Sleeper Picks: Valero Texas Open

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May. 12, 2010

The PGA TOUR heads to a new course this week, TPC San Antonio, for the Valero Texas Open. 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: Valero Texas Open

Expert	Pick order	Player selected
John Swantek			CHRIS STROUD. On a roll with three straight strong finishes, highlighted by T10 at THE PLAYERS. The Texan can also handle windy conditions in San Antonio, where he finished T6 in 2008.
Helen Ross			CHARLEY HOFFMAN. He played with Tim Clark last week at TPC Sawgrass and posted his best finish of the season, a tie for 22nd. Maybe the karma of his good friend's victory Sunday will rub off and spur his on.
Nick Zaccardi			FREDRIK JACOBSEN. The Swede could be the next player to cross off the list of best yet to win a PGA TOUR event. He's got four top-25s in his last five starts with one missed cut all year.
Brian Wacker			J.J. HENRY. Henry grew up in Connecticut but is a full-blown Texan now after going to school at TCU and settling down there. He's also played well of late with two top-15s in the last four weeks.
Anne Szeker			BILLY MAYFAIR. He ranks eighth in GIR and seventh in ballstriking, which hopefully will work to his advantage at this new course. Opened 68-68 at Quail Hollow, his last start on the PGA TOUR, and ended up T14 for the tournament.
Ryan Smithson			GREG OWEN. Tough to pick a sleeper without any course history, so must go with a good ballstriker and hope they putt well enough. Owen has hit the ball great this year, but his putting has been lackluster. He had an extra two days to work on it last week.
Casey Black			TROY MERRITT. Merritt's best finish this season was an impressive third at the Zurich Classic. Hopefully he gained some more experince playing in the final round of THE PLAYERS with No. 2 Phil Mickelson last week.
Mike McAllister			GRAHAM DELAET. The last time the TOUR was in Texas, the Canadian finished tied for third. On a beefy course that measures more than 7,500 yards, DeLaet's power off the tee -- he ranks fifth in driving distance -- should serve him well.
Lauren Deason			BOBBY GATES.He's leading the Nationwide Tour money list after kicking off his year with a win and a third-place finish. He's taking a break from that circuit to play in Texas this week, where he attended school at Texas A&M.

Standings after Week 18

LAST WEEK:	John Swantek picked up 115 points with his Davis Love III pick:
Position	Name	Wins	Top-5s	Top-10s	Top-25s	FedExCup points
1	Ryan Smithson Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	-	1	1	3	552.07
2	Helen Ross Chief of Correspondents, PGATOUR.COM	-	1	2	4	448.75
3	John Swantek Host, PGA TOUR Today	-	1	3	4	431.33
4	Brian Wacker Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	-	2	3	3	384.5
5	Lauren Deason Editorial Coordinator, PGATOUR.COM	-	1	1	1	332.07
6	Mike McAllister Managing Editor, PGATOUR.COM	-	-	1	3	321.33
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	-	-	-	-	54.67