Jason Gore gains maiden PGA Tour win

Rookie Jason Gore continued his magical run by collecting a maiden PGA Tour title with a one-stroke victory over Paraguay's Carlos Franco at the 84 Lumber Classic on Sunday in Farmington, Pennsylvania.

The American survived a shaky inward nine that included bogeys at the 14th and 17th to post a final round two-under 70 at the Mystic Rock Golf Course.

That was just enough to give the 31-year-old a winning total of 14-under 274 and added another line to what has been golf's Cinderella story this season.

Just three months ago, Gore was struggling in golf's minor leagues but after three consecutive wins on the Nationwide Tour he earned promotion to the PGA Tour in late August and has made the most of the opportunity.

"I don't even know if I have any thoughts right now," said Gore. "It's been all so overwhelming.

"I don't know, it was a good hard day.

"It was a lot of fun, let me tell you. That's really about it. It really hasn't sunk in yet.

"I guess since June this hasn't sunk in yet. But it was pretty incredible."

Franco kept the pressure on the popular American with a flawless final round three-under 69 but came up one shot short to finish alone in second place at 13-under 275.

Gore, who first shot into the spotlight at the U.S. Open where he flirted with victory before a final-round collapse, began the day with a two-shot lead and was able to maintain his advantage with an error-free first nine.

After birdies on 11 and 13 Gore had opened four-stroke lead with five to play but after bogeys on 14 and 17 saw his advantage dwindle to a single shot as he stepped onto the 18th tee.

Needing par to avoid a playoff, Gore held his nerve leaving a monster 91-foot putt within two feet of the cup for a tap in and the win.

"It felt like six miles," said Gore, who collected a winner's check of $792,000. "That was the longest 90 feet.

"Whatever I had for the last putt, 14 inches, was the longest 14 inches I've ever seen in my life.

"That was pretty incredible. Sometimes you have to bear down and just say you're not going to go down like that, and I just wasn't going to go down like that, especially after the way I played 14 and 17.

"Sometimes you just have to dig a little deep, and I think the difference is this year I've been able to do that."

Ben Crane (67) finished three shots back in third at 11-under 277 followed by fellow American Tim Herron (70) in fourth at 10-under 278.

Defending champion Vijay Singh, the world number two, matched his best round of the week with a four-under 68 but a 72-hole total of seven-under 281 left him seven strokes off the pace.

U.S. PGA champion Phil Mickelson slumped to a final round one-over 73 and finished well out of contention at four-under 284.

274 Jason Gore 65 72 67 70

275 Carlos Franco (Par) 69 69 68 69

277 Ben Crane 67 70 73 67

278 Tim Herron 70 68 70 70

279 John Huston 70 73 67 69, Jonathan Byrd 69 68 72 70, Chris DiMarco 70 70 67 72, Cameron Beckman 69 65 73 72

280 Justin Leonard 73 64 70 73, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 70 67 69 74, Tag Ridings 68 71 67 74, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 67 66 75 72

281 Phillip Price (Wal) 73 71 66 71, Craig Barlow 70 66 70 75, Steve Flesch 72 70 68 71, Vijay Singh (Fij) 72 68 73 68

282 Robert Allenby (Aus) 72 71 70 69, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 66 70 70 76, Ryan Moore 68 75 70 69, Chris Smith 68 66 74 74, Joey Sindelar 68 68 72 74, Zach Johnson 67 73 68 74, Harrison Frazar 73 71 74 64, Dudley Hart 69 72 75 66, Todd Fischer 70 73 69 70, Will MacKenzie 73 68 70 71

283 Steve Lowery 74 70 68 71

284 Phil Mickelson 73 71 67 73, Paul Claxton 69 72 70 73, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 70 74 71 69, Rocco Mediate 72 71 72 69

285 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 70 74 70 71, Vaughn Taylor 71 71 70 73, Dean Wilson 71 69 72 73, D.A. Points 72 71 73 69, Charlie Wi (Kor) 65 73 75 72

286 David Hearn (Can) 73 69 72 72, Stewart Cink 70 70 71 75, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 70 72 69 75, Michael Putnam 71 73 70 72, Peter Lonard (Aus) 72 70 74 70

287 Joey Snyder III 74 68 70 75, Shaun Micheel 65 74 74 74, Ted Purdy 72 70 74 71, Roland Thatcher 72 71 70 74, Frank Lickliter II 71 73 71 72, Glen Day 71 73 74 69, Brian Bateman 72 71 71 73, Mark O'Meara 65 74 71 77, John Senden (Aus) 75 65 72 75

288 Patrick Sheehan 73 70 74 71, Brian Gay 73 70 68 77, Matt Gogel 72 72 72 72, Scott Hend (Aus) 72 70 69 77, Heath Slocum 71 71 72 74, Hunter Haas 71 69 71 77, Brenden Pappas (Rsa) 68 74 73 73, Kent Jones 73 68 72 75, Todd Hamilton 73 71 75 69

289 Bob Burns 67 70 76 76, Woody Austin 70 70 72 77

290 Kevin Stadler 69 75 77 69, Tom Pernice Jnr. 71 72 73 74, Steve Allan (Aus) 73 70 72 75

291 Bradley Hughes (Aus) 73 71 77 70, Lee Janzen 70 73 73 75

293 Alex Cejka (Ger) 71 72 74 76

294 Pat Perez 68 73 74 79

295 Andrew Magee 73 71 77 74

296 Bo Van Pelt 69 74 79 74, Skip Kendall 72 72 78 74

297 Marco Dawson 74 70 78 75

299 Jeff Maggert 72 71 83 73

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