I like me some sleepers this week at the TPC. The trend of late has
been that some skilled youngsters will jump out early, and have to hold off the
veterans in the end. However that's not always the case (Eldrick 2001,
Adam Scott 2004), and sometimes there's just too much youthful exuberance for
the wily veteran to overcome. So for that reason, we'll see a pretty
youthful group of sleepers. Historically, it's been the direction to look
in at the TPC. Without further ado, here are the "Tommy D Official Sleepers"
for The Players Championship.
Sean O'Hair - If your heart didn't absolutely just break for this guy
at the 17th on Sunday at last year's TPC, you have no soul. It appears
that O'Hair has recovered from that nightmarish scenario, and has climbed all
the way to 28th in the World according to the OWGR. He's got a win at the
PODS Championship and a T-3 at Bay Hill. He has missed his last two cuts
in a row, but coming off an off-week, there's a decent chance he's refocused
and ready to go. His stats aren't eye-popping by any means, but his
putting numbers (148th in Putting Average, 152nd in Putts Per Round) are pretty
poor. Not convinced? I don't blame you, that's why this golfer is a
sleeper. He's got the ability to do it, and in fact, save for the 17th
hole last year, he DID do it. I do like O'Hair this week, but not as much
as ...
Geoff Ogilvy - Man, if you can legitimately say Ogilvy is a sleeper,
you are in some fine shape. Currently 6th according to OWGR, Ogilvy has
been on a "Cuts Made" streak (7), which includes a win at Doral and a
2nd at the Shell Houston Open. His stats are downright dreamy, 56th in
Driving Distance, 79th in Driving Accuracy (23rd in Total Driving), 16th in
GIR, 33rd in Sand Saves, 20th in All-Around and 28th in Scrambling. Even
his putting numbers aren't that bad (107th in Putting Average, 119th in Putts
Per Round). He's got big tournament experience (including big tournament
WINNING experience), and isn't intimidated by top-level golfers. I've got
to believe Ogilvy will be a factor come Sunday.
Robert Allenby - He's at his best OWGR rank since 2004 (36th), he's
made 12 cuts in a row, and has five top-25s in his last seven events, including
two 4th place finishes. His stats are sick. He's 55th in Driving Distance,
49th in Driving Accuracy (9th in Total Driving, 2nd in GIR, 67th in Putting
Average, 48th in Scrambling, 47th in Bounce Back and 6th in All-Around
rank. Are you convinced yet? Throw in the fact that he played
really well on the weekend last week, and I'm convinced Allenby's going to make
a run here.