Sleeper Picks: Waste Management Phoenix Open

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Feb. 2, 2011

The PGA TOUR travels to Scottsdale, Ariz. for the Waste Management Phoenix Open. 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 the picks, click here.
SLEEPER PICKS
Of the players who didn't make the cut for our top picks, which have the best chance as sleepers? Here's how our experts see it.

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Sleeper picks: Waste management Phoenix Open

Expert	Pick order	Player selected
John Swantek			MARK CALCAVECCHIA. The 51-year-old loves desert tracks, as his five rounds in the 60s at this year's Bob Hope Classic will attest. A three-time champion in Phoenix, he took it deep in 2001, firing a record score of 28 under.
Anne Szeker			JAMIE LOVEMARK. The 2010 Nationwide Tour Player of the Year hasn't exactly gotten off to the season we were all expecting, but this course should set up great for his game. He made his first cut last week at the Farmers.
John Schwarb			CHRIS KIRK. Part of me wonders if the rookie may be getting a little tired, as evidenced by a 77-73 weekend at Farmers, but still he's 3-for-3 in cuts made including a T7 at the Bob Hope. He knows he belongs.
Lauren Deason			FREDRIK JACOBSON. The Swede has consistently played well so far this year, notching three top-35 finishes in his first three starts. He's 30th in FedExCup points this season and has fared well at TPC Scottsdale in the past.
Helen Ross			MARC LEISHMAN. His first two seasons on TOUR were solid with more than $1 million in earnings and a runner-up finish each year. Will this be the season he gets that first win? Well, a T27 in Hawaii and a T9 at Torrey Pines show he's playing well.
Brian Wacker			CHRIS COUCH. I'm sticking with the "guys who play well in the desert" theme. Couch tied for seventh at the Bob Hope Classic two weeks ago and tied for fourth in at the Waste Management Phoenix Open last year.
Chris Dunham			GARY WOODLAND. Woodland's length will be an asset with seven par 4s that measure more than 430 yards. His Kansas Jayhawks don't play another ranked team until Missouri visits Monday, so he will only have one scoreboard to watch.
Ryan Smithson			JOHN SENDEN. Hasn't started well this year, but has the power to keep up this week. Didn't play this event in 2010 but finished tied for 17th in 2009. Totally dependent on putting to have a big week, so he's a fantasy risk-reward.
Mike McAllister			ANDRES ROMERO. Comes off a tough 77 in the second round at Torrey Pines, but he shot four rounds in the 60s here in 2010 to finish T14. Perhaps having fellow Argentine Angel Cabrera in this week's field will kickstart the 2008 Rookie of the Year's season.

Standings after Week 3

LAST WEEK: Anne Szeker and Chris Dunham each scored top-10s last week with Chris Kirk (T7) and Kevin Na (T5) respectively:
Position	Name	Wins	Top-5s	Top-10s	Top-25s	FedExCup points
1	Anne Szeker Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	0	0	1	1	122.00
2	Helen Ross Chief of Correspondents, PGATOUR.COM	0	0	1	2	117.00
3	Chris Dunham Editorial Coordinator, PGATOUR.COM	0	1	1	1	106.07
4	Mike McAllister Managing Editor, PGATOUR.COM	0	0	0	1	89.50
5	Brian Wacker Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	0	0	0	1	48.00
6	Lauren Deason Editorial Coordinator, PGATOUR.COM	0	0	0	0	29.00
T7	John Schwarb Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	0	0	0	0	8.00
T7	John Swantek Host, On The Tee	0	0	0	0	8.0
9	Ryan Smithson Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM	0	0	0	0	1.07