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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 18, 2005

Jason Gore

PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA

JASON GORE: Hello again.

Q. Are you feeling more satisfaction or frustration about

JASON GORE: It's The Open, what are you going to do? That kind of stuff happens and you just can't let yourself get too up or too down.

Q. You're becoming a celebrity in Pinehurst?

JASON GORE: I don't know about that, but I've had a lot of fan support and it's been pretty awesome, it's been really cool.

Q. Will you describe your walk up 18 today and making that birdie?

JASON GORE: I was trying to keep my emotions under check, because sometimes it can get a little I can feel myself crying and my face kind of not crying, but you can feel like it's on the verge. And I guess when I made that putt I kind of pointed it kind of Tigeresque, and I looked at my caddie afterwards, as K.J. was putting, I said, "Did I just point that ball into the hole?" And he said, "Yeah, you did." And I said, "What a cheese ball."

And you just yesterday in the media room I said I'm not a fist pumper, well, strike that.

Q. Yesterday you said you had no chance to hang around. What's it feel like going into the final round with a good shot?

JASON GORE: I had a lot of people supporting me. And it was pretty wonderful. I had a lot of support and it's very good. Thank you guys.

Q. How are you holding up? It's Father's Day tomorrow, there's so many emotions, are you hanging in there?

JASON GORE: Yeah, I'm doing fine. I'm trying to keep it all in check. I know it's the U.S. Open and blah, blah, blah. It's still golf and there's still a long way to go. And we still have a big fight ahead of us. I'm just trying to keep it in perspective and go from there.

Q. Tiger had nice things to say about you, growing up and playing with you?

JASON GORE: He's a good man, and sometimes he gets a bad rap because he's sometimes such a private person. But the guy is pretty awesome. He's a great ambassador for the game, and we're lucky to have him.

Q. How special would it be to win on Father's Day, given what happened to your father?

JASON GORE: It would be very special. And I'm sure I'd need a couple of towels to wipe the tears. But that's a long way away. And Retief is Retief. He's awesome. But he's very tough mentally, but so am I. So we'll go from there.

Q. Was today maybe more of a true test than what tomorrow might be? If you throw out today, you have no chance. But you're in the final group at the U.S. Open?

JASON GORE: That's pretty cool, huh? I think today was a big test. And I didn't play my greatest, but it happens. And I hung in there. I made some very key putts that you have to make, you know, to play well in the U.S. Open. And you take a little bit off that and maybe tomorrow won't be as bad as today was. Hopefully I'm a quick learner, it will get through my thick old skull.

Q. Olin says anyone who says it's fun out there is lying. You seemed to be having fun.

JASON GORE: Olin does this every week. It's all a matter of perspective. If you say, hey, this is a major championship, and I get to play golf at Pinehurst, it's a brutal test. And it's a battle of patience. It's a battle of will. If you look at it that way and find out what you're made of it is kind of fun because you're learning something about yourself every day.

Q. Where would you have been if you had not qualified this week?

JASON GORE: I'd be in Knoxville at the Nationwide event.

Q. What are your expectations for tomorrow?

JASON GORE: Well, I expect to be here at 3:00, if that's the last tee time. I hope it's not 2:50 (laughter). I expect to be on the first tee in the final group of the U.S. Open and that's it. I'm going to stand up there, I'm going to put the tee in the ground, I'm going to set the ball on it and pick my target and I'm going to try to flush the toilet and go from there.

Q. Whether you win or lose, is there any doubt how you'll come out here and react and play?

JASON GORE: No. I'll be fine. I feel I'll be just fine. Just get the ball in the fairway and if not, you go find it and you try to create something and go from there. And I'm just trying to keep it very simple and so be it.

Q. Did you come here playing well?

JASON GORE: Yeah, I did. I did come here feeling like I was on the verge of something very good. And I wasn't quite expecting this, but that's here we are. So you go from there.

Q. What's the difference going out in public Wednesday versus last night?

JASON GORE: I didn't go out in public. Well, we did, I almost ran out of gas. I ran to the my son has a double ear infection, so I went to Eckerd's.

Q. Did they recognize you at Eckerd's?

JASON GORE: No, a couple of guys waved at me when I was pumping gas.

Q. Were your recognized at all before Thursday here?

JASON GORE: No.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JASON GORE: Yeah, they're awesome. The gallery has been so supportive. And it's pretty incredible. You hear people and you watch it all the time, I'm a big golf fan, too. And it's really cool to see it and actually feel it firsthand.

Q. Have some of the guys in the locker room said anything? They might even be pulling for you, guys that may be too far back to contend?

JASON GORE: I had a lot of guys say good playing or wishing me good luck, but we're all battling. And I'd like to feel they're supporting me. But they want to play well, too. And I completely understand that.

Q. How does it make you feel when Maltby is up there pumping his fist?

JASON GORE: Roger walked around with me in '97 at the Walker Cup. So we have a certain thing in common. He's been very great. He's been great to me ever since Walker Cup and I think I've got a good friend in Roger.

Q. How old is the baby?

JASON GORE: Eight months.

Q. Jason, what's your memory of your father perhaps introducing you to golf?

JASON GORE: My dad never played. He was too smart to do that. Only crazy dumb people play golf. Well, actually my brother bought him a set of golf clubs. It's my brother's birthday today, too. My brother bought him a set of golf clubs, and I was always a baseball and football player. And I started playing golf, because I was so bad at it. I was always the bigger kid and the better athlete, and so I was so bad at golf that I just kind of kept at it. And here I am.

Q. Mark Hensby said yesterday as far as majors are concerned, he threw it back at us and said I think you guys make more of it than it really is. For me it's just another tournament. Is it possible to approach a major championship like that?

JASON GORE: Sure. You know, it's still 72 holes. The venue is a little different. It's a major championship. And but it's still golf. And you've still got to get the ball in the hole. And you've still got to take one shot at a time. And once you're out there, after all the hoopla and the hype it's still you versus the golf course. It's still you versus you, really. And that's really what the battle is. But the rewards are pretty cool. Not that I know of it, but you just try to keep it that simple.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JASON GORE: I was fine. It happens. I hit a bad shot. I hit two bad shots, actually. Just trying to stay in perspective. I still had, what, four really difficult holes coming up. And you just try not to lose your composure, patience, after you do something like that, because everybody's doing it.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JASON GORE: Yeah, you know, it was good. I hit a great drive on 18 and hit a very good smart shot in there, finally. And hit a good putt. And in front of all that, in front of I think it's worse off just knowing my friends are back home yelling at me. It was pretty cool to make that last putt. It was very important for me and the tournament, but mostly for me.

Q. Did you look to see Retief had just dropped two shots in three holes?

JASON GORE: I was trying not to. The score boards are so strategically placed, you turn around and look and boom, there it is. I was trying not to look too deeply into that knowing there's still a lot of golf yet.

Q. Are people yelling eight, one, eight?

JASON GORE: I'm six, six, one. Yeah, there was some people that were just so supportive, it was awesome.

Q. Is this going to remind you when John Daly won the PGA back in '91?

JASON GORE: Yeah, I guess you could look at it like that. It was cool. That's the best way I can describe. No words can really put it into how great they were to me out there. I felt really supported and very welcomed.

Q. What's your brother's name?

JASON GORE: Ronald, Ron.

Q. The baby is doing better?

JASON GORE: Yeah, he's doing good.

End of FastScripts.

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