Expert Picks: THE PLAYERS Championship

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May. 10, 2011

The PGA TOUR travels to TPC Sawgrass this week for THE PLAYERS Championship. Here's how the PGATOUR.COM experts sized up the top contenders:

MAKE YOUR PICKS: Tell us who you think will win this week at TPC Sawgrass.

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.
SLEEPER PICKS
Of the players who didn't make the cut for our top picks, which have the best chance as sleepers? To see who our experts picked, click here.

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Expert picks: THE PLAYERS Championship

Expert	Pick order	Player selected
Ryan Smithson			LUKE DONALD. TPC Sawgrass was made for guys like him. Coming off a much-needed week off. Is on everyone's list of players most likely to become the four consecutive non-American to win THE PLAYERS.

Chris Dunham			TIGER WOODS. Has eight top 30s in his last nine official stroke play starts on TOUR. If he strikes the ball like he did on the weekend at Augusta and makes a couple putts, he'll be celebrating wins here a decade apart.
If Dunham had the top pick ... Woods
Lauren Deason			PHIL MICKELSON. The 2007 champion has four top 10s in 10 starts this season. Though his driving has been erratic, Mickelson's short game will always allow him to be a factor at the tricky TPC Sawgrass layout.
If Deason had the top pick ... Mickelson
Mike McAllister			BEN CRANE. Tie for 4th. Tie for 5th. Tie for 6th. Those are Crane's results at THE PLAYERS the last three years. His accuracy off both the tee (12th on TOUR) and in the fairway (again, 12th) is well-suited for TPC Sawgrass.
If McAllister had the top pick ... Crane
John Schwarb			MATT KUCHAR. He's been so consistently good in 2011 that his two latest efforts, T27 at the Masters and T21 at The Heritage, almost qualify as poor. But with two weeks of rest he'll be primed for TPC Sawgrass, where he's been T13 and T14 the last two years.
If Schwarb had the top pick ... Donald
Amanda Balionis			ADAM SCOTT. Scott won THE PLAYERS in 2004 and has also notched two top 10's at TPC Sawgrass. The Aussie hasn't competed since finishing in the Top 25 in San Antonio and has had ample time to prepare for winning his second PLAYERS.
If Balionis had the top pick ... Donald
Helen Ross			BILL HAAS. He's doing a little of everything well. Haas ranks 18th in total driving, ninth in greens in regulation and 14th in strokes-gained putting. Not to mention, he has four top-10s, including a tie for fourth last week where he was in the mix all four days.
If Ross had the top pick ... Haas
Anne Szeker			SERGIO GARCIA. The 2008 champion finally seems to be getting his confidence in his game back. He hasn't missed a cut in his four starts on TOUR, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a strong performance by him this week.
If Szeker had the top pick ... Donald
Brian Wacker			NICK WATNEY. He doesn't exactly have a great record at TPC Sawgrass -- his best finish was a tie for 17th last year -- but Watney has had big year. He also hits it straight enough and is one of the best ball-strikers on TOUR.
If Wacker had the top pick ... Donald
John Swantek			MARTIN KAYMER.I have no problem taking the world's 2nd ranked player with the 10th pick. Just a gut feeling that the stoic German -- much in the mold of Henrik Stenson -- may methodically take apart the course and the field.
If Swantek had the top pick ... Donald

Standings after 19 events

LAST WEEK: Mike McAllister added a few points to his lead while Anne Szeker climbed up a spot to No. 7.
Position	Name	Wins	Top-5s	Top-10s	Top-25s	FedExCup points
1	Mike McAllister Managing Editor, PGATOUR.COM	1	6	6	12	2078.71
2	Lauren Deason Editorial Coordinator, PGATOUR.COM	2	6	8	9	1942.15
3	Ryan Smithson Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	1	4	5	9	1238.82
4	Brian Wacker Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	0	2	4	11	1142.58
5	John Swantek Host, On The Tee	1	3	6	9	1133.60
6	Chris Dunham Editorial Coordinator, PGATOUR.COM	0	2	7	9	796.99
7	Anne Szeker Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	0	1	2	10	748.04
8	John Schwarb Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	0	0	5	9	725.37
9	Helen Ross Chief of Correspondents, PGATOUR.COM	0	0	3	8	582.40
10*	Amanda Balionis Host, PGA TOUR Today	0	0	0	1	170.00