With the spotlight on his old pal Tiger Woods, Jason Gore of Valencia carded an 8-under-par 62 to take a two-stroke lead over Woods and two others heading to the final round of the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C.
Gore, whose only PGAA Tour victory came in the 2005 84 Lumber Classic, birdied four of his last seven holes to roar past Woods, who shot 68, Jonas Blixt of Sweden, who also had a 62, and Scott Brown, who finished at 66.
“My approach today was to hit my first tee shot, go find it and hit it again,” said Gore, who played at Pepperdine. “I wish I had a better explanation for the way I played today, but I just went out and played golf. I didn’t worry about where I was in the FedEx Cup standings or anything else.
“The greens were fast, really rolling well, I made some putts early and just went from there.”
Woods, who had a share of the lead after opening with scores of 64-65, took the outright for the first time with an 11-foot birdie putt on the first hole of round three and added birdies on the fifth and 16th holes.
However, he lipped out a six-foot par putt on the 18th hole to make his only bogey, which kept him out of the final twosome on Sunday with Gore.
“It was a grind,” said Woods, who must at least finish second to have a chance to qualify for the Barclays, the FedEx Cup playoffs, opener next week. “I kept leaving myself in tough spots above the hole. … I had to putt too defensively because of it.”
Said Gore, who said he has known Woods since he was about 12: “I’m probably the biggest Tiger Woods fan ever. … I think it’s awesome to see him playing well again, to see him playing like Tiger Woods, because that’s what we all want to see.”
Webb Simpson, who won the 2011 Wyndham, carded a 64 and was three shots back in a tie for fifth with Brandt Snedeker (67), who won the tournament in 2007, Jim Herman (66), Paul Casey (66) of England and Cameron Percy (67) of Australia.
