Jason Gore - Tee Shot: Par 5

Jason Gore walks us through his Par 5 tee shot strategy at the TPC Valencia.


Transcript

We're on the last hole here at Valencia TPC. Jason, I want you to pretend you've been in this position many times, you're on the last hole with the lead, you have to get a ball in the fairway.

OK, so if I'm tied for the lead right now this is a perfect tee shot for me because of the winds out of the right, and if I knew if I had a gun to my head, this ball's going left to right.

Left or right.

Left to right. So, with this wind out of the right I can go ahead and hit my shot and know that that wind's going to hold this ball up.

But what makes you so sure-- What adjustments are you going to make to make sure it's going left to right? That's what I want to know and everyone else wants to know. Are you going to hold on longer? What physical swing action are you going to make to make sure it goes left, right into the fairway?

You want me to give you the honest answer?

Yeah.

Don't fall over.

Don't fall over?

That's for me. I basically have to feel like I stay in sync.

OK.

Unless my body stops moving, unless my arm, my hips, and my body stops moving and this club passes, that's when big left comes in.

OK so you gotta keep going.

Yes I have to keep rotating. If I know if I keep rotating--

Hard? Is it fast? Is it--

--in rhythm.

In rhythm.

It just has to keep moving and I know if my body stops my arms go this way and that's when I hit the tow hooks.

And you lose the tournament.

I lose the tournament basically, yes. So I know-- So for me that is just basically-- I feel like I can swing harder. So that's why I've always felt like I've been a good leader of a golf tournament. I've always felt like I've been a good closer.

Yeah. Good-- Yeah.

Because--

Because you can keep hitting it left to right and keep doing the thing that makes you keep doing it left to right actually helps.

Yes, because when most guys get under pressure they go faster.

I see.

When I go faster I actually get better, because I know what it's going to do. I'm not trying to do anything that I know I'm physically unable to do that's not natural to me. So I would just call it just kind of the squeeze fade, or like my kids call it the Darth Vader.

There she is.

There she is. She's going right, the wind stopped.

That's OK. So just to reiterate what you just said there. You're coming in and you're rotating hard with everything and what that's doing, so people will know, is as that goes on by your accentuating that and that's putting the face open to the path a little bit and it's putting that curve on it.

Yes. Yeah I'm not trying to feel like the clubs going out and around because the way I personally hit a draw is I have to feel like my body slows down, my arms catch up and pass.

That's for your draw?

That's for my personal draw.

Which goes into a hook under pressure, sometimes.

It can. Yeah. It's not my Forte, how about that.

Right. Exactly. I'm the same, as soon as I go, I'm--

Yeah. If I'm striking it really good, it's straight--

Fade.

To falling.