April 10, 2012
PGA TOUR staff
The PGA TOUR travels to Harbour Town Golf Links this week for the RBC Heritage. Here's how the PGATOUR.COM experts sized up the top contenders:
| Expert picks: RBC Heritage |
|
Lauren
Deason |  |  | BRANDT SNEDEKER. Picking Snedeker here a year ago seemed to work out all right. He already has three top-10 finishes including a victory this year and a T19 at Augusta shows he's returning to form after a couple off weeks. | | | Ryan
Smithson |  |  | LUKE DONALD. I appreciate Deason giving me the real No. 1 pick. Brandt hasn't done much since winning at Torrey Pines, and he'd had a strong spring ahead of his Heritage win last year. Luke has three consecutive top-3s here -- but no wins. Yet. | | If Smithson had the top pick ... Donald | Mike
McAllister |  |  | JIM FURYK. Furyk won here in 2010 and also has a couple of second-place finishes. It's obviously a course that suits his game. And Furyk has been playing well lately -- a playoff loss and two 11th-place finishes in his last three starts. | | If McAllister had the top pick ... Furyk | Chris
Dunham |  |  | MATT KUCHAR. Pop quiz: How many golfers were under par in all four rounds at Augusta National? Two. Bubba Watson and wait for it Kuchar. Kooch has four consecutive top 10s overall and nary a missed cut coming into this week. | | If Dunham had the top pick ... Donald | Helen
Ross |  |  | ERNIE ELS. It would be ultimate irony if he were to become the first 2012 winner to punch his ticket to the Masters, wouldn't it? Els is playing well enough to right now and he's got history at Harbor Town with seven top-10s in 13 starts, including runner-up in 2007. | | If Ross had the top pick ... Donald | Brian
Wacker |  |  | MARK WILSON. He isn't long but doesn't need to be at Harbour Town, where iron and wedge play -- Wilson's specialty -- are what it's all about. Hitting it straight is what counts here and not many do it better than the five-time TOUR winner. | | If Wacker had the top pick ... Donald | John
Swantek |  |  | AARON BADDELEY. Something about the laid back vibe of Hilton Head always clicks with the Aussie, who has six straight top-25 finishes at Harbour Town starting with the title in 2006. Also, T4 at Pebble Beach this year, another strategic course with small greens. | | If Swantek had the top pick ... Furyk | Anne
Szeker |  |  | WEBB SIMPSON. So his final rounds haven't been great in his last two starts (78s). He hasn't missed a cut this season and has three top 10s. Also, he's finished 14th in his last two starts here. | | If Szeker had the top pick ... Donald | John
Schwarb |  |  | BO VAN PELT. Thought I'd get out of the picks basement last week ... sigh, Phil. But it's gonna happen this week with BVP, who has four top-10s on the year, a good history at Harbour Town and, oh, just a 64 in his last round at Augusta. Serious momentum. | | If Schwarb had the top pick ... Van Pelt | Amanda
Balionis |  |  | JASON DUFNER. He's been knocking on the door for the last month. Dufner had a solid performance in Hilton Head last year with a top-15 finish and I expect him to take his momentum from the last few weeks and turn it into the first victory of his career. | | If Balionis had the top pick ... Dufner | |
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| Standings after 15 events |
LAST WEEK: Amanda Balionis and John Schwarb notched top-3 finishes, but neither was able to make a move up the ranks. Things are tightening in the middle of the pack with just 20 points now separating No. 4 from No. 7.
| | Position | Name | Wins | Top-5s | Top-10s | Top-25s | MCs | FedExCup points | | 1 | Lauren Deason
Editorial Coordinator | 2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 1803.24 | | 2 | Ryan Smithson
Site Producer | 2 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 1692.75 | | 3 | Amanda Balionis
Host, PGA TOUR Today | 1 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 1584.75 | | 4 | Chris Dunham
Editorial Coordinator | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1047.58 | | 5 | Brian Wacker
Site Producer | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1037.26 | | 6 | John Swantek
Host, On The Tee | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 1031.92 | | 7 | Mike McAllister
Managing Editor | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1027.85 | | 8 | Helen Ross
Chief of Correspondents | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 838.30 | | 9 | Anne Szeker
Site Producer | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 731.67 | | 10 | John Schwarb
Site Producer | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 623.75 | |
MAKE YOUR PICK: Tell us who you expect to win this week's event.
