Sleeper Picks: AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

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Feb. 9, 2010

The PGA TOUR visits the scenic Monterey Peninsula this week for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Here's how the PGATOUR.COM experts sized up the top contenders:

EXPERT PICKS
How it works: Our 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. The player who wins the previous week picks last the following week. Click here
SLEEPER PICKS
Of the players who didn't make the cut for our top picks, which have the best chance as sleepers? Here's how our experts see it.
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Sleeper picks: AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

Expert	Pick order	Player selected
Helen Ross			DAVIS LOVE III. Love, the newly-named Ryder Cup assistant, is a two-time champion of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Granted, he missed the cut last week, but he tied for fifth at the Sony Open in Hawaii so he's obviously playing well.
Brian Wacker			STEVE MARINO. He missed the cut in his only other trip to Pebble Beach in 2007, but Marino has 15 top-10s the last three years and is coming off a tie for fifth at the Northern Trust. This would be known as a momentum pick.
Mike McAllister			WEBB SIMPSON. The second-year pro came on strong over the weekend at Riviera and seems poised to produce his first top-10 of the season. He didn't play well at Pebble last year, but he won't have the first-time jitters this week.
Ryan Smithson			KEVIN STADLER. Good start this year, with two top-25s in three starts. He's in the top 10 in approaches 175-200 yards (8th) and 75-100 yards (first). The courses this week demand those kind of shots.
Nick Zaccardi			RICKIE FOWLER. Young Fowler is turning into a real all-or-nothing play. After a strong finish in '09, he's played 17 over in three missed cuts this year, but the one cut he did make he finished T5. I'll roll the dice.
John Swantek			JOHN MALLINGER. I'm completely unconcerned that he's missed three straight cuts to start the season, because the SoCal native always starts very slowly -- until he gets to Pebble Beach -- where he has twice finished third.
Lauren Deason			ADAM SCOTT. Capped off 2009 with three top-10 finishes on the European Tour, so he won't be a sleeper for long. Though he missed the cut at Riviera last week, he did win there in dreary weather in 2005, so he can handle Pebble's rains.

Standings after Week 4

LAST WEEK: Helen Ross barely moved past Mike McAllister last week, while John Swantek and Ryan Smithson both moved up a spot after the Northern Trust Open:
Position	Name	Wins	Top-5s	Top-10s	Top-25s	FedExCup points
1	Lauren Deason Editorial Coordinator, PGATOUR.COM	-	1	1	1	214.33
2	Helen Ross Chief of Correspondents, PGATOUR.COM	-	-	1	1	150
3	Mike McAllister Managing Editor, PGATOUR.COM	-	-	1	2	149.33
4	John Swantek Host, PGA TOUR Today	-	-	1	1	120.83
5	Brian Wacker Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	-	1	1	1	100
6	Ryan Smithson Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	-	-	-	-	71.92
7	Nick Zaccardi Associate Site Producer. PGATOUR.COM	-	-	-	-	61