Bob

Estes

Estes started the week as the second alternate. He gained entry when Jonathan Byrd withdrew today. Limited to 11 starts due to conditional status, Estes is an impressive 134th on the money list, and that’s primarily due to his playoff loss at The Greenbrier Classic which accounts for over 93 percent of his season’s haul.

Estes opened the year with a pair of top 25s to earn a promotion in status free from the reshuffle, and then promptly missed the cut at Pebble Beach. Regardless, he’s a decent investment now that he’s healthy again and able to set his schedule. At PGA National today, he split just six (of 14) fairways but landed 14 greens and circled five birdies. Four measured at least 11 feet. His longest found the cup from 29'7" at the 14th hole. He was the seventh to finish three shots back of the clubhouse lead but first from the afternoon draw.

He hit only 11 greens in regulation today but suffered just two bogeys. Estes also parred all three holes on The Bear Trap before converting a birdie at the par-5 18th.

The veteran logged a week’s worth of notable conversions in today’s tour of Harbour Town. After trading a birdie and bogey early, he aced the par-3 fourth hole with a 6-iron from 183 yards. Estes then chipped in for birdie from 10 yards at the sixth and rolled in a conventional birdie putt of 33'1" at No. 7. After making the turn, he poured in birdies of 16'7" and 28'10" at the 10th and 12th holes, respectively, and would close out his round with a bogey conversion measuring 12'11" at the 18th where he flew his approach into Calibogue Sound.

He circled eight birdies to a lone bogey even though he only found six (of 14) fairways. He did manage to land 15 GIR and needed just 26 putts to navigate the TPC Sawgrass Staduim Course. He becomes the first in the clubhouse at 5-under 283.

After opening with a bogey, Estes looked like he was going challenge for the title when he rolled off birdies on four of his first seven holes, but parred in to finish the week at 5-under-par 283. His final round saw him split nine (of 14) fairways and land 13 GIR. He left some birdie opportunities out there including a 10'1" atttempt on the 18th. All in all, he rolled to a 1.769 putting average in the finale. He will now head to the TPC Louisiana for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Estes played the first 12 holes in 2-over-par and birdie free. He then went on to birdie his next four holes and hung on with pars coming in to get to 2-under 214 for the week. The highlight of his streak was a chip-in from 12 yards on the par-3 16th. He had a look at birdie from 7'4", but failed to convert.

His five starts in 2012 have resulted in three weekend tee times and two top 25s. He last played this event in 2010 where he tied for 44th. Estes has been smooth with the lag putting, ranking third on tour in 3-putt avoidance.

Estes is a Q School grad so he will start the year in the reshuffle category. However, if he earns $74,062 in his first three starts, he will be elevated to the Major Medical category for the remainder of the year. He was granted the medical after suffering from pain in his right wrist. The four-time PGA TOUR winner will turn 46 years of age on Feb. 2 and could be a sneaky play deep into rosters. Worst case, he should come very cheap.

The soon-to-be 46-year-old (Feb. 2) is making his 2012 debut this week. It couldn’t have gone any better as he hit 17 greens and took 28 putts to finish one stroke adrift of the clubhouse co-leaders. He circled eight birdies. This could be a coup for the veteran as all he needs to earn a promotion from the reshuffle category to the Major Medical Extension category is a paycheck of $74,062. He’ll play PGA West’s Palmer Private Course on Friday.