Expert picks: THE PLAYERS Championship

text size

The best golfers in the world will be in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., for this week's PLAYERS Championship. Here's how the PGATOUR.COM experts sized up the top contenders:

EXPERT PICKS How it works: Our 10 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. SLEEPER PICKS Of the players who didn't make the cut for our top 10 picks, which have the best chance as sleepers? Here's how our experts see it. Click here

Expert picks: THE PLAYERS Championship

Expert   Pick order Player selected   Win McMurry TIGER WOODS. I'm taking him again. Even though he didn't win in Charlotte, he still got me the first pick -- without a driver or a putter. And that makes it hard to go with anyone other than TW. He's looking for his 15th consecutive top-10 in stroke play.   Helen Ross PHIL MICKELSON. I picked him last week and wasn't disappointed. I liked the way he came back from Saturday's 75 to finish tied for fifth at Quail Hollow. He's a former champion of THE PLAYERS, too -- simply too good to pass up this week. If Ross had the top pick ... Mickelson Mike McAllister HENRIK STENSON. In his three starts at the Stadium Course, the Swede has two top-10 finishes, including a third in 2006. He doesn't appear to be in top form at the moment, but he's still ranked ninth in the world, and TPC Sawgrass may just wake him up. If McAllister had the top pick ... Mickelson Lauren Deason SERGIO GARCIA. Garcia admits that he's in a slump right now. But he wasn't playing well before THE PLAYERS last year and turned his entire season around with a win. Plus, he was runner-up at TPC Sawgrass in '07, so don't sleep on the defending champ. If Deason had the top pick ... Mickelson Mark Spoor KENNY PERRY. He needs some validation after his Masters loss and a subsequent sub-par performance at New Orleans. He also needs validation after a tough Sunday at this event last year. But, if you look at his performance in big-field events, he's a threat. If Spoor had the top pick ... Woods Ryan Smithson SEAN O'HAIR. If I had a swing like this, I wouldn't be stuck picking winners for golf tournaments. Instead, I can't swing well...or accurately pick winners for golf tournaments. If Smithson had the top pick ... Mickelson Brian Wacker LUKE DONALD. With a premium on accuracy this week, he seems like the perfect candidate given his ballstriking ability. He's also played well this year with four top 10s, is fully recovered from offseason wrist surgery and finished in a tie for second here in '05. If Wacker had the top pick ... Mickelson T.J. Auclair GEOFF OGILVY. I'm shocked that he's still available. He always seems to step it up for the big tournaments and with two wins already in 2009, I like the Aussie to pick up win No. 3 this week at TPC Sawgrass. If Auclair had the top pick ... Ogilvy John Swantek JIM FURYK. The only thing preventing Furyk from winning THE PLAYERS is Furyk. He simply wants it too badly. Since he's not a favorite, some of the pressure is off. This is the year. If Swantek had the top pick ... Woods Ceri Mobley IAN POULTER. I can't believe Poulter has fallen to me this late. I am pumped to take my fellow Brit this week as he comes to Sawgrass fresh off his first top five of the year. He's been on fire lately and has a pretty respectable track record here. If Mobley had the top pick ... Mickelson

LAST WEEK: Win McMurry stayed in the lead after picking Tiger Woods at the Quail Hollow Championship, where he finished fourth. Each week, we'll update the standings based on the FedExCup points accumulated by the players selected by our experts. Here's how it stands after Week 16: