FedExCup Winner's Share: 600 •
Yards: 7,220

Sleeper Picks: THE PLAYERS Championship

May. 4, 2010

The PGA TOUR heads to THE PLAYERS Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., 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: THE PLAYERS Championship

Expert	Pick order	Player selected
Mike McAllister			BRIAN DAVIS. Just five players on the PGA TOUR have lower par-3 stroke averages than Davis' 2.97 average. If nothing else, that should serve Davis well on TPC Sawgrass' four par 3s.
Ryan Smithson			STEVE MARINO. This guy is always the prerequisite No. 1 sleeper pick, and he will be until he wins, which is expected to be sometime in the next 15 years. He's got four top-25s in his last five starts.
Anne Szeker			RYUJI IMADA. The young guns have been stepping up at big tournaments this year, so maybe this could be Imada's week. He's suffering from some broken ribs, but here's hoping he can play through pain.
Casey Black			RICKY BARNES. He always seems to be a contender at big events and some would argue there's no bigger stage than THE PLAYERS. Will he finally earn his first win this week?
Lauren Deason			ALVARO QUIROS. This big-hitting Spaniard won last week on the European Tour but is still waiting for that first PGA TOUR win. He tied for sixth at the WGC-CA Championship earlier this season and finished T14 at TPC Scottsdale.
Helen Ross			J.J. HENRY. His record at TPC Sawgrass isn't that good, but I like the way he hung tough on Sunday at Quail Hollow. This would be a great place to break that four-year victory drought.
John Swantek			DAVIS LOVE III. The Tar Heel showed flashes in Charlotte last week (T17) and was in the hunt until a Sunday 76. Still, Sawgrass record is simply too good to ignore; when you've won twice there, you always have a chance.
Brian Wacker			JASON DUFNER. I'm just going to keep picking Dufner until he doesn't qualify as a sleeper because he's a solid pick in almost any week. He has four tops-25s this year, including a T7 in New Orleans a couple weeks ago. He was T32 in his first PLAYERS last year.
Nick Zaccardi			FRANCESCO MOLINARI. His brother isn't here, so it's up to Francesco to carry the Italian hopes this week. He's racked up steady finishes on both sides of the pond, and I hope that continues in his PLAYERS debut. He's missed one cut on either Tour since June.

Standings after Week 17

LAST WEEK:	Helen Ross earned 52 points thanks to Davis Love III, while Casey Black picked up 46 points with Ricky Barnes:
Position	Name	Wins	Top-5s	Top-10s	Top-25s	FedExCup points
1	Ryan Smithson Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	-	1	1	3	513.07
2	Helen Ross Chief of Correspondents, PGATOUR.COM	-	1	2	4	437.75
3	Brian Wacker Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	-	2	3	3	384.5
4	Lauren Deason Editorial Coordinator, PGATOUR.COM	-	1	1	1	327.07
5	Mike McAllister Managing Editor, PGATOUR.COM	-	-	1	3	321.33
6	John Swantek Host, PGA TOUR Today	-	-	2	3	316.33
7	Nick Zaccardi Associate Site Producer. PGATOUR.COM	-	-	-	2	292
8*	Casey Black Host, PGA TOUR Today	-	-	1	3	249.5
9*	Anne Szeker Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	-	-	-	-	24.67