Sleeper Picks: the Memorial Tournament

text size

May. 31, 2011

The PGA TOUR travels to Murifield Village Golf Club this week for the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance. 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. To see who our experts picked, click here.
SLEEPER PICKS
Of the players who didn't make the cut for our top picks, which have the best chance as sleepers?

MORE: Power Rankings | Inside the Field | Inside the Course | FANTASY GOLF: Play our game -- FREE!

Sleeper picks: the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance

Expert	Pick order	Player selected
Ryan Smithson			SEAN O'HAIR. I still believe this guy is on the upswing and will win a tournament before the year is out. He's too good to have missed six of his last eight cuts. Tied for 12th at Muirfield Village last year.
Amanda Balionis			BEN CURTIS. Ohio native who grew up less than 20 miles from Dublin. Finished in the top 10 in 2004, and has pretty much finished in the middle of the field for the last five years. He is consistent here and could have his breakthrough performance.
Helen Ross			J.B. HOLMES. Granted, Holmes' Memorial record isn't stellar with three missed cuts and ties for 20th and 28th (last year). But he's finished ninth and sixth in his last two starts at Quail Hollow and TPC Sawgrass, respectively, so Holmes is primed.
John Swantek			RYAN MOORE. Not a spectacular season, but has yet to miss a cut. More importantly, the former UNLV Runnin' Rebel performs very well at Muirfield Village with three top-10 finishes in the last four years.
Lauren Deason			KENNY PERRY. In his last four starts here, Perry has gone T3, won, T27 and T17. The 50-year old hasn't been on his game this year, missing three of five cuts, but this is a place he could easily find some magic.
Chris Dunham			THOMAS AIKEN. Aiken hasn't played much in the states since unsuccessful runs at q-school and on the Nationwide Tour in 2006 and 2007, but his game has come a long way. Shot 67-83 and missed the cut here in 2009 -- his only start at the Memorial.
Brian Wacker			KEVIN STREELMAN. He finished in the top 35 last year but more importantly Streelman is trending up with a tie for 19th at THE PLAYERS Championship and a tie for 10th at the Crowne Plaza Invitational in his last two starts.
Mike McAllister			PAT PEREZ. He's cooled off a bit since his three top-10s in four starts from Mid-April to early May, but Perez has posted back-to-back top-30 finishes at Murifield Village. Look for him to do the same this week.
Anne Szeker			ARJUN ATWAL. He's been flirting with the lead under the radar the last two weeks in Texas, and finished T8 last week in those tough conditions at TPC Four Seasons. He'll bring that good momentum to Muirfield Village.
John Schwarb			BO VAN PELT. He grew up in Richmond, Ind., just outside Ohio state line, and Muirfield Village must kind of feel like home -- he has two T3 finishes including last year. He finished third at Crowne Plaza two weeks ago.

Standings after 17 events

LAST WEEK: Brian Wacker boomed his way to third in the standings with Jeff Overton's T8 at TPC Four Seasons.
Position	Name	Wins	Top-5s	Top-10s	Top-25s	FedExCup points
1	Ryan Smithson Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	0	4	5	8	978.81
2	Mike McAllister Managing Editor, PGATOUR.COM	0	2	2	6	681.40
3	Brian Wacker Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	0	1	5	7	650.89
4	Anne Szeker Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	0	1	3	4	620.00
5*	Amanda Balionis Host, PGA TOUR Today	0	1	2	4	504.50
6	John Schwarb Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	0	2	2	4	483.00
7	Lauren Deason Editorial Coordinator, PGATOUR.COM	0	1	1	3	426.28
8	Helen Ross Chief of Correspondents, PGATOUR.COM	0	0	1	5	391.50
9	Chris Dunham Editorial Coordinator, PGATOUR.COM	0	2	2	3	305.84
10	John Swantek Host, On The Tee	0	0	1	2	271.44