Back at 100 percent, Gore encouraged by play
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
SAN ANTONIO -- Jaxon Gore was wheeling his way through the obstacle course in trampoline class the other day when he decided he wanted to hit something. He picked the padded wall.
But he paused to ask permission.
Dad Jason just smiled and shook his head.
"Go ahead,'' he said. "Just don't hurt the wall.''
That said, Jaxon went full bore. Shoulder down. Serious brute force -- for a 4-year-old.
Jaxon's fearless. And a chunk -- dad's word -- off the old block.
Knock either one of them down and they'll get right back up. Tell them they can't do something and they will. They're more than a little stubborn, but they're also driven by confidence.
All of which tells you all you need to know about the wall incident and Dad's current predicament -- he's 129th on the PGA TOUR money list and needs to finish in the top 125 to keep his PGA TOUR card.
And did we mention he shot an opening 5-under-par 65 at the Valero Texas Open? And made a par from just this side of Austin on the ninth -- his 18th -- to share the early lead with five others for about an hour? All this just a week after missing the cut at the Turning Stone Resort Championship?
"I hit it terrible, chipped it bad and putted crappy,'' he said. "Other than that, it wasn't bad.''
Gore grinned. "I hit a good 3-wood one time."
In a way, he said, that Fido -- his word -- week could have been a blessing in disguise. Not only did he get to spend a little more time at home with his wife, Jaxon and 2-week-old daughter Olivia, he also put in some extra work with swing coach Brady Riggs.
But that didn't mean he wasn't a bit nervous on the 10th tee -- his first of the day -- thinking about that top 125.
"You try to let -- try not to think about your job for next year but, like I said before, I've put myself in this position so, you know, you try to forget about it and make a really good par on 10,'' said Gore.
"I got it up and down and hit a good shot on 11 and Vaughn Taylor had the putt right behind my ball and I kind of scooted right in there to watch it and saw it didn't go left and hit it -- banged it right in the back. Thank goodness it hit the hole.''
The par-birdie-birdie-birdie start settled him down and set the tone for the day.
"I wasn't brimming with confidence coming in here so you just try to find any little thing that you can find to just build on and keep getting better and better,'' he said.
He knows of what he speaks.
It's been an interesting year to say the least for the big man with the infectious smile. At January's Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, he was staying with former Pepperdine teammate Mike Walton when he knew something was wrong. "I got up from the couch and I felt old,'' he said.
He tied for ninth at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, but, a few months later, he was diagnosed with a thyroid problem and it took a while for he medication to work.
Instead of taking time off to get back to normal, he admits to being stubborn and trying to play through it.
"I just never knew if I was ever going to feel 100 percent again,'' he said of a stretch of 11 tournaments where he either withdrew or missed the cut in 10 of them. "I was tired all the time and wasn't able to do what I wanted to do. I played decent for about six, seven holes and just kind of fell over.
"Now that I'm 100 percent healthy, I never realized how bad I felt.''
He couldn't have walked the La Cantera course four months ago, but he knew he was back when he had play 36 holes to qualify for the U.S. Open. Since then, he's been moving in the right direction.
He tied for 11th at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee and has had two eigth-place ties in his last five events, the second at the Viking Classic.
There are still three days to go here, but Gore is off to a good start. His only blip was a bogey at the fourth hole, but he recovered with a birdie at the fifth. Then there was the ninth hole where his tee shot went way right.
"I kind of toed it a little bit and slipped a little bit,'' he said. "It happens. What are you going to do?''
The bottom line is Gore is feeling good about his game and his chances.
After all, he said, Dustin Johnson won at Turning Stone last week when he was 128th on the money list. So why not him at 129?
"One week can make a year,'' Gore said. "Or two.''
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