No-one would have predicted that virtual nobody Jason Gore would be tied for second entering the final round of the U.S. Open. Fewer would have predicted the final-round 84 he shot to tie for 49th. It’s hard to say how many would have predicted that Jason Gore would shoot 59 to earn a Battlefield Promotion, winning three straight Nationwide Tour events to jump to the PGA Tour.
What can all the doubters say now? Jason Gore, less than three months removed from his final-round 84 at the U.S. Open, has captured his first PGA Tour victory at the appropriately named 84 Lumber Classic. With a final-round 70, Jason Gore has perhaps exorcised the demons that haunted him earlier this year when he considered giving up golf altogether. What a wild ride it’s been.
Though Gore would have probably made it into the 84 Lumber Classic on his own, he was given a sponsor’s exemption to guarantee it. This makes Gore’s victory the first by a sponsor’s exemption since the 2003 Deutsche Bank Championship, won by Adam Scott. For awhile it looked as though Gore would sail through the final round, taking a four-stroke lead after 13 on Sunday. That lead quickly fell to one as Gore drove into trouble at the 18th. From nearly 92 feet, Gore putted over the fringe and the entire 18th green to only 22 inches, securing the tap-in par for his win and $792,000. He’d previously won about $850,000 lifetime on the Nationwide Tour and $450,000 on the PGA Tour.
Gore joins Paul Stankowski as the only players to win on the Nationwide and PGA Tours in one year. Stank did it in 1996. Unofficial hosts Vijay Singh and John Daly finished T13 and missed the cut, respectively. Could Jason Gore be the new John Daly, without the problems? We shall see, but it makes the victory at the 84 Lumber Classic all the more appropriate.
Gore’s -14 274 denied the win to Carlos Franco and Ben Crane, who again finished strong with a 67, moving him to 15th on the 2005 Official Money List.
Pos Player Tot R1 R2 R3 R4 Tot 1 Jason Gore -14 65 72 67 70 274 2 Carlos Franco -13 69 69 68 69 275 3 Ben Crane -11 67 70 73 67 277 4 Tim Herron -10 70 68 70 70 278 T5 John Huston -9 70 73 67 69 279 T5 Jonathan Byrd -9 69 68 72 70 279 T5 Cameron Beckman -9 69 65 73 72 279 T5 Chris DiMarco -9 70 70 67 72 279 T9 Stuart Appleby -8 67 66 75 72 280 T9 Justin Leonard -8 73 64 70 73 280 T9 Rod Pampling -8 70 67 69 74 280 T9 Tag Ridings -8 68 71 67 74 280 T13 Vijay Singh -7 72 68 73 68 281 T13 Steve Flesch -7 72 70 68 71 281 T13 Phillip Price -7 73 71 66 71 281 T13 Craig Barlow -7 70 66 70 75 281
Photo Credit: © AP.
So what happened with the Jason Gore is being hyped too much by the media view that was posted after the US Open? Were those that touted Gore after earning his Battlefield promotion actually on the mark this time.
Well, Jeff, you’ll have to ask Cody that.
But if I may say so, Cody’s point wasn’t that Gore was over-hyped. It’s that he was over-hyped during the U.S. Open at the expense of telling anyone’s story but his. I too would have liked to know more about Michael Campbell or some of the other competitors. Instead, despite a closing-round 84 and a tie for 49th, we learned more about Gore than we did the winner of the darn tournament.
Erik is right. In my Thrash Talk, I said on a couple occasions how much of a fan I am of Jason Gore. I am happy as can be that he won on the PGA Tour.
I just think he got a little too much of the attention in an event where he struggled badly in the final round. Michael Campbell didn’t get any attention throughout the entire week.
I will admit I thought Gore was a little overhyped, even outside the U.S. Open. But, he definitely showed he deserves the attention by winning this past weekend in a pretty strong field.