Sleeper 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:

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?

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Sleeper picks: THE PLAYERS Championship

Expert	Pick order	Player selected
Ryan Smithson			PAUL GOYDOS. Playing much better after a horrible start to 2011. Tied for ninth at The Heritage, which just bolsters the thought that Goydos is best suited to tight tracks with small greens, like TPC Sawgrass.
Chris Dunham			RYUJI IMADA. Was on pace to shoot 144-under for the event after one hole after eagling No. 10 to open the 2010 PLAYERS. Imada hasn't played particularly well this year but has made three of the last four cuts at TPC Sawgrass.
Lauren Deason			CHRIS STROUD. Stroud posted three rounds under par and finished tied for 10th last year in his first trip to TPC Sawgrass. Six of his eight rounds the last two weeks have been at par or better so his game is coming into form.
Mike McAllister			MATTEO MANASSERO. He turned 18 just last month and will be the youngest player to ever compete at THE PLAYERS. Being unfamiliar with TPC Sawgrass will be his biggest challenge this week.
John Schwarb			FREDRIK JACOBSON. With six top-25 finishes this year including three top-10s, he usually finds a place on this page. He was T10 last year in his seventh start at THE PLAYERS, and has a solid base of TPC Sawgrass experience.
Amanda Balionis			KEVIN NA. He's coming off a 5th place finish at Quail Hollow which is his fourth top 10 of year. Na is also leading the TOUR in fairways. He placed T3 in 2009 at TPC Sawgrass including turning in an impressive bogey-free 66 in Round 2.
Helen Ross			JOHN ROLLINS. He hasn't quite put it all together this year, but he's going in the right direction. Rollins is fourth in total driving and 14th in greens in regulation. If his putter will cooperate, he could contend. He's been 13th or better twice in his last five starts here.
Anne Szeker			SCOTT VERPLANK. I'm basing this pick off his T13 finish here last year and the fact that he's been playing pretty consistently so far in 2011, including a nice T9 at The Heritage in his last start. He ranks sixth in driving accuracy.
Brian Wacker			ALEX CEJKA. I'm going purely based on past history here. Cejka was in the final group on Sunday two years ago before finishing T9 and in 2004 he tied for 12th. The flip side is that Cejka doesn't even have a top-10 this year, but I think he rights the ship here.
John Swantek			DAVIS LOVE III. The 47-year-old is clearly transitioning into his role as 2012 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, but TPC Sawgrass remains a course where he can still be a factor. Don't discount the experience of winning twice and finishing T4 last year.

Standings after 15 events

LAST WEEK: Lauren Deason moved from No. 8 to No. 6 in the standings when her selection, Davis Love III, finished tied for 16th at Quail Hollow.
Position	Name	Wins	Top-5s	Top-10s	Top-25s	FedExCup points
1	Ryan Smithson Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	0	3	3	6	704.98
2	Mike McAllister Managing Editor, PGATOUR.COM	0	2	2	6	676.40
3	Anne Szeker Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	0	1	3	4	604.00
4	Brian Wacker Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	0	1	4	6	578.39
5	Helen Ross Chief of Correspondents, PGATOUR.COM	0	0	1	5	391.50
6	Lauren Deason Editorial Coordinator, PGATOUR.COM	0	1	1	2	305.50
7	John Schwarb Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	0	1	1	3	288.00
8	Chris Dunham Editorial Coordinator, PGATOUR.COM	0	2	2	3	287.84
9	John Swantek Host, On The Tee	0	0	1	1	209.16
10*	Amanda Balionis Host, PGA TOUR Today	0	0	1	3	204.50