Sleeper Picks: Arnold Palmer Invitational

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Mar. 25, 2010

The PGA TOUR heads to Orlando for the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week. Here's how the PGATOUR.COM experts size 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: Arnold Palmer Invitational

Expert	Pick order	Player selected
Helen Ross			CARL PETTERSSON. Pettersson was a late entry when Vijay Singh withdrew and the call couldn't have come at a better time. He's got momentum and a much-needed confidence boost after last week's tie for eighth at the Transitions.
John Swantek			VAUGHN TAYLOR. He finished third here in 2007 and has played well this year: He already has two top-10 finishes. We'll see how he handles the new par 72 layout.
Lauren Deason			WEBB SIMPSON. He tied for 11th at Arnie's event last year and he's coming off a T13 at last weeks Transitions Championship. In his sophomore season on TOUR, Simpson's notched three top-35 finishes.
Brian Wacker			JASON DUFNER. He's only played four bad rounds all year and with four top-30 finishes -- plus a solid game off the tee and around the green -- I like that trend to continue this week.
Mike McAllister			TOM GILLIS. A 2009 Nationwide Tour grad, Gillis ranks 10th on TOUR in putting average and sixth all-around. At age 41 and with a family to support, Willis knows the value of making cuts. He'll grind it out all week.
Anne Szeker			DAVID DUVAL. We never know which David will show up this week, but if he can start hitting some fairways, he's always a threat. Played OK last week, but a final-round 74 kept him out of the top 25.
Nick Zaccardi			BRIAN DAVIS. Little-known fact: He got to play in the Tavistock Cup this week. He's had a downer of a year -- no top-25s so far -- but he gets hot right around this time of the year.
Ryan Smithson			D.A. POINTS. D.A. hasn't had a bad year but he's got to start making more birdies, plain and simple. Made the cut here in 2009 but I know he can do better than his tie for 53rd.

Standings after Week 11

TWO WEEKS AGO: Not a great week for sleeper picks; Ryan Smithson had the only top 25 finish:
Position	Name	Wins	Top-5s	Top-10s	Top-25s	FedExCup points
1	Ryan Smithson Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	-	1	1	2	420.92
2	Brian Wacker Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	-	2	2	2	292.5
3	Lauren Deason Editorial Coordinator, PGATOUR.COM	-	1	1	1	271.07
4	Mike McAllister Managing Editor, PGATOUR.COM	-	-	1	2	236.33
5	Helen Ross Chief of Correspondents, PGATOUR.COM	-	-	1	1	189.5
6	Nick Zaccardi Associate Site Producer. PGATOUR.COM	-	-	-	-	169
7	John Swantek Host, PGA TOUR Today	-	-	1	1	156.33
8*	Anne Szeker Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	-	-	-	-	-