FARMINGTON, Pa. - Sundays will never be the same for Jason Gore.

No longer is Gore that good-guy overachiever who improbably played his way into the final group in the U.S. Open before collapsing with a 14-over 84.

No longer is Gore one of those not quite-good-enough golfers who play with little recognition in the sport's version of the minor leagues, blessed with talent but not the total game or the intangibles to win on the big-time tour.

Barely a month after being the biggest name on the no-name Nationwide Tour, Gore is a PGA Tour winner, with a much-larger bank account and no worries about having enough money to buy diapers or travel to the next tournament stop.

"It's pretty incredible now to be a PGA Tour winner," Gore said after holding off Carlos Franco by a stroke to win the 84 Lumber Classic and a $792,000 check that nearly doubled his previous PGA Tour winnings. "Wow, that's cool just talking about it."

And why shouldn't he be thrilled?

In early August, the 31-year-old Gore was laboring on the Nationwide Tour after two previous failures on the PGA Tour, never finishing above 18th place in any tournament.

Even after earning an automatic promotion to the PGA Tour following three consecutive Nationwide Tour victories, the 31-year-old Gore struggled in his first three events in his return to the big tour - finishing well back in his first two starts and missing the cut last week in the Canadian Open.

But, taking advantage of a long but not difficult Mystic Rock course that favors big hitters, Gore took a two-shot edge into the final round. Still, golf fans - and he gained many during his remarkable early ride in the U.S. Open - had to wonder how this everyman's pro with the couch potato-like physique and non-pretentious attitude would stand up to another Sunday.

Turns out he was asking himself the same thing.

Gore was aware that only Paul Stankowski in 1996 had won on the Nationwide and PGA Tours in the same year. And, considering how he handled his only previous final round as a contender, he didn't totally know how to handle playing a final round with a lead.

So, remembering how a sports psychologist told him Fred Astaire became an exceptional dancer not by worrying about form or technique but by doing what came naturally, Gore played as if it were another Friday night fun match with his friends in Valencia, Calif.

"I just kind of forgot about where my right arm needs to be or where my hand needs to be - just go have a good time, hit it, chase it and find it again," he said.

The approach worked, even if Gore acknowledged being far more nervous, if that was possible, than during that final round at Pinehurst No. 2 in June.

During that dreadful Sunday, he had more bogeys (10) than pars and birdies combined, including three double bogeys and a triple. This time, with Gore being cheered on by a large, enthusiastic and very pro-Gore gallery, he didn't have his first bogey until No. 14.

Despite another at No. 17 that trimmed what once was a four-shot lead to one over Franco (69), Gore had enough confidence and desire to hold on and win.

He landed his approach shot on the 468-yard, par-4 18th on the lower fringe of the green, then lagged what he called "the putt of my life" from 911/2 feet to 22 inches. He tapped in for a 2-under 70 and 14-under 274 total for the PGA Tour victory he once thought might never come.

"What made it easier is the putt was so hard - I had to go up-and-down two elephants and over the windmill," he said. "It worked out, luckily."

Maybe it was merely coincidental, but his breakthrough victory came in the same Pittsburgh region where the native California first learned the game.

Gore began playing golf during a summer shagging balls and parking carts for his late uncle, John Kovach, the former pro at the Manor Valley public course in Export, Pa. And the first of Gore's three consecutive Nationwide Tour wins came in July in nearby Bridgeport, W.Va., on another Pete Dye-designed course.

Now, Gore intends to do something with the two-year tour exemption that goes with winning.

"Hopefully, you take this as a stepping stone," said Gore, who played the 84 Lumber with a sponsor exemption. "I think that's what I'm going to try to do, put it in the pocket and keep on going."

First, he will keep a commitment made while on the Nationwide Tour by playing in a Monday exhibition in Boise, Idaho, that includes Annika Sorenstam, who won her LPGA Tour event Sunday.

"I'll probably go out and get my butt kicked by Annika and just go straight back down the tubes," Gore said, laughing.