Scott Hunter Green
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2010 Winner List? (II)
Jim Furyk
Jim Furyk hasn't won on the PGA TOUR since the 2007 RBC Canadian Open. This is more anomaly than anything else. He racks up top-10s the way that lesser players rack up cuts. He is a four-tool player (out of a possible five). Furyk will never be long but then again, he never has been.
He is accurate off the tee, a terrific ball striker, has a wonderful short game and is a tremendous putter. Four out of five ain't bad. Furyk has a killer instinct, dedication and heart. On top of all that, he is annoyed and tired of answering questions about his drought. Look for Jim to get into the winner's circle early this season.
The other player to watch is Adam Scott. Until Greg Norman gave him the nod for the Presidents Cup, Scott was mired in a slump. Since then, he has played much better, winning for the first time as a professional in Australia and more importantly, finding old form. Scott and Furyk have been perennially ranked in the top-10 in the world over the last decade for a reason. They will show you that reason again in 2010.
Padraig Harrington
No name is more obvious for this list than Harrington's. By the end of the 2009 season, he finally appeared comfortable with the swing changes that he surprisingly made following his wildly successful 2008 season in which he won two majors and took home PGA TOUR Player of the Year honors.
After struggling for the majority of 2009, Harrington was in serious contention each of the four weeks during the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. A startling stat: He failed to break 70 only three times in the 16 rounds of the Playoffs. Like Phil Mickelson, Harrington didn't want the season to end.
Make no mistake -- he will be more determined than ever in 2010 to get back into the winner's circle. I can see plenty of Harrington vs. Mickelson battles this year.
David Toms
There are so many candidates -- Luke Donald, Anthony Kim, Padraig Harrington, Ernie Els. Hunter Mahan and Jim Furyk, to name a few -- but my vote goes to David Toms. He came out with a renewed enthusiasm in 2009 and did everything but hoist the 13th trophy of his PGA TOUR career.
Toms tied for second three times last year, including in his first start at the Sony Open in Hawaii where he also won in 2007.
He's the same steady player, ranking fourth in driving accuracy, 20th in greens in regulation and seventh in scoring average. Not to mention, this is a Ryder Cup year and Toms would like nothing better to play for Corey Pavin in Wales.
Steve Marino
I could have gone with someone easy like Padraig Harrington, Jim Furyk or Tim Clark. But I like Steve Marino's chances. He has a combined 15 top-10s the last three years and was a runner-up once each of the last two seasons -- in 2009 at Colonial, where he lost in a playoff, and in 2008 in Cancun, where he shot 64-66 on the weekend.
Statistically, Marino was 35th in driving distance and 21st in greens in regulation in 2009, so it's no wonder he ranked ninth in scoring average. More importantly, he's got a healthy amount of confidence and the ability to back it up.
On six occasions, Marino shot 65 or better in 2009, and he ranked seventh on TOUR in par-5 performance. If there's one area he definitely needs to improve, though, it's his performance in the final round -- he ranked 13th in scoring average before the cut and 16th in Round 3, but fell to 83rd in the final round.
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