Valencia’s Gore Charges to Win State Amateur

Jason Gore of Valencia won seven of eight holes during one stretch of his Saturday afternoon match with Scott Watson and went on to win the 86th California Amateur championship, 6 and 5, at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Watson, of Walnut Creek, was 2-up after the morning round, but Gore, a two-time Pacific 10 Conference champion at Arizona before transferring to Pepperdine, came out smoking in the afternoon, making par on the first hole by getting up and down from a tough greenside bunker lie.

Then on the 502-yard, par-five second hole, Gore chipped in from 20 feet for an eagle three, and that set the tone for the rest of the round.

“Those first two holes were the key,” Gore said. “I’m sure when [Watson] saw my ball in the bunker that he expected to go 3-up, and when I got it up and down that had to hurt. Then to have me chip in on him just added to the pressure.”

Gore, who attacked the flagstick throughout the day, went on to shoot two-under 34 on the front nine, and Watson wilted. He double-bogeyed the par-four third hole and then three-putted three consecutive holes; when the dust had settled after the par-four ninth, Gore was 5-up.

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Ernie Els, who led the Buick Classic at one time Saturday by eight strokes, bogeyed out of the rough on No. 13 at Westchester Country Club and out of the sand on No. 16 to come back to the field. Still, he shot a four-under 67 that was good for a three-round total of 14-under 199 and a three-stroke lead over Jeff Maggert, who had a 66.

Els’ total was one stroke better than the Buick Classic 54-hole record he set last year in an eight-stroke victory.

The defending champion has been under par in 13 of the 15 rounds he has played competitively at the course in Harrison, N.Y.

Maggert stayed within reach with a steady six-birdie, one-bogey round that included birdies at Nos. 14, 16 and 18.

Maggert, who was outdueled by Els in the final nine holes of the U.S. Open last week, said he was aware he trailed by eight shots at one point, but tried not to let it intimidate him.

“I just tried to think that there’s 27 holes of golf to go in the tournament,” he said. “Anything can happen.”

Tiger Woods shot an even-par 71 and was 16 strokes behind Els at two-over 215. Woods, who had a streak of 11 consecutive rounds under par starting with the first round of the Masters, has failed to break par in 10 of his last 11 rounds.

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Australia’s Graham Marsh shot a four-under 68 to take a two-stroke lead over Hale Irwin and Bob Murphy after the second round of the Nationwide Championship at Alpharetta, Ga.

Marsh, 53, completed the second round at nine-under 135 on the Golf Club of Georgia’s Lakeside Course.

Murphy, in the final group with Marsh and Bob Charles, finished in near darkness in the round delayed twice by lighting and thunderstorms for a total of 2 hours 12 minutes. Murphy shot a 73 to join Irwin at 137.

Irwin, who needs less than $39,000 to go over the $1-million mark for the season, had a 69 in his bid for a fifth victory in only 11 1997 events.

Charles, with a 72, was another stroke back at 138.

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Allison Finney edged to the front in the LPGA’s Rochester International, shooting a three-under 69 while nearly all of the early leaders failed to match par in tricky wind conditions at Pittsford, N.Y.

The exception was defending champion Dottie Pepper, whose 71 left her one stroke off Finney’s eight-under, 208 pace. Pepper is tied with Gail Graham of Canada (66) and second-round co-leader Nanci Bowen (74).

The other second-round leader, Nancy Scranton, crashed out of contention with a 79, as did first-round leader Michelle McGann, who shot a 78.