Estes Impresses His Opponents, but Not Himself

By THOMAS BONK

Feb. 20, 1999 12 AM PT

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

He has 11 birdies in two days, he has lopped nine shots off par, he’s the second-round leader at the Nissan Open and he’s halfway to his first victory in five years, so you go ahead and add it up, Bob Estes, and it has been a touching, meaningful experience for you.

Right, Bob?

Bob?

“Doesn’t really mean too much,” Estes said. “I’m still working on my game. I’m still piecing things together.”

Well, piece this together, Bob: Your four-under 67 on Friday at Riviera Country Club leads some of the finest horseflesh on the PGA Tour as the Nissan Open makes a left turn into the weekend, so it would actually be OK to feel good about it.

“I’m probably a little tough on myself,” he said. “I’m pretty much a realist.”

There are plenty of sound reasons to feel that way, among them Ernie Els and Davis Love III, who form half of a foursome that trails Estes by only one shot. Els and Love are at 134 with Alan Bratton and Rick Fehr.

David Duval, who had a 71, and Tiger Woods, who had a 68, are four shots off the lead and in an 11-way tie for ninth place at 137.

Billy Mayfair, the defending champion, turned in a 67 and he’s only three shots behind Estes at 136 along with Kirk Triplett and Greg Chalmers.

But right now, everybody is chasing Estes, the 33-year-old Texan whose swing is as smooth as cream gravy, even though Estes hasn’t seen anything that makes him feel comfortable.

He’s worried his swing won’t hold up. He’s worried that there’s a long way to go. He’s worried about all those people behind him who could catch up. Not that he has anybody in particular in mind.

“Oh, maybe 20, 30, 40 people,” he said. “Obviously, you’ve got your Ernies, your Tigers, your Davids.”

Good point. Els pounded out a 66 and held the lead for a while until Bratton, then Fehr and then Love caught up before Estes lapped them all. Love’s round of 65 began with a bogey, but he shrugged it off and played not at all like someone who missed the cut last week at Torrey Pines.

Els said before the tournament that he wasn’t expecting too much this week at Riviera, and he isn’t going to raise the bar just because he’s torching the place.

“I’m just hoping to have a good start to the year,” Els said. “I just want to enjoy the weekend and see what happens.”

Fehr signed his card that said 66 and didn’t feel at all like the player who had missed three cuts in three tournaments. How can that be? Fehr had a short answer.

“It’s golf,” he said.

Well, yes, it is. That’s something that Bratton can tell you a lot about. The 27-year-old Texan became the last player in the field when he won a one-hole playoff at dusk in Tuesday qualifying. Bratton could have avoided a playoff, but he triple-bogeyed the next-to-last hole.

As it turns out, Bratton doesn’t do things the easy way. He’s commuting 90 miles round-trip from Orange County, but that’s the softest part of his resume. The former Oklahoma State All-American bounced around the Asian Tour and the mini-tours and wound up earning his PGA Tour card at qualifying school last year on his fourth try.

“I was going to keep trying until I made it,” said Bratton, who played against Woods, Duval and Leonard in college.

“I felt like I could play with these guys,” he said.

If only anyone knew who he was. The starter at the first tee called him “Brayton.” Last week it was “Branton.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he said. “I just think it’s funny. I need to play better to get them to know my name.”

Estes isn’t exactly a household name either, but he’s working on it. He has made nearly $4 million since 1989 and had seven top-10 finishes last year on his way to winning a personal-best $987,930.

He held his round together with four par-saving putts, none of them shorter than eight feet.

If only his memory were as long. Estes’ one and only victory was at the Texas Open in 1994. He paused when asked if he remembered how it felt to win.

“Boy, that seems like a long time ago,” Estes said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

NISSAN OPEN

LEADERS

BOB ESTES

66-67--133 -9

ERNIE ELS

68-66--134 -8

ALAN BRATTON

67-67--134 -8