Expert picks: PGA Championship

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The season's final major will take place at Hazeltine National Golf Club this week. 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: PGA Championship

Expert   Pick order Player selected   Helen Ross TIGER WOODS. Can Woods win three tournaments in three weeks? Of course he can. Particularly when one is a major, and the world No. 1 is missing one of golf's crown jewels this year. He'll come to Hazeltine motivated, and he's hitting on all cylinders.   T.J. Auclair PHIL MICKELSON. Just like he was at the U.S. Open, Mickelson will be the sentimental favorite at Hazeltine. With his mother, as well as wife, Amy, each recovering well from breast cancer surgery, Mickelson will play well. If Auclair had the top pick ... Woods Mike McAllister PADRAIG HARRINGTON. This may be a bit too early to take the defending champ, with Steve Stricker and Sergio Garcia getting serious consideration here. But Harrington showed us last week at Firestone that he's back in form. If McAllister had the top pick ...Woods Win McMurry STEWART CINK. Cink posted all four rounds in the 60s on his way to tying for sixth last week at Firestone. Cink returns to Minnesota with good vibes as he looks to go back-to-back in the year's final two majors. If McMurry had the top pick ... Woods Mark Spoor LEE WESTWOOD. Sure, his record in the PGA Championship is not outstanding (no top-10 finishes and five missed cuts including last year), but the positives here outweigh the negatives. He was ninth last week at Firestone. If Spoor had the top pick ... Woods John Swantek ANGEL CABRERA. His focus and concentration is not always consistent, but the Argentinian has clearly earned a reputation as a big-time performer. El Pato can mash his way to a third major title. If Swantek had the top pick ... Woods Brian Wacker STEVE STRICKER. This has certainly been one of Stricker's best seasons with eight top-10s, including a pair of wins, a runner-up and a third. Stricker missed the cut the last time the PGA was at Hazeltine, but that's meaningless. If Wacker had the top pick ... Woods Ceri Mobley HUNTER MAHAN. Foolishly, not a single one of us took Mahan last week. He proved us wrong when he tied for fourth -- the fourth top 10 in his last five starts. I'm not making that mistake this week. If Mobley had the top pick ... Woods Ryan Smithson VIJAY SINGH. I am basing this pick solely on his love of Whistling Straits, another Midwestern gem that is about a billion yards long. He doesn't have a top-five this year. Again, this is why I am ninth (see below). If Smithson had the top pick ... Woods Lauren Deason LUKE DONALD. He's been incredibly consistent this season (11 top-25s in 16 starts with just two missed cuts) and ranks second in putting average for the year. Plus, he won the 1999 NCAA men's individual title at Hazeltine, so he will feel good vibes. If Deason had the top pick ... Woods

LAST WEEK: Helen Ross picked up wins at both events last week when she picked Tiger Woods to win the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and John Rollins at the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open. In the past three weeks, she's gotten three wins and a second-place finish, so she continues to make a move in the standings: