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WGC BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONAL

August 24, 2006

Jason Gore

AKRON, OHIO

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Jason Gore, playing in your first WGC Bridgestone Invitational, off to a great start, 65, trailing Adam Scott by two shots. You have to be happy with how you started out the week.

JASON GORE: Yeah, especially the first four holes. I got off to a good start and just kind of kept going from there.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Talk about those first three holes, two birdies and an eagle.

JASON GORE: Yeah, hit a good drive down the middle on 1, had just 100 yards in and hit sand wedge in there about six feet. Then pulled a 4 wood, but don't tell anybody (laughing) on the 2nd hole. I was aiming for the center of the green and pulled it about a foot and a half from the hole.

Next one had about a ten footer, just hit a little pitch in there and knocked it in going down the hill.

Q. How far was the second shot on 2?

JASON GORE: I think I had 229 back up the hill into the wind. That was a long time ago (laughing), sorry.

Q. You looked really comfortable playing with Tiger. What's the history there?

JASON GORE: Him and I kind of grew up together playing junior golf, so we've had a go around a few times in some SCPGA junior golf events.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Tiger, and I think he's just phenomenal, not only as a golfer but as a person.

I think what I've been struggling with a little bit this year has been focus, and being able to watch him I'm not only a professional golfer but I'm also a fan. So being able to watch him and watch how he goes about his business, especially last week, just helped me realize that I needed to work a little bit on my focus. So I watched him a lot today, and it's kind of hard not to watch him. He's amazing.

I think it kind of bled a little bit into my game, and I was able to focus on my shots a little bit more, and it turned out pretty good.

Q. Is this the first time you've played with him back on this Tour?

JASON GORE: It's the first time I've played with him since he's been Tiger. Last time I played with him he was still Eldrick. I've played a few practice rounds with him, but we still try to keep in pretty good touch, and I still call him for advice. He's a really good guy.

Q. When was the last time when he was still Eldrick, what year might that have been?

JASON GORE: Good gosh, 1876 or something (laughter). I'm guessing probably '89 or '90.

Q. Did you beat him then?

JASON GORE: No, we knew he was going to be the best, even back then. We were probably playing in Canon Cup on the AJGA Tour, the West versus the East, and we roomed together because they put the two California boys, nobody wanted to be with us, we were all weird (laughter). So him and I roomed together in Colorado Springs, and I think that was probably the last time we really teamed up or played against each other.

Q. Is that the American Junior Golf Association?

JASON GORE: Yeah, AJGA. I still have that over his head, so if he ever tries to say anything bad about me or my weight or anything, I just tell him, remember, we've roomed together one time and I know a lot more about you than you think (laughter).

Q. All you said about learning from him, seeing him play, I'm sure there's a heck of a lot to that, but you had to go out and execute yourself today. He's not out there making swings, so you had to feel darn good about how you played your first competitive round.

JASON GORE: Yeah, I'll be nervous again tomorrow. I was nervous this morning. I'm not going to lie to you. It's a big deal. You've got the greatest, probably the most dominant athlete in any sport, let alone our sport.

And like I said, I'm not only a professional but I'm also a huge fan of his. Some day I want to grow up and be Tiger Woods. You know, it's kind of funny to say that about a kid younger than me, but I just have a tremendous amount of respect for him. Plus, I don't ever want to say anything bad about him because he might get upset and shoot about 53 tomorrow.

You know, the guy is just a phenomenal athlete and a phenomenal person, and if you can't learn from the best, then you may as well just pack up your bags and go home.

Q. This seems to be your time of the year?

JASON GORE: Seems to be. I don't know why. I guess I'm just a slow starter. You know, I think this is about the time of the year when I just kind of flush the old mental toilet and just go out and continue to play golf.

Coming off of my last year, that was pretty much of a banner year for me, and what I think I should be playing at. We all think that way, and I think I came out this year wanting to be something I wasn't. You know, that's a pretty tough lesson to learn when you have to learn just to be yourself.

You laugh at the good shots and laugh at the bad shots, and you go back to work on the range. This golf is pretty fickle. You just go out and you keep working, and like I said before, it's pretty difficult being yourself, but that's really what you have to be.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about how your career changed after the U.S. Open in the sense that for some people if they would have had a day like you had on Sunday, it would just could just destroy them, no matter in what sport or anything. With you it seems to be just the opposite. You went on and played well, won a tournament and have gotten to where you are today?

JASON GORE: I think it was the good old fashioned double cross. You try to hit a cross and hooked it. I don't know, I think nobody, including myself, expected to be there and in that kind of situation.

You know, I learned a very valuable lesson. I went out and I tried to win a golf tournament. You don't win golf tournaments; you execute the shots that you have at hand and go from there. You know, I went out thinking I didn't start off real well, and I went out thinking, I'm going to shoot 4 under par on the back nine and win the U.S. Open, and that didn't work (laughter).

I think winning is the result of the process, and that's kind of what when I went on after that I gained a lot of confidence knowing that I could play at this level against the best players in the world. I just kind of took all the positives from that and took it back to the Nationwide Tour, and when you get that kind of confidence, you know, you think every road to the winner's circle has to go through me at that time.

That's a pretty good feeling to have when you step up to the tee and knowing you're the guy. That's probably the way the guy I played with today feels. It was just a big confidence booster knowing that I could tee it up.

Q. Is this a little upgrade over defending your title at Pete Dye?

JASON GORE: With all due respect to the Pete Dye Classic, I'm happy where I'm sitting, yes. They run a great show down there, and I think this date for them I think it's moved back seven weeks, so it's going to be a lot better and it's going to be a lot better weather for the boys. Maybe the golf course will play hard. I'm rooting for Johnson Wagner.

Q. What's the best thing you did out there today?

JASON GORE: I think the best thing I did was not get ahead of myself. I stayed focused on every shot, no matter if it was a horrible lie in the rough or a foot and a half putt for eagle. I think what's important is you have to realize that every shot counts as one, whether it's a 350 yard drive or a tap in putt. If you get your full level of concentration on every one, I think that's what I did so well, just stayed right there in the moment.

Q. When we talked the other day, you just played your first 18 hole practice round. In competitive circumstances, did the lessons that you learned in those practice rounds play out, or did the course kind of do a 180 on you and make you reassess all that?

JASON GORE: I think a little bit of the rain probably softened it up. We only had a short stint of rain, but I think anything kind of helped it out. The fairways were a touch softer and the greens were pretty receptive.

I think the golf course was playing just a smidgen softer than it was on Tuesday. Never playing the golf course, playing one round is huge. No, I did learn a lot. There's a couple hidden little fairways out there, you walk up to 13, the par 4, and my caddie said take it right at that bunker, and I went, "no way, that's 50 yards into the trees." I took it right over the bunker, and I said that's so screwed over there, and you walk over and it's right in the middle of the fairway.

It's one of those course knowledge things. It's one of a lot of things you have to learn about here. This is a great golf course. There's still a lot I have to learn about this place, but we'll just try to learn it as we go.

Q. You said you knew when you were juniors and rooming together that Tiger was going to be very good. In what way did you feel that? And also, is there anything you can share with us that was rather weird about him or anything?

JASON GORE: To answer your second question, no (laughter). You know, you just can see when somebody is sprinkled with the magic dust, and he definitely is. You know, he was phenomenal even when we were juniors, and plus he did some stuff that was amazing. You know, I think the one shot I can remember, and this is when you knew the guy was going to be good, was the 3rd hole at Hacienda Country Club in Hacienda Heights. We're playing in the Southern California Junior Amateur, and that was basically our, for lack of a better world, World Golf Championships.

I was in the group in front of him and you have to hit over the corner of this hill. You have to walk around to even get a peek at the pin, and he hits it way right up into the hill. It bounces off, hits the curb of the cart path and goes like six inches. At that point, you just knew something special. The guy gets some good stuff happening to him. It was a one in a million shot. He hit a shot that anybody in this room could have hit, and it's 50 yards right with a pitching wedge and it ends up six inches. You know that's pretty special. It's looked down upon by something larger than life.

Like today on 2, I hit it a foot and a half for eagle and he hit it in the right fairway bunker and gets his 5 wood out and hits the lip and bounces over to the right, and I was kind of lumbering my way up the fairway and he already hit his chip and it's rolling off the green and it hits my ball and he makes birdie. It's stuff like that that you need to be what he is. I mean, granted, he makes it happen, but he's a special player.

Q. What year was this tournament you were talking about in Colorado Springs?

JASON GORE: God, I can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning and you're going to ask me that question? I'm guessing '90. It was the Canon Cup. I'm guessing '90.

Q. Is this place what you thought it would be?

JASON GORE: Yeah. It's a pretty special place. I knew that this was going to be one of the best golf courses I had ever played when I got here, and I was kind of looking forward to it. I was probably looking forward a little bit too early probably starting Friday at Medinah.

You know, it's completely different than what I remember from watching it on TV. It's just a wonderful golf course. It's right out in front of you, it's not tricked up and it's classic and there's great greens and perfect fairways and it's everything that you could ever want from a championship golf course.

Q. So far what's your favorite hole?

JASON GORE: Well, since I made eagle on it today, probably 2 (laughter).

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Jason, thanks.

End of FastScripts.

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