Estes No Cinch to Make Ryder Cup

By THOMAS BONK

Aug. 16, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

MEDINAH, Ill. — The Ryder Cup isn’t going to be played for five weeks, but Ben Crenshaw will announce the last two places on the U.S. team this morning.

Bob Estes was the only player who provided some drama Sunday at the PGA, where he finished tied for sixth--and needed to tie for fifth to pass Jeff Maggert for No. 10.

That would have given Estes an automatic berth, but he’s going to have to hope Crenshaw chooses him to make it now. Estes isn’t very confident that’s going to happen.

“I’m not so sure,” he said after closing with a 69. “I don’t know if I have any chance at being any type of selection. I don’t have the experience of a Couples or a Lehman, but my game’s getting better and I like tight courses with rough around the greens.

“No one is expecting me to make the team.”

Estes did finish tied for fourth at the Masters, but he never has played in the Ryder Cup.

Crenshaw’s choices center around Tom Lehman, Estes, Steve Pate, Chris Perry and Fred Couples. Estes was No. 11 in points, Lehman No. 13, Pate No. 14, Perry No. 16 and Couples No. 17.

Many believe that Crenshaw will select Lehman and Couples.

Couples clearly expects to be chosen by Crenshaw.

His closing 72 left him at one-over 289, but the PGA was only the second tournament Couples has played since the U.S. Open.

“I think it’s very simple,” Couples said. “I never told anyone I didn’t want to be on the team, but I feel like everyone looks at me like I should be on the team.

“I’m trying to say if I’m not playing well, I shouldn’t be there. Am I playing well? I feel like walking around this week I hit a lot of good shots. I think whomever he picks will go and do fine.

And what if he isn’t chosen?

“Would I be disappointed?” Couples said. “Sure. That’s something everyone wants to make. What I have going is experience and sometimes you can’t keep relying on that. I can’t say that if he chose someone else he wouldn’t be a well-deserved guy. I have a funny feeling if I’m chosen I won’t have a problem playing in the Ryder Cup.”

Mike Weir began the fourth round tied for the lead, but finished with an 80 and wound up in a tie for 10th.

“I had every spike mark in the world in my way, it seemed like,” Weir said. “It was just one of those days.

“It really surprised me, especially on the back nine. I was really in shock. I just couldn’t believe it.”

Weir won $72,166.67--the same as David Duval.

After shooting 43 on the front side and two over on the back, Joey Sindelar had to withdraw after the 12th hole because of back problems.

It’s the same politics in any language: Jose Maria Aznar, the prime minister of Spain, telephoned Sergio Garcia after the round.

Denny Shute’s record is safe for at least another year. Shute is the last player to successfully defend his PGA title, which he did in 1936-37.

The 1998 champion, Vijay Singh, finished at five-over 293 with back-to-back rounds of 77-72.

“The one consolation is that I got to play the weekend,” Singh said.

The Hale Irwin Experience at Medinah, nine years after his U.S. Open triumph here, ended in not-so-grand style. Irwin, 54, finished with a 75 and wound up at four-over 292.

Irwin played the first two rounds at five under par and the last two rounds nine over.

“I’m just not playing well,” Irwin said. “Through the first two rounds, my play was not crisp, but the emotional part kept me going. But But you can’t rely on that to get you through the weekend.”

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Ryder Cup Standings

Ten players qualified Sunday for the United States team that will face Europe in the Ryder Cup Sept. 23-26 at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. The remaining two spots will be filled today by U.S. captain Ben Crenshaw. A look at the 10 U.S. qualifiers, and the leaders in the standings for the European team, which will be determined next week:

U.S. QUALIFIERS

1. David Duval

2. Tiger Woods

3. Payne Stewart

4. Davis Love III

5. Mark O’Meara

6. Hal Sutton

7. Justin Leonard

8. Jim Furyk

9. Phil Mickelson

10. Jeff Maggert

EUROPEAN STANDINGS