Expert Picks: THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola
Sep. 21, 2010
The PGA TOUR travels to Atlanta this week for THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. Here's how the PGATOUR.COM experts sized up the top contenders:
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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.
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| Expert picks: THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola |
Ryan
Smithson |
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PHIL MICKELSON. Hey, it's Georgia and he's the defending champ. If Phil can come out and actually hit some fairways, he will be tough to beat on this layout. Then again, everyone on the planet thought he'd have more than one victory this season.
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Brian
Wacker |
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 | PAUL CASEY. He's been in good form since getting snubbed for the Ryder Cup, and a win in THE TOUR Championship would net him the FedExCup title. Just another reason he should have been picked by Colin Montgomerie.
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| If Wacker had the top pick ... Casey |
John
Swantek |
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MATT KUCHAR. The FedExCup points leader has earned the top Playoffs seed as the PGA TOUR's steadiest performer since January. Fittingly, the former Georgia Tech star finishes the job in Atlanta in front of a partisan crowd.
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| If Swantek had the top pick ... Kuchar |
Lauren
Deason |
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STEVE STRICKER. He is obviously as good as anyone in the world when it comes to Playoffs pressure, and it's mildly surprising that Stricker hasn't yet won on this classic layout. He finished sixth here last year after a 66-69 finish.
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| If Deason had the top pick ... Kuchar |
Anne
Szeker |
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DUSTIN JOHNSON. Hard to go for the back-to-back wins, especially during the Playoffs, but he's had a week to rest and there's arguably few players who have been more consistent in this final stretch of the season.
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| If Szeker had the top pick ... Casey |
Casey
Black |
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JUSTIN ROSE. He's already won twice this season and should have had a third until that Sunday swoon at the Travelers Championship. Like Casey, he's not playing in the Ryder Cup, so he will want to end his season on a strong note.
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| If Black had the top pick ... Mickelson |
Mike
McAllister |
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JIM FURYK. Ranked 11th in points, he'll need lots of pieces to fall into place in order to win win the FedExCup. But winning the tournament would be a sweet ending to a Playoffs run that started out on a rather sleepy note.
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| If McAllister had the top pick ... Casey |
Helen
Ross |
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ERNIE ELS. He's posted top-10 finishes in four of his last five starts at East Lake so the Big Easy certainly has a comfort zone here. Not to mention, this is a golden opportunity to wrap up PGA TOUR Player of the Year.
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| If Ross had the top pick ... Kuchar |
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| Standings after Week 36 |
LAST EVENT: Helen Ross had the only top five among the group when Matt Kuchar tied for third at the BMW Championship:
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| Position |
Name |
Wins |
Top-5s |
Top-10s |
Top-25s |
FedExCup points |
| 1 |
Lauren Deason
Editorial Coordinator, PGATOUR.COM |
2 |
3 |
8 |
19 |
4,867.22 |
| 2 |
Ryan Smithson
Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM |
5 |
7 |
9 |
18 |
4,193.18 |
| 3 |
John Swantek
Host, On The Tee |
1 |
4 |
5 |
16 |
3,806.33 |
| 4* |
Anne Szeker
Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM |
2 |
6 |
9 |
13 |
3,176.32 |
| 5 |
Brian Wacker
Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM |
1 |
9 |
11 |
12 |
3,129.34 |
| 6 |
Helen Ross
Chief of Correspondents, PGATOUR.COM |
1 |
3 |
8 |
15 |
2,943.24 |
| 7 |
Mike McAllister
Managing Editor, PGATOUR.COM |
1 |
2 |
7 |
17 |
2,450.45 |
| 8* |
Casey Black
Host, PGA TOUR Today |
1 |
4 |
5 |
7 |
2,010.66 |
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