Ollie Schniederjans
Harris English
CT Pan
Gary Woodland
Patrick Cantlay
Ollie Schniederjans (+4,000) – Ben Coley likes what he has been seeing from Ollie in the past two years, particularly the win at the 2016 Air Capital Classic, the T49 at the 2016 Farmers Insurance, which Coley described to have a “peculiar” course, and the T39 at this year’s John Deere Classic. Ollie has made the cut in eight of this last nine appearances.
Harris English (+6,000) – What drew Coley from picking English is the latter’s ability to perform at connecting tracks, citing the winning performances at the OHL Classic in Mexico and FedEx St. Jude in Memphis years back, and the close wins at Dean & Deluca Invitational and Sony Open. He then added that he also liked how English is still usually able to survive well even things aren’t going his way.
Gary Woodland (+4,500) – Given that Woodland has seen his good share of struggles this season – due to the demands of becoming a new father – this pick is simply about believing for Coley, who said that Woodland’s time to rise again is here. The 33-year-old Woodland has made the cut in each of his last six tournaments, and he also owns two PGA tour titles, with the most recent being the 2013 Reno-Tahoe Open.
CT Pan (+9,000) – This pick is about Coley’s desire to follow the trend, since the last nine PGA tour winners are all below 30 years of age, and Pan is 25. However, it’s not a random selection, Pan is a sensational rookie, who, despite his raw experience in the pros, is doing well. The Taiwanese finished inside the top 8 at last month’s Travelers Championship, and looks to be continually progressing his overall game.
Patrick Cantlay (+2,500) – Coley believes that Cantlay, who’s also a rookie, is one the sport’s best youngsters. He sees Cantlay stirring his career and development in the right direction, and added that because the competition is rather light outside Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar, the opportunity to rise is really wide. Cantlay hasn’t missed a cut this season; his best performances were at the Valspar Championship and RBC Heritage, where he both finished inside the top 3.
Yahoo! Sports
EXPERT
PICKS
Macauley Renner
Chez Reavie
Patrick Cantlay
Ollie Schniederjans
Alex Cejka
Jared du Toit
Anirban Lahiri
Steve Wheatcroft
Luke List
Chez Reavie (+5,500) – Reavie ranks fourth in the PGA in driving accuracy (72.09 percent), and Renner believes its a good ingredient in being a nice sleeper. Reavie has made the cut in the Glen Abbey five times – one had him winning, two had him finishing inside the top 15.
Alex Cejka – Besides the elite rankings in various stats in 2016, Renner is liking Cejka’s recent spurts and ability to perform well whenever at this event. The 46-year-old Cejka has made the cut in each of his seven appearances in the tournament, and he also has two top 15 finishes in his last three.
Jared du Toit – There’s a lot to be excited about this Canadian up-and-comer, who Renner sees as someone who’s on the rise. du Toit got Renner’s attention with the noteworthy performance at the British Open, where he started out hot, placed inside the top 10, and stayed there for the rest of the contest. He got a T9 finish.
Anirban Lahiri (+6,000) – Renner likes Lahiri’s chances on a low altitude, as well as his 2.0 total strokes average in his last five tournaments. Lahiri didn’t make the cut at the open last week, but had a T2 and T17 in the two prior events, as well as a T11 at the Honda Classic last February.
Steve Wheatcroft and Luke List (+9,000) – These two pretty much got Renner’s pick because of their track record at Glenn Abbey. Both have had respectable finishes and notable career stats at the course. Wheatcroft ended up inside the top five last year, while also leading the way in fairways hit and going second in putting; List, meanwhile, decently 14th in the same tourney and had one of the most eagles and birdies.
