Sleepers: U.S. Open

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Jun. 16, 2009

The 109th U.S. Open will take place at Bethpage State Park (Black Course) in Farmingdale, N.Y., this week. Here's how the PGATOUR.COM experts sized up the top contenders:

SLEEPER PICKS
How it works: Our 10 experts from PGATOUR.COM select any player who isn't ranked in the top 30 of the FedExCup rankings, the Official World Golf Ranking and the Race to Dubai. The player also must not have won in 2008 or 2009. By using a draft process, no two picks can be the same.
EXPERT PICKS
Who do our experts think will capture the U.S. Open title? Here's who they've picked to win. Click here
Sleeper picks: U.S. Open
Expert
 
Pick order Player selected
 
Mark
Spoor
BILLY MAYFAIR. Mayfair finished fifth the last time the U.S. Open was played at Bethpage Black in 2002. Sure, he's missed six cuts in the last seven events, but his last made cut was at another marquee event, THE PLAYERS.
Win
McMurry
MICHAEL SIM. If you're not familiar with him, read up, because he's been killing it on the Nationwide Tour this year. The Scottish-born Aussie has won twice this season and has a total of six top-10s in nine starts. He'll be interesting to watch in his first major.
Ryan
Smithson
HUNTER MAHAN. Mark my words, no one is going to see this finish coming. Mahan has the length and putting stroke to shock the field this week. After these nice words, he better make the cut.
Mike
McAllister
JOHN MERRICK. I was trying to find a long hitter who has played well this year. Enter Merrick, who ranks 15th in driving distance and has three top-10s in 13 starts this year. One of those top-10s was a T6 at the Masters, so big tournaments don't scare him.
Brian
Wacker
JEEV MILKHA SINGH. Since I can't pick Angel Cabrera like I did at the Masters, I'm going with another foreign-born player who once made 18 pars in the final round to win the Euro Tour's Bank Austria Open. The Milk man had top-10s in the last two PGAs.
T.J.
Auclair
ROCCO MEDIATE. Hey, why not? Rocco took Tiger to 91 holes in 2008 before falling short in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. While he hasn't dazzled this season, he has been consistent and hasn't missed a cut. He'll stir up some good memories this week.
Helen
Ross
BUBBA WATSON. If he can stay in the moment like he did in finishing second at the Quail Hollow Championship, Watson could be a factor. He's got the length to handle Bethpage and he tied for fifth at the U.S. Open two years ago.
Ceri
Mobley
HEATH SLOCUM. Boo's best friend is in the field because he placed in the top 15 in '08. He's also coming off a top-10 last week. He's not long, but he's long enough and 14th in driving accuracy as well as second in proximity to the hole, so he can handle Bethpage.
Lauren
Deason
CHARLIE WI. Debated between Wi and John Mallinger before deciding that Wi's game is better suited for Bethpage. The numbers don't lie -- Wi's fifth in putting average and third in the all-around ranking. Though it's his first start in a U.S. Open, don't count him out.
John
Swantek
JEFF MAGGERT. No matter the venue, the difficulty or the length, Maggert's game always comes to life at the U.S. Open. He's had seven top-10 finishes in 15 starts at the national championship.

LAST WEEK: Both Lauren Deason and John Swantek gained 115 points when their players tied for fourth at the St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx. 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 23:

Standings after Week 23
Pos. Expert Wins Top 5s Top 10s Top 25s FedExCup points
1 Helen Ross
Chief of Correspondents, PGATOUR.COM
- 3 2 5 1,240.75
2 Lauren Deason
Editorial Coordinator, PGATOUR.COM
1 1 2 5 1,091.02
3 Brian Wacker
Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM
1 - 2 2 1,043.36
4 Ryan Smithson
Site Producer, PGATOUR.COM
- 2 2 3 911.65
5 Mark Spoor
Coordinating Producer, PGATOUR.COM
- 1 3 4 758.9
6 T.J. Auclair
Interactive Producer, PGATOUR.COM
- 1 2 6 695.33
7 John Swantek
Fantasy Insider, PGA TOUR Productions
- 1 - 4 793.47
8 Mike McAllister
Managing Editor, PGATOUR.COM
- 3 2 4 717.31
9 Win McMurry
Host, PGA TOUR Today
- - 1 5 574.77
10 Ceri Mobley
Associate Producer, PGATOUR.COM
- - 1 4 561.07
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