Nationwide Tour players dream of pulling a 'Gore'

Jason Gore set the bar at the 2005 U.S. Open, when he became the darling of Pinehurst No. 2. Now, eight Nationwide Tour players will enter the 107th U.S. Open at Oakmont aiming to use the event as a springboard to success.

By Dave Lagarde, PGATOUR.com Correspondent

Jason Gore will be on the mind of a lot of Nationwide Tour golfers this week.

Make it eight minds to be exact. Each will be grinding away, employing every gram of gray matter available in the 2007 U.S. Open at storied Oakmont Country Club, a 72-hole test of skill, nerve and mental capacity that often is more water torture than golf tournament.

Gore is the Nationwide Tour's poster boy for career-altering experiences in the USGA's annual final examination for the world's best players. Gore's arrived when he did at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2005.

Down on his luck, his game in the doldrums, Gore, holding just conditional status on the Nationwide Tour, found the resolve to fight through the Open's local and sectional qualifying rounds to earn his place in the 156-man field that gathered in the sandhills of North Carolina that fateful June. And he played the first 54 holes as if he was touched by the hands of the golf gods.

When darkness quietly settled on Pinehurst on June 17, Gore found himself tied for the halfway lead with Retief Goosen, the defending champion who was comfortably ranked inside the world's top five, a player who earned his props by being the last man standing in the 2001 and 2004 U.S. Opens. A veritable quote machine, the personable Gore soon achieved cult hero status after regaling the media with stories of his star-crossed career following his second-round 67. He more than held his own in the third round and entered the last 18 tied for second with Olin Browne, three strokes behind Goosen.

The magic went south for the trio of leaders in the telling final round, allowing New Zealand's Michael Campbell to swoop in almost undetected and walk off with one of golf's most precious prizes. But those with any recall whatsoever will remember the 2005 United States Open as belonging to Gore, who handled himself with grace and class after his bubble burst with an 84 on Sunday.

Gore returned to the Nationwide Tour brimming with confidence. Feeding off the momentum gathered, he went on a serious roll. He shot a 59 in competition and won three consecutive tournaments -- a feat no one in the Tour's 16 year-history had accomplished previously -- to earn a performance promotion to the PGA TOUR. As if that wasn't enough, Gore also won the 84 LUMBER Classic in his fourth start on TOUR, capping a meteoric rise into the world's golf consciousness.

Gore's performance in Pinehurst was just another exclamation point punctuating the Nationwide Tour's presence in a tournament widely considered to be the world's toughest. The Tour's impact again was felt at the Masters in April when 2003 Player of the Year Zach Johnson outplayed Tiger Woods down the stretch to claim the Green Jacket. In addition to the prestige of winning his first major at Augusta National, Johnson collected the Nationwide Tour's 11th major championship, giving the Tour a Grand Slam of its own as the Masters was the only major not previously won by a Nationwide Tour player.

A victory at Oakmont, where two-time U.S. Open champion Ernie Els, who played the Nationwide Tour in 1991, won in 1994, would hit the bulls eye's of any golfer's dream. That, of course, is easier said than done. But pulling a Gore, where a player suddenly is hitting nothing but quality shots, awakens a slumbering season and goes on to bigger and better things at the next level, is a practical goal.

"Just goes to show you that anything can happen on any given week, no matter the stage," said Jon Mills, one of the Nationwide Tour's eight who will attempt to tame Oakmont this week.

Still this is the United States Open on a course set up to expose a golfer's every weakness. The second cut of rough is no place to go searching for your game.

"You can be playing like (...) coming in and turn it around with a couple of good tournaments," said Ricky Barnes, the 1993 U.S. Amateur champion who currently resides in 104th position on the 2007 Nationwide Tour money list after 13 starts. Barnes will be making his fourth start in the Open and eighth overall in USGA competition. Admittedly, he loves the challenge.

"In no other professional tournament is par an acceptable score," he said. "I'm going to try and treat this like I would any other tournament, but I know I will appreciate par. If you can make 13 or 14 of them in a round you'll be doing great."

Again, easier said than done in an Open, especially at a track like Oakmont, where length has been added and the tilting and rolling greens are among the toughest in the world.

Joe Daley is another Nationwide Tour player bypassing this week's Rochester Area Charities Showdown at Somerby presented by Think to take a shot at fame and fortune. Daley started thinking about the Open while competing in The Rex Hospital Open in Raleigh, N.C., last week. He could be found daily on the putting green, constantly searching for the fastest downhill putts he could fine. All the better to prepare himself for what he will face this week.

"I worked on my speed drills by finding as much slope as possible," said Daley, who is making his second start in an Open. "You really have to get used to the ball picking up speed. That's what sets an Open apart from other events -- that and firm greens, narrow fairways and a lot of rough."

Daley laughed at the thought. He believes he'll be better prepared this go-round thanks to his experience at Pebble Beach in 2000.

"There will be a lot of commotion going on around you," he said. "Your ability to focus will be important. That takes a lot of work."

Daley had one other game plan for Oakmont. On Monday, he took his sand wedge and putter and went on an 18-hole tour, looking for the spots that will be most troublesome.

"My whole intent this week is staying with my process," he said. "I'm going to wear out that mantra. But it is so important to stay in the present on a golf course like Oakmont."

The Canadian-born Mills has re-located to Indiana, Pa., about 45 minutes from Oakmont. He took off last week and wore out the highway between his home and the golf course.

"At least I'll be familiar with the grasses and slopes," he said. "But I'm not sure entirely on what to expect. The whole idea is to stay as positive as possible and see what happens."