Columnist Dean Juipe: Estes drops one habit, alters others

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2002 | 9:51 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

Bob Estes is a changed man, with a willingness to change again and again.

The defending champion in the Invensys Classic at Las Vegas that opens Wednesday on three area courses, Estes is different than he was a year ago when he prevailed here for what was then his second professional victory.

He's richer and better established on the PGA Tour, but that goes without saying. At 36 years old he's in the prime of his golf career, as proven by a victory this year in the Kemper Insurance Open and his $1.8 million in 2002 earnings.

But where he really has diverted from his past may not be apparent to anyone but his closest acquaintances. Estes is still a quirky guy, but he has eliminated a notable quirk.

"Oh, I'm not doing that anymore," he said Monday at the TPC at Summerlin, when asked if he still records every single putt he has ever taken. That habit -- which filled yardage guides and notebook upon notebook and included occasional sketches -- was recently discontinued as Estes found it cumbersome, if not counterproductive.

"I decided not to worry about it like I used to," he said of the unique practice of noting every putt he ever struck. "I might still chart some stuff, but certainly not as much as I once did.

"I found that sometimes I'd get fooled by my own notes."

But even without adding to his litany of recorded putts, Estes has his fluky side.

He is the only player on the tour who uses a baseball grip -- or who lets go of the club with his right hand while finishing off a bunker shot.

And while players at this level are always tinkering with equipment, Estes takes it to an extreme when it comes to something as simple as the length of his clubs. In the 1990s, for example, he played with irons that were two inches longer than normal, but then he went the other way and had them shortened.

Now he has changed again and had them lengthened.

He's also altering his putting grip on a weekly basis, saying "I've been going back and forth, but this week I'm going to putt with my left hand lower than my right."

Peculiarly, he doesn't find his ever-changing habits peculiar.

"Other guys are out here doing similar things," he said. "We have so much access to new and different equipment, you can't help but experiment once in awhile.

"I admit, I've been more radical than most when it comes to stuff like this. But I see myself being a little more stable now."

Did we mention he was the last man on the PGA Tour to play with a persimmon driver? Or that he hits a driver that is two inches shorter than normal? Or that his right clavicle is longer than his left, which means he is physically unable to set up perfectly square to a target?

Yes, Estes is different. But he's also focused -- and always has been.

Among the most astounding tidbits of his life is this one: He was in sixth grade when he wrote a paper outlining the direction he wanted his life to take, including becoming a professional golfer and competing on the PGA Tour.

That desire is something, maybe the only thing, pertaining to Estes that has never changed. Everything else is fair game, subject to his many whims.