Gore, Potter Jr. tied atop leaderboard after Day 2 at Rust-Oleum
Schwarber-sized with a mighty swing and beard that shades nearly his entire face, Jason Gore seems like a Chicago kind of guy.
This is no surfer dude, despite his California roots.
“Being an L.A. guy, I think this is one of the greatest cities ever,” Gore said Friday following his round in the Web.com Tour's Rust-Oleum Championship at Ivanhoe Country Club in Lake County. “It if had better weather, I'd probably live here (laughing). I'm a little thin-skinned being a California boy.
“I love being here,” he added. “It has probably, per capita, one of the best, if not the best, array of great golf courses in one area.”
Gore might like Chicago even more if he keeps playing golf like he has at Ivanhoe. Playing in the morning under sunny skies, the burly 43-year-old shot a 6-under-par 66 in his second round. His 10-under total has him tied atop the leaderboard with lefty Ted Potter Jr., whose 63 bested the old course record of 64 held by host professional Jim Sobb.
Austin Cook, Dawie van der Walt, Andrew Landry and Stephan Jaeger are 1 shot back at 9 under. The 29-year-old Landry, a 5-foot-7 Texan, made headlines last summer when he led the U.S. Open at Oakmont in Pennsylvania after one round, only to shoot 8 over on Sunday and tie for 15th. He teed off Friday at Ivanhoe in the afternoon, which yielded higher scores than those posted in the morning.
“The wind changed from northwest all the way around to the northeast,” said Landry, whose 5 under (32-35) followed Thursday's opening 68. “(No.) 9 was playing downwind. Now (No.) 18 (same direction as No. 9) is playing into the wind. It definitely was a big change, and you had to pay attention to the times it was going to be changing. The back nine played hard for me.”
Both Gore and Potter are past winners on the PGA Tour and understand what it will take to win at Ivanhoe.
“You can't go around and just smash drivers everywhere,” Gore said after carding 8 birdies and 2 bogeys. “You have to figure out where to leave it and what you want, especially now that the greens are going to start to get firm. We're probably going to get some wind (this weekend), so now you just got to give yourself the right shot into the green.”
Potter, who also played in the morning, agreed.
“Typically, most guys are hitting 3, maybe 4 drivers,” he said after making 8 birdies, 1 bogey and an eagle on No. 15. “I hit 6 or 7 to try to be a little bit on the aggressive side. It paid off for me today, but you really got to make sure you hit it in the fairway. The greens are firming up.”
Gore made few mistakes until the 18th, when he hit a “bad tee shot, bad second shot and bad chip,” he said. He slid in a 10-foot putt for a bogey 5, avoiding worst damage.
“You can get away with making bogeys,” Gore said. “Doubles are the ones that kill you.”
Gore, who grew up playing junior golf with Tiger Woods in California, captured his lone PGA Tour victory in 2005 (84 Lumber Classic). He's won a record seven times on the Web.com Tour but not since 2010. He finished second in the United Leasing & Finance Championship in April.
“It's been all right,” Gore said of his year. “You can ask Tiger in 2000 how his year went and he'd say it still could have been better. We're golfers. We're sadistic.”
Potter played the last five holes in 5 under, which included a birdie on No. 18. On Monday, the Florida native qualified for next week's U.S. Open at Erin Hills in Wisconsin.
“More than anything, just seeing the ball roll good right now (gives me) confidence,” said Potter, who won the PGA Tour's 2012 Greenbrier Classic in a playoff. “When the (last putt) was 3-4 feet from the hole I felt it was going in. It's hard to get to places like that, where you actually feel that good about a round of golf or making a birdie.”
Local products Andy Pope (Glenbard West, plus 2), Vince India (Deerfield, plus 3) and Michael Schachner (Libertyville, plus 11) all missed the cut. Lake Forest graduate Brad Hopfinger (1 under) shot par Friday and will play this weekend.