Gore says Open experience made him stronger
FARMINGTON – Jason Gore’s worst round of golf this season came on one of the game’s grandest stages, the final round of the U.S. Open. Looking more like Dumbo than Cinderella, Gore’s 84 dropped him from near the top of the leaderboard to where he finished, a tie for 49th place.
Pinehurst No. 2 may have crushed Gore’s game, but not his spirit.
“Ten seconds after I walked off the course, I forgot about the Open,” Gore said. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
Gore’s play the last three months keeps making that clich? sound better and better.
On Saturday, Gore fired a 5-under par 67 to take a two-stroke lead over five players after three rounds of the 84 Lumber Classic at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa.
Ranked No. 318 in the world, Gore has never finished better than a tie for 18th place, and that was nearly four years ago at the Invensys Classic in Las Vegas.
Before this year, he won back-to-back Nationwide tournaments in 2002, and a Buy.Com event in 2000.
But after his U.S. Open run this Father’s Day, Gore won three Nationwide events, which earned him an instant promotion to the PGA Tour, where he has made the cut twice in three events.
Not only has his game improved, so has his popularity. With his burly build, long drives and quick wit, Gore is fast becoming a fan favorite.
Now, he’s 18 holes away from his first Tour victory and a $792,000 paycheck.
“I think I learned so much the last round of the Open that I was able to take it into the Nationwide events,” Gore said. “And knowing that I’m probably not going to see anything ever like what I dealt with at the Open, it just kind of puts it all into perspective.
“It’s been pretty incredible. I just simplified the game a little bit, and that was all it was. If you come to realize that the first tee shot on Thursday is as important as the last putt on Sunday, then you’re able to concentrate on every shot just the same.
“I’m just as comfortable over the last putt on 18 as I am on the first tee on Thursday, which is never very comfortable, but you’re just trying to put your all into that one shot because that’s all you can control.
“I think that’s really why I’ve been starting to play better.”
Gore started his round Saturday with an eagle on the par-4, 371-yard first hole, then dropped a stroke on No. 3 before pulling even with a birdie on No. 5.
Back-to-back birdies on the par-3, 223-yard No. 7 and par-5, 545-yard No. 8 dropped him to 11-under.
A birdie on another par-4, this time the 634-yard No. 11, had Gore at 12-under, before bogeys on No.’s 12 and 14. Gore then had back-to-back birdies on the par-4, 465-yard No. 14 and par-5, 463-yard No. 15 to drop back to 12-under.
“I got off to a good start with the chip-in, and just kept hitting some pretty good shots,” Gore said. “I think I played pretty well, but left a couple shots out there and got a couple shots I probably shouldn’t have.”
Tag Ridings, Carlos Franco, Rod Pampling, Carl Pettersson and Craig Barlow trail Gore by two strokes. Ridings matched Gore’s 67, as did Chris DiMarco and Phil Mickelson, and moved up from a tie for 16th place after two rounds.
Phillip Price teed off first Saturday, and fired the day’s best round, a 6-under 66. Price began the day at even par, but now trails Gore by just six strokes.
Mickelson also began his round at even par, but came up with the shot of the day when he aced No. 7. He closed his round by sinking a 27-foot birdie putt on the par-4, 468-yard No. 18, after he saved par with a 22-foot putt a hole earlier.
After trying a different putter to start the 84 Lumber Classic, Mickelson went back to his regular one Saturday.
“This is the time, after the majors, that I’ll try out some equipment,” Mickelson said. “I putted pretty well with the two-ball putter (the first two rounds), but I wanted to go back to my regular blade on the weekend so I could get some practice with it in preparation for next week (Presidents Cup play).”
DiMarco, Justin Leonard and Cameron Beckman are tied at 9-under, three shots back, while a group of five players, including second-round leader Stuart Appleby, sits at 8-under.
Defending champion and No. 2 player in the world, Vijay Singh, struggled Saturday, shooting a 1-over 73.
He is at 3-under for the tournament, nine strokes off the lead.
Appleby had one of the day’s worst rounds, which included a triple-bogey 7 on No. 6, and wound up with a 75.
NOTES: Gore is looking to become the ninth first-time winner on Tour this year, the last being Jason Bohn at the B.C. Open in July. … Barlow, who is tied for second, two shots back of Gore, is seeking his first Tour win in 210 career events. Barlow has earned $599,662 in 2005, nearly half of which coming after four top-25 finishes in his last five starts. … On Tour this season, 20 of 35 54-hole leader/co-leaders have gone on to win, including the past two champions (Olin Browne-Deutsche Bank Championship and Mark Calcavecchia-Canadian Open. Three of the past 54-hole leaders in the 84 Lumber Classic have gone on to win, including DiMarco in 2000, Robert Allenby in 2001 and Singh a year ago.