Gore Enjoys This 84 More

Get out the beer and chips, pull up the recliner. Jason Gore, the everyman’s version of a PGA Tour pro, is playing in the final group on Sunday again.

Gore, whose rags-to-riches-to-rags odyssey during the U.S. Open instantly made him into a fan favorite, shot a five-under-par 67 Saturday to open a two-shot lead over a group of five after three rounds of the 84 Lumber Classic at Farmington, Pa.

Gore, who earned his PGA Tour promotion after winning three consecutive Nationwide Tour events earlier this year, got off to a great start by chipping in for an eagle at the 371-yard, par-four first hole, and had six birdies to offset three bogeys.

Gore leads a group of relative no-names, including Craig Barlow, who is 108th on the money list but was tied with Gore at 12 under before finding a deep patch of hillside rough along the No. 16 green and taking a double-bogey seven. Also at 10 under are Tag Ridings (67), Carlos Franco (68), Rod Pampling (69) and Carl Pettersson (70). Three back are Justin Leonard, Chris DiMarco and Cameron Beckman.

Gore made a name for himself at the U.S. Open, though not entirely for the right reasons. Playing his way into the final group Sunday, he shot a 14-over 84 at Pinehurst No. 2 that dropped him to a 41st-place tie. The 31-year-old has never finished higher than an 18th-place tie in a PGA Tour event.

“I think I learned so much the last round of the Open that I was able to take it into the Nationwide events, knowing that I’m probably not going to see anything ever like what I dealt with at the Open,” he said. “It just kind of puts it all in perspective.”

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Defending champion Annika Sorenstam shot a three-under 68 to take a one-stroke lead over Michelle Ellis and Maria Hjorth after three rounds of the John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic at Broken Arrow, Okla.

Sorenstam made back-to-back birdies at Nos. 14-15 to break a three-way tie for the lead at Cedar Ridge Country Club and moved into a position to win the event for the third time. She also won the tournament at Tulsa Country Club in 2002.

Tied with Hjorth and France’s Karine Icher, Sorenstam hit the pin with her chip for eagle at the 14th and tapped in for birdie. Icher matched Sorenstam with a six-foot birdie putt, and both moved to seven under. Sorenstam then hit a five-iron to 21 feet at the par-three 15th and made the putt to take the lead.

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Bob Gilder shot a five-under 67 to maintain a two-stroke lead after two rounds of the Constellation Energy Classic at Hunt Valley, Md.

Gilder birdied the par-four 18th to reach a tournament-record 13-under 131 after 36 holes at Hayfields Country Club.

D.A. Weibring and Morris Hatalsky are tied for second at 11 under. Two-time U.S. Open champion Curtis Strange (66) and Senior British Open champion Tom Watson (68) are three strokes back.

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U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell turned the tables on Retief Goosen, routing the top-seeded player, 7 and 6, to advance to the final of the World Match Play Championship at Virginia Water, England.

Campbell will play for the title today against 11th-seeded Paul McGinley of Ireland, who defeated second-seeded Angel Cabrera of Argentina, 4 and 3.

Goosen, a winner three times in the last five weeks, had beaten Kenneth Ferrie, 9 and 8, and Mark Hensby by a record-tying 12 and 11 in his first two matches.