MEMPHIS, June 26 (UPI) -- Bob Estes opened the month of June with a win at the Kemper Open. He would like to end it with back-to-back titles in the St. Jude Classic, which begins Thursday at the Tournament Players Club at Southwind.
Estes tied the course record with a first-round 10-under-par 61 and went wire to wire in capturing last year's event with a 17-under 267. Including that victory, Estes has won three times, had 11 top 10 finishes and earned approximately $3.7 million in the last calendar year.
He had won once in his first 335 PGA Tour starts dating to 1988 before using this tournament as a springboard for success last year.
Estes shot an 11-under 273 to win the Kemper Open on June 2, earning $648,000 for the victory.
With Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia skipping the event, Estes will face a field that features David Toms, Nick Price, Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard.
Toms is winless in 16 starts this season but has six top-10 finishes and a pair of runner-up showings, placing him third on the money list behind Woods and Mickelson. He won three titles last year, including the PGA Championship.
Price has been one the most consistent players since early May, posting four top-10 finishes in as many starts, including his first win since the 1998 version of this event at the Colonial. He also won here in 1993 for one of his 17 PGA Tour victories.
John Daly, a former Memphis resident, missed the cut for the fourth time in his last six starts last week in Hartford. But his tie for fifth here last year with a 14-under 270 was his highest finish in a PGA Tour event since a tie for fourth at the 1998 Honda Classic.
