Expert picks: Northern Trust Open

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The PGA TOUR makes its final California stop of the West Coast Swing just outside Los Angeles this week for the Northern Trust Open. 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: Northern Trust Open

Expert   Pick order Player selected   Lauren Deason JIM FURYK. Defending champ Phil Mickelson has struggled this year, so I'm leaning towards Furyk, who's more consistent. Furyk tied for third at Riviera in 2007 and deserves to finally capture a title after nine-top 10s in 2008 but zero wins.   Mark Spoor ERNIE ELS. He's got two top-three finishes in the tournament -- a win in 1999 and a tie for third in his most recent appearance in 2007. Sure, he's struggled a bit lately, but I've got a hunch he's due. If Spoor had the top pick ... Els Win McMurry PADRAIG HARRINGTON. He's played well at Riviera with two top 10s in the last two years. We know the three-time major champ can play in tough conditions, and if the forecast holds, that's a huge advantage for Paddy. If McMurry had the top pick ... Harrington Ceri Mobley MIKE WEIR. Hey, if he's good enough for Deason ... He's got two wins here, and he'll be itching to get back on the course after missing his chance at Pebble. Go Canada. If Mobley had the top pick ... Weir Mike McAllister PHIL MICKELSON. I know, I know -- he's out of sync. Off his game. Not playing like one of the world's top five players. But I say this is the week he finally shows up and gives us the real Phil. Plus, he obviously loves Riviera (a win last year, a playoff loss in '07). If McAllister had the top pick ... Weir T.J. Auclair CHARLEY HOFFMAN. Despite his less-than-stellar record at Riviera, I'm going with the hot-hand this week. Hoffman hasn't finished worse than a tie for 19th in four starts this season. I think that his solid play will continue. If Auclair had the top pick ... Weir Helen Ross JOHN ROLLINS. He's obviously playing well after that runner-up finish at the Buick Invitational, and he's had time to think about that, as well. Rollins has four top 20s in six starts at Riviera Country Club, too. If Ross had the top pick ... Harrington Ryan Smithson RETIEF GOOSEN. Last week, he very nearly became the first player to win wearing sunglasses since David Duval. OK, I made that up. It was actually Zach Johnson. If Smithson had the top pick ... Weir John Swantek BRIAN GAY. He hasn't finished out of the top 20 all year and is ranked inside the top 10 in both fairways and greens hit -- the perfect formula at Riviera. If Swantek had the top pick ... Harrington Brian Wacker LUKE DONALD. Riviera is a course that suits Donald's game, and he tied for third last year. Fully recovered from wrist surgery, Donald's playing well right now with essentially one bad hole having knocked him from contention at the Buick Invitational. If Wacker had the top pick ... Donald

LAST WEEK: Lauren Deason's solo second from Mike Weir helped her move up two spots in the standings and gave her the first pick this week. 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 6: