Nothing Amateurish About Gore’s Game

Jason Gore knows that golf is fickle and winning streaks can end in a flash.

“If you’re playing good, don’t ask questions,” he said. “Just stay with it.”

So after a torrid June in which he led Pepperdine to an NCAA title, then won the California Amateur and California State Open championships, Gore has delayed turning professional to try for one more victory.

The Valencia golfer with a big drive and a bigger grin wants to play in the Walker Cup.

Only two spots remain on the U.S. team that next month will compete in the amateur version of the Ryder Cup.

Gore, 23, is a longshot but figures he can bolster his chances with a strong showing at the 98th Southern California Golf Assn. amateur championship, which begins today at Lakeside Country Club in Toluca Lake.

And he knows better than to question a winning streak.

“This is an exciting time,” he said. “This is why you hit balls late at night, why you stay and putt an extra hour.”

Even a victory at Lakeside might not put him on the squad that will face golfers from Great Britain and Ireland at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y., on Aug. 9-10. An executive committee has selected eight team members and will announce the final two later this month.

“The players are picked for a variety of reasons,” a U.S. Golf Assn. spokesman said. “There isn’t really a specific written criteria.”

Gore is an unlikely candidate if only because his career appeared in jeopardy only two years ago.

The former Hart High star arrived at Arizona in 1992 as a cocky recruit, “thinking I was a hot shot,” and quickly proved himself by winning Pacific 10 individual titles in his freshman and sophomore seasons.

But all was not well. Gore hesitates to talk about his problems in Tucson, his broad face darkening if only for a moment.

When he decided to return home, Arizona refused to release him from his commitment.

“I did what I thought was best,” he said. “They weren’t very happy.”

Gore had to sit out a year before enrolling at Pepperdine. In his first outing for the Waves, he was 81st in a tournament at Fresno State.

“Shock,” was all he could say.

Last summer, Pepperdine hired John Geiberger, son of Senior PGA Tour pro Al Geiberger, to coach the golf team. He saw Gore as a powerful young man who needed to add killer instinct to an otherwise affable nature--that he needed to twist that grin into a sneer occasionally.

“Jason can overpower a course to the point that he can make mistakes and still have a decent round,” Geiberger said. “He would look up to see his friends or family. He wasn’t keeping his focus.”

At the same time, Gore’s personal coach addressed another aspect of his game.

“The quality of food he eats,” Lee Breckenridge said. “Like any kid, he likes to eat a lot of junk.”

Results are still pending on the diet--Gore is 6 feet 2, 220 pounds--but the golf game improved dramatically. He was hitting the ball well and, if his game around the greens wasn’t the best, he made up for it with putting.

After a string of top-10 finishes last spring, Gore carried the 20th-ranked Waves to a surprising lead at the NCAA tournament. By the final hole, Pepperdine had all but clinched the team title and he held a one-stroke lead in the individual competition.

Then everything Geiberger taught him flew out the window.

“I wasn’t shaking or nervous,” Gore said. “I was excited for the team and forgot I had to play golf.”

A double-bogey dropped him to third place. It was a tough lesson, but one that proved valuable in subsequent weeks.

At the Amateur championship, Gore finished strong, chipping from 20 feet for an eagle on his way to victory. At the California State Open, he shot a final-round 64 to come from six strokes back and become the first amateur to win the tournament in 24 years.

The open was supposed to be his professional debut. Gore passed on the $10,400 check, having set his sights on a bigger prize.

“Jason has proved he deserves to be on that Walker Cup team,” Geiberger said. “If you look at the last five months, there hasn’t been anyone as consistent. . . .”

But the committee might overlook him because he has not played in any of the major amateur tournaments in the East. So Gore feels the need to do well at Lakeside.

He will face a 96-man field that includes three-time champion Craig Steinberg and 1996 U.S. Public Links champion Tim Hogarth. Still, he likes his chances.

“Golf is a strange game,” he said. “I’m playing well, so I’ll just take it day by day.”