October 23, 2012
PGA TOUR staff
The PGA TOUR travels to The MINES Resort & Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for the CIMB Classic this week. Here's how the PGATOUR.COM experts sized up the top contenders:
| Expert Picks: CIMB Classic |
|
Chris
Dunham |  |  | TIGER WOODS. A small leap of faith with Tiger at No. 1. Yes, he's won three times this season, but his victories were at three courses he's had great success at in the past. Granted, how many courses has he not been successful on? | | | John
Swantek |  |  | JASON DUFNER. One of the best United States Ryder Cuppers picked up where he left off in Medinah with a strong runner-up finish to Bo Van Pelt at the Perth International in Australia. This week it's payback, as Dufner will beat the defending champion Van Pelt. | | If Swantek had the top pick ... Dufner | Helen
Ross |  |  | BO VAN PELT. He's the defending champion, and he's got the hot hand after beating Jason Dufner by two shots on Sunday in Perth. In my book, that makes for a potent combination. Plus, he's always been one of the top putters -- which never hurts. | | If Ross had the top pick ... Van Pelt | Mike
McAllister |  |  | NICK WATNEY. The Barclays champ bounced back from a disappointing showing at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola with a T10 in Las Vegas. His putting has been a trouble spot this year but perhaps he'll find his touch overseas. | | If McAllister had the top pick ... Woods | Ryan
Smithson |  |  | JOHN SENDEN. In his 20th year as a professional, this guy is starting to show that he is one of the better players in the world. Finally had a decent putting year in 2012 and still hits the ball great. I see him winning two to three times in his 40s. | | If Smithson had the top pick ... Dufner | Lauren
Deason |  |  | BEN CRANE. Crane, the 2010 winner, shot all four rounds in the 60s last year en route to a T20. He went low with a third-round 62 in the third round of The McGladrey Classic and I think he'll keep up the good play this week. | | If Deason had the top pick ... Woods | John
Schwarb |  |  | JEFF OVERTON. I was on the Hoosier at Frys.com and he finished eighth; I'll go back to the well in Malaysia. He was runner-up last year and shot a course-record 62 in the second round; surely he'll think of that on the long plane ride. | | If Schwarb had the top pick ... Overton | Anne
Szeker |  |  | CAMERON TRINGALE. Tringale finished in a tie for fourth at this stop last year, so I'm not going to let his four recent missed cuts deter me. He's had four top 10s and eight top 25s this season and I think he'll get on a roll once again. | | If Szeker had the top pick ... Woods | Amanda
Balionis |  |  | SEUNG-YUL NOH. Making his first start since the BMW, Noh was on a roll, making 17 consecutive cuts and carding all three of his top 10s from 2012 in that time. Noh has two international wins while posting 13 top 20s in 31 worldwide starts in '12. | | If Balionis had the top pick ... Woods | Brian
Wacker |  |  | BILL HAAS. Haas played here in 2010, closing with 69-69-67 to finish T26. Expect him to get off to a better start this week and close even stronger. I like his chances -- Haas is consistent in nearly every statistic and poised to win. | | If Wacker had the top pick ... Woods | Bill
Cooney |  |  | SCOTT PIERCY. Piercy loves making birdies and he's pretty good at it, too. He's 13th on TOUR in birdie average and always plays well at birdie fests -- such as his T3 and the John Deere Classic and victory at the RBC Canadian Open. | | If Cooney had the top pick ... Woods | |
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| Post-Playoffs standings |
UPDATE: Nobody selected Tommy Gainey -- who rallied to victory with a sizzling, 10-under 60 on Sunday at The McGladrey Classic. Bill Cooney had the best finish by selecting third-place finisher Jim Furyk.
| | Position | Name | Wins | Top-5s | Top-10s | Top-25s | Missed cuts | Money | | 1 | Helen Ross
Chief of Correspondents, PGATOUR.COM | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $1,013,715.00 | | 2 | John Swantek
Host, On The Tee | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $918,922.50 | | 3 | Bill Cooney
Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $292,160.00 | | 4 | John Schwarb
Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $196,472.50 | | 5 | Lauren Deason
Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $166,615.00 | | 6 | Brian Wacker
Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $160,649.16 | | 7 | Chris Dunham
Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | $157,571.00 | | 8 | Amanda Balionis
Host, PGA TOUR Today | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | $87,964.28 | | 9 | Ryan Smithson
Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | $81,913.34 | | 10 | Anne Szeker
Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | $62,037.50 | | 11 | Mike McAllister
Managing Editor, PGATOUR.COM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | $33,045.00 | |
MAKE YOUR PICKS: Tell us who you expect to win at the MINES
