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Ernie Els urged his ball closer to the third hole during the second round of the Mercedes Championships in Kapalua, Maui, yesterday. Els finished with a three-stroke lead.
KAPALUA, Maui >> Bob Estes has been on the fringe of greatness without ever mastering the rub of the green. Estes improving
out of limelight
Els up halfway through Mercedes
By Paul Arnett
parnett@starbulletin.comSome 14 years removed from his rookie season, this native Texan has managed four PGA Tour victories along the way, including three in 2001 and 2002, but hasn't climbed high enough up the money ladder to garner a lot of attention.
He ended the 2001 season with six consecutive top-10 finishes and managed to crack the top 10 seven times last year, including a victory at the Kemper Open. Estes finished 26th on the money list in 2002 and has earned $10.4 million since turning pro in 1988.
Despite this modicum of success, it will be Ernie Els receiving most of the attention as the final twosome tees it up today in the third round of the $5 million Mercedes Championships. Els began the day with a three-shot advantage over Estes, who finished in a tie for 10th here last year.
Has he been unfairly overshadowed by his tour mates?
"Maybe a little bit," Estes said yesterday after shooting his second consecutive 66. "Part of that, too, is I haven't played well enough in the biggest tournaments. I mean, I've had top 10s in major championships and I have played well in the past majors. Recently maybe not quite as well as I needed to really be considered one of the elite."
A victory here tomorrow would change that some for Estes, who will be 37 on Groundhog Day. Some well-documented back problems aided by a chiropractor, and his switch to the 10-finger grip in May 2000 are key reasons Estes emerged from his win drought that lasted from 1994 to 2001.
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Bob Estes, who made birdie on 18, shot a 7-under-par 66 and is in second place, three strokes behind Els.
Ask him about it and the first words out of his mouth are, "Here we go again." Followed by, "I've got a nice team, you know, that's really working together to try to see how good I can get. But I had to get healthy first, then I had to get in better shape, and then I had to make some changes to improve my golf game."
Eagles have landed: The three eagles by Els through two rounds put him two back of the tour record (five) for an event. It has happened twice before, both in Hawaii. Dave Eichelberger set the mark during the 1980 Hawaiian Open and Davis Love III, who withdrew from next week's Sony Open yesterday, followed with five during the 1994 Hawaiian Open.
Els is not the only one with a hot hand. Eagles haven't dominated Kevin Sutherland's life on the par-5s, but birdies sure have for the man tied for ninth with 2002 Rookie of the Year Jonathan Byrd and 2002 Comeback Player of the Year Gene Sauers.
Sutherland has posted a birdie on all eight of the par-5s through two rounds for an average of 4.0. Sutherland finished 76th last year in par-5 performances with an average of 4.67. Els, with three eagles and five birdies on the par-5s, tops Sutherland this week with a healthy 3.63 average. Els is 11-under on the long holes.
Streak of his own: Chris Riley's caddy pulls $25 out of his pocket and gives it to Riley every time the Nevada-Las Vegas graduate manages a bogey-free round.
"Because I know it turns into bigger money for him when he gets the percentage check at the end of the week," Riley said to a press room full of laugher. "Yeah, it's kind of funny."
His caddy paid him $25 on Thursday, but didn't have to bother yesterday after the Las Vegas resident had a double-bogey 7 on the 15th, followed by a bogey 6 on the 18th. Despite going 3-over on the final two par-5s, Riley made it the longest into the new season without a bogey.
He played his first 32 holes bogey-free. Estes now has the longest streak at 34 holes. Five others managed bogey-free rounds yesterday. They were Retief Goosen -- whose 65 tied fellow South African Els for the best second round -- Len Mattiace, Charles Howell III, K.J. Choi and Els.
Bent stick: Defending champion Sergio Garcia isn't exactly having a stellar tournament. The Spaniard shot an even-par 73 yesterday and finds himself some 15 shots off the lead. Part of the problem was he didn't have a putter for most of the back nine.
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Shigeki Maruyama missed a putt for birdie on 18.
"I didn't break it," Garcia said. "I missed a short one for birdie and threw it to the bag, and it bent a little bit. As soon as I changed its lie, I couldn't use it (as per tour rules). I could have used it perfectly, but you can't. On 14, I used the wedge (to putt). I had some good putts with it. I made a couple."
Easy does it: For the second day in a row, the Mercedes Championships saw the field post the lowest scoring average for a round. The field played to a second-round average of 69.694, the first time in the five-year history at the Plantation Course that the second round played below 70. In fact, all 36 players are under par for the tournament through 36 holes and only two over-par rounds were posted yesterday -- by Matt Gogel (2-over 75) and Chris DiMarco (75).
The hardest hole was the par-3 second. There were five birdies and 10 bogeys for a scoring average of 3.194. The easiest hole was the par-5 fifth. It yielded four eagles and 23 birdies with only one bogey by Luke Donald for a scoring average of 4.167.
Mercedes Championships
