Shaun Micheel

To say that Shaun Micheel's game went the wrong way after his major win at the 2003 PGA Championship is an understatement. His game hit a low point in 2005 when he failed to earn $500k. He rebounded well the following year, and seems to be on his way back. On his way back to what is the question. He was not an established player when he won the PGA Championship, and other than a runner-up finish at the 2006 PGA Championship, he's accomplished little. He might find the magic at some point in 2008, but he's never going to be a consistent player. Micheel had arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder in May 2008; they also found some bone fragments and bursa problems which were unexpected. He is not expected to be back in action until April, 2009.

Micheel arose from a two-year slumber in 2006 and became a factor once again. Well, at least for one important week he was a factor. He again saved his best performance for the PGA Championship, finishing runner-up to Tiger Woods. Micheel went on to finish the season strong, earning a top-10 and a couple top-15s. Here again is a situation of a player playing his best golf at the year's end. In Micheel's case, he seems to be a streaky player who can get it going for weeks at a time. The problem is rarely has he shown his best form before August. It's hard to have players like that on your team, guys you can't count on until late in the summer.

You don't normally see major winners on a sleepers list, but there were quite a few surprise major winners a few years back and most of them have fallen hard. Anyhow, it has now been two full seasons since his major win and he needs to refocus. He should do enough to improve on his 2005 numbers.

The surprise PGA championship from 2003 has to improve his game to match the $1.8 million from last year. The only problem is, he had not shown much of anything prior to the PGA last year.