Estes overcoming nagging allergies, penalty strokes

text size

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- After 20 years on the PGA TOUR and career earnings of more than $16 million, Bob Estes says, "I'm still trying to find my game." He vows he's searching harder than ever at age 42.

Actually, he's a little more adamant about the search than those comments might suggest.

"I'm just trying to get where I can enjoy the game," he said this week during the Stanford St. Jude Championship -- an event he won in 2001. "I haven't had any fun for years and years. I'm just doing this because this is what I do."

RELATED

Video: Estes interview
More: Estes' player page
More: 2008 Results
More: 2008 Stats

But at least one member of his gallery Saturday in the third round at TPC Southwind found Estes' play quite enjoyable. It was Memphis resident Loren Roberts, the reigning Charles Schwab Cup winner on the Champions Tour.

"Hey, I'm having fun," said Roberts, who has the week off and decided to see what the spectator role is like, following his friend Estes with friends in the gallery. With a laugh, he said, "I'm seeing golf from a different perspective. It's good. I'm enjoying it."

Estes, who has been battling allergies this week, hung on for an even-par 70 on Saturday, following his impressive 65 on Friday, and is only four shots off the lead at 209. Estes is tied for 11th in the logjam at the top of the leaderboard with 18 holes remaining.

"I've had allergies for a week and a half," Estes said. "I felt good warming up, but once I started to play, I felt terrible. I had the shakes and I was weak all day long. I just hung in there the best I could."

It was the "hanging in" part that impressed Roberts, the all-time leader in Memphis appearances with 24.

"I'm proud of him," Roberts said. "He wasn't hitting it very well at the start. But he hung in and gutted it out. He stayed around par and he's still in the hunt to win the championship. That's the difference between a veteran player and a rookie."

The start was terrible -- definitely, no fun.

"I had three penalty shots on the first four holes," Estes said. "I was shaking."

On the par-four No. 2, his tee shot was far left and resulted in an unplayable lie. After a penalty stroke, he left his third shot in the front greenside bunker. He holed the sand shot for a par.

He was in the water at the par-five No. 3 and saved par. He found the water again at the par-three No. 4 and made bogey.

"I was impressed the way he held it together after that," Roberts said.

Estes, a former Texas Longhorn, has four TOUR victories, but none since 2002.

"I won twice after I won here in Memphis, and I had a couple of other really close calls. I lost in a playoff in New Orleans in 2003. But I've been trying to find my game the last few years."

It's been a struggle this year. He's played in 13 events and missed nine cuts, including four straight coming into Memphis. He's 132rd on the money list with $249,488. He's had only one Top 25 finish -- a tie for sixth at the Shell Houston Open.

The success of his past seems distant to him now.

"All that was just smoke and mirrors," he said. "I was getting by with my short game and mental toughness and guts and a 'don't give up' attitude. My whole career was just getting it done however I could.

"It was never good enough to be one of the best players in the world, and, hopefully, the things I'm doing now will give me a better chance to play better."

So how many adjustments can a 40-something person make?

"I've changed to an interlocking grip with a glove about three months ago, and I've gone back to my BullsEye putter," he said. "I've gotten new equipment. So I'm kind of in a sense of re-learning how to play a little bit. I know how to play the game, but I'm still learning how to make a better swing with those changes."

Craig Koy, his coach since 2002, has been a key in the transition.

"I'm a complicated subject," Estes said, with a hint of a grin, "and we've been working through this together. We've been trying to figure things out. It hasn't been a whole lot of fun, but hopefully it'll pay off in the next few years."

And he's close enough that there could be a payoff Sunday.