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Estes gains wire to wire win

Bob Estes weathered a shaky back nine to complete the first wire-to-wire victory on the PGA Tour this season at the St. Jude Classic on Sunday. The win was the second of Estes' career and the first since he led all four rounds in winning the 1994 Texas Open.

Estes, who had a four-shot lead at 19-under through 13 holes Sunday, saw his advantage cut to two strokes after he suffered bogeys at the 14th and 15th. His lead was soon down to one when Germany's Bernhard Langer, playing two groups ahead, rolled in a 25-foot putt at 16 for his fifth birdie of the final round.

After failing to birdie the par-five 16th, Estes drove into the trees right of the 17th fairway and his punch second shot stopped 55 yards short of the green. He played a low run-up for his third that left him with six feet to save par, and he found the center of the cup to protect his one-shot lead.

At 18, Estes hit the fairway off the tee, then knocked a clutch seven-iron from 176 yards to within five feet of the hole. His first putt broke right of the cup but he tapped in for an even-par 71 and a 72-hole total of 17-under- par 267.

Langer, a two-time Masters titlist and one of six major championship winners to finish in the top-10 this week, parred the final two holes for a bogey-free 66 and second place at 16-under. It marked his best PGA Tour showing since he finished runner-up at the 1995 Players Championship.

Tom Lehman, the 1996 British Open champ, also closed with a five-under 66 to tie for third at 15-under 269 with Scott McCarron, who shot one-over 72 after beginning the day alongside John Daly, just one shot back of Estes.

Daly, a former Memphis resident and a clear crowd favorite this week, pulled even to his playing partner Estes at 18-under with a birdie at the third and an eagle at the fifth. But the big-hitting, two-time major winner posted five bogeys against just one birdie over an eight-hole stretch en route to a disappointing 73.

Daly was knotted in fifth at 14-under par with Paul Goydos (68) and two-time U.S. Open winner Curtis Strange (69).

For Strange, the 2001 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, it was his first top-10 finish since he placed second at the 1997 Buick Open.

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