick ... Woods |
Lauren
Deason |
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HENRIK STENSON. He's sixth in the Official World Golf Rankings, so there's no denying that he's hot right now. Stenson also won this event in 2007 - his only PGA TOUR victory to date -- and finished third at Accenture last season. |
| If Deason had the top pick ... Woods |
Mark
Spoor |
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SERGIO GARCIA. He always seems to be in the mix in the big events lately. He's won twice on the European Tour this year and has yet to finish lower than 11th. |
| If Spoor had the top pick ... Woods |
Ryan
Smithson |
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ROBERT KARLSSON. Tall Swedish players who hit it a billion yards tend to do well at this event, which is about the most in-depth analysis you're going to get for this week's shootout. |
| If Smithson had the top pick ... Woods |
Ceri
Mobley |
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ANTHONY KIM. Sure it's his first time at Accenture, but I think we all remember how he handled Sergio Garcia in Sunday singles at the Ryder Cup. I'm all for seeing more of that. |
| If Mobley had the top pick ... Woods |
Win
McMurry |
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STEWART CINK. Stewart comes into the Match Play as the runner-up last year, and he's got tons of head-to-head experience. On any given day, Cink can light it up with the best of them. |
| If McMurry had the top pick ... Woods |
Helen
Ross |
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DAVIS LOVE III. Davis has reached the championship match twice, falling 3 and 2 to Tiger Woods in '04 and losing to Geoff Ogilvy by the same score in '06. He's also one of America's most experienced in Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup play. |
| If Ross had the top pick ... Woods |
John
Swantek |
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STEVE STRICKER. Can't find a fairway with a compass, but the man knows how to score. That will keep him in matches until he wears down his frustrated opponents. No one in his half of the Hogan bracket scares me. |
| If Swantek had the top pick ... Woods |
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LAST WEEK: Mike McAllister took a chance on Phil Mickelson last week and earned his second win of the season. 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 |
| 1 |
Mike McAllister
Managing Editor, PGATOUR.COM |
2 |
1 |
1 |
- |
1,310.5 |
| 2 |
Brian Wacker
Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM |
1 |
1 |
1 |
- |
819.5 |
| 3 |
Win McMurry
Host, PGA TOUR Today |
- |
2 |
- |
2 |
479 |
| 4 |
Lauren Deason
Editorial Coordinator, PGATOUR.COM |
- |
1 |
- |
1 |
437 |
| 5 |
John Swantek
Fantasy Insider, PGA TOUR Productions |
- |
1 |
- |
3 |
384.72 |
| 6 |
Ceri Mobley
Associate Producer, PGATOUR.COM |
- |
1 |
1 |
2 |
334.5 |
| 7 |
T.J. Auclair
Interactive Producer, PGATOUR.COM |
- |
1 |
- |
2 |
324 |
| 8 |
Mark Spoor
Coordinating Producer, PGATOUR.COM |
- |
- |
1 |
1 |
249.16 |
| 9 |
Helen Ross
Chief of Correspondents, PGATOUR.COM |
- |
- |
- |
3 |
221.72 |
| 10 |
Ryan Smithson
Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
110.20 |
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