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Estes takes 4 shot lead into the weekend

Bob Estes carded a five-under 66 Friday to increase his lead through two rounds of the St. Jude Classic at the TPC at Southwind. His 36-hole total of 15-under-par 127 has him four shots in front of the second-place trio of Scott McCarron, Brent Schwarzrock and Jesper Parnevik.

2001 U.S. Ryder Cup captain Curtis Strange, the winner of this event in 1987, stands alone in fifth place at 10-under after posting back-to-back rounds in the 60s for the first time this season. The two-time U.S. Open champion followed an opening 65 with a 67 Friday to make the cut for just the second time in eight starts in 2001.

A total of 70 players survived the cut, which fell at three-under-par 139. Among those who won't be moving on to play on the weekend is world No. 2 Phil Mickelson, who finished at one-under 141 after a 71. It marked his third missed cut in 15 events and his first since the Nissan Open in February.

Estes, who tied the course record with a 61 for the top spot after round one, began on the 10th hole at Southwind and rolled in a 15-footer at 11 for his only birdie in a bogey-free back nine.

"I stalled for about seven holes," Estes said. "I had some good chances on the back nine, but just didn't convert any of them...the front nine is where most guys do their damage. That's where you're going to have a chance to shoot your lowest nine-hole score."

Estes rang up four birdies over a five-hole stretch to begin his second nine, culminating in an 18-foot downhill birdie putt at the par-five fifth. He suffered his first birdie of the tournament when he misread a four-foot par putt at the sixth, only to erase the mistake with a 20-foot birdie at No. 7.

"It was really nice to come back with a birdie after that bogey," he said. "I think in past years, I've been really good in that statistical category as far as bounce-back, and I bounced back again."

So far this week Estes is following a formula that has yielded results for him in the past. On his way to notching his lone PGA Tour victory at the 1994 Texas Open, Estes shot a course-record-tying 62 in the first round, then led after two days with a 127 total. Rounds of 68-70 over the weekend helped him complete the wire-to-wire win.

McCarron, the BellSouth Classic winner in early April, threatened Estes' lead with eight birdies through 14 holes to climb to 13-under. He bogeyed the 15th and 18th holes, however, for a 65 and a share of 11-under 131.

Schwarzrock remained in second place with a 67, while late-day finisher Parnevik moved into striking distance with Friday's best round of seven-under 64.

"Four shots, I don't think, is a very big lead over two rounds," said the colorful Swede, who got his day going with four birdies over five holes, including a 15-yard chip-in at the fourth. "It would have been different if I was 25th and four shots behind, a little bit tougher. When it is only one guy, anything can happen. I feel it's at least 10, 15 guys that can still win the tournament if they play well."

Korean K.J. Choi (66), Australia's Craig Parry (66) and Paul Goydos (67) are together in sixth place at nine-under par, while former Memphis resident John Day (65) and current Memphis resident Shaun Micheel (66) finished two rounds alongside Joel Edwards (67), Tom Byrum (70) and Germany's Bernhard Langer (65) at minus-eight.

Nick Price, the 1993 and '98 St. Jude Classic winner, and Chris DiMarco, last year's runner-up, are among a group of eight players at seven-under.

Defending champion Notah Begay III lies 11 shots off the pace.

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