CHRIS KOCHMAN
Staff Writer
“Jason Gore finally wins!”
After reading that headline, some sports fans may think — who? From the sight of his scruffy whiskers, the size of his stomach or his non-sponsorship beer brand cap that he plays golf with, one might be really be confused. He looks as if he doesn’t belong, and yet he is always smiling.
The sports nation loves an underdog, and many sports fans have adopted a new hero in Gore. He is the average man who just so happened to make legends like Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson on the PGA Tour look like amateurs at the 84 Lumber Classic Sept. 12-16. He is the over-achiever and the family man. He is America’s golfer.
Gore, a Pepperdine alumnus and former all-American, recently won his first PGA Tour event — the 84 Lumber Classic — by one stroke over Carlos Franco. Many golf fans may know about this “nice guy” who came so close to winning the 2005 U.S. Open, and fell short, back in June at Pinehurst Country Club in North Carolina.
Gore is back, and this time he is more than just “every man’s” golfer. He is a winner.
Before this victory, Gore was known more for his “feel good” quotes and average-man mentality.
After his victory, Gore was quoted as saying: “Around May-ish I was wondering if I could get formula for my child, if I was going to make a house payment, and now look. They just handed me a check for $792,000. It’s amazing where a little perseverance and grit and maybe a little ignorance can take you.”
With appearances on ESPN and a PGA Tour card exemption through 2007, Gore is slowly becoming a household name in the golf world.
Gore’s road to success in the professional ranks has been one of many obstacles. At Pepperdine, the former all-American led the Waves golf team to a national championship in 1997.
After joining the PGA Tour that same year, Gore had little success. He was demoted twice to the Nationwide Tour, once in 2001 and again in 2003. Gore, at one point in his career, placed 818th in the world in the PGA rankings , never winning a tournament on the professional tour. His best finish was 18th place.
However, all his downfalls do not compare to a fourth-round meltdown at this year’s U.S. Open. Gore saw his name fall from the leader board to 49th place, walking away from the Tournament as “every man’s golfer” instead of a clear-cut contender.
Though he did not win the U.S. Open, the Tournament did gain him national acclaim.
Immediately after his heartbreaking loss at the Open, he began playing again in the Nationwide Tour. Gore, now with his “good-guy” image became more resilient than ever. He became the first player to win three consecutive Nationwide Tour events in the same year and the first to win back-to-back Tournaments in two different years.
Gore did not just win such events as the National Mining Association Pete Dye Classic, Scholarship America Showdown and The Cox Classic all in a row, he dominated. In these events he posted scores of 17-under, 14-under and 23-under par respectively. After accomplishing the trifecta, Gore topped the money list in the Nationwide Tour at $356,579 and ready to join the big dance.
For Gore’s impressive play on the Nationwide Tour, he received the battlefield promotion, which once again placed him in the promised land of golf — the PGA Tour. He didn’t fare well in his first three events back, placing 73rd in the Buick Championship, 60th in the Deutsche Bank championship and missing the cut in the Bell Canadian Open. And just when history was looking to repeat itself, ready to send Gore packing back down to the minor leagues of golf, he proved he belonged.
Gore is only the second player in PGA Tour history to win an event in both the Nationwide Tour and PGA Tour in the same year. After his victory, his world golf ranking has skyrocketed from 315th to 88th, and his money earnings ranking has also boosted him to 81st, receiving more than $830,000 for the year.
And this time around, Gore is here to stay, procuring an exemption to play in the PGA Tour for the next two years.
Gore shot a 13-under par and placed 44th at the Funai Classic at the World Disney Resort this past weekend. After the first two rounds he was on the leaderboard at 13-under. However, he finished even par on both the third and fourth rounds. He cashed in at $13,303 to move him up on the PGA money list to 87th. Gore finished ahead of notable pros such as Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh.
Next, Gore takes his game and his “everyman” image to Palm Harbor Florida, where he will play in the Chrysler Championship on Oct. 27th.
10-31-2005