Golf

DiMarco gets another leg up

The former Gator stretches his lead to four over Tiger Woods, but nothing is certain on Masters Sunday.

By BOB HARIG
Published April 10, 2005

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Chris DiMarco played a role in Phil Mickelson's Masters victory a year ago, showing him the line on the final green, then watching him drain the winning birdie putt.

Today, he hopes to make history of his own.

The former University of Florida golfer, who grew up and lives in Orlando, put one arm in the green jacket Saturday, playing nearly flawless golf to build a four-stroke lead over Tiger Woods in the weather-plagued event that has a 27-hole finish today for the leaders.

"It's up to me," said DiMarco, 36, who did not make bogey in 26 holes of golf Saturday and has just one for the tournament. "I have to go out and control myself and stay focused and control my nerves and try to do what I'm doing. I'm going to try to slow myself down on the greens, slow myself down walking in the fairway and make sure I'm ready to hit every shot, and try and hit shots really solid."

DiMarco is ranked 15th in the world and played the best of anyone on last year's U.S. Ryder Cup team. But he has just three PGA Tour wins, shot 76 in the final round at last year's Masters after being tied with Mickelson and failed with a chance to win the PGA Championship in August, missing a 15-foot putt in regulation then losing in a three-hole aggregate playoff that was won by Vijay Singh.

And, of course, there is Woods.

The winner of 42 PGA Tour titles earned the most recent of his eight major championships at the U.S. Open in 2002, a span of 10 Grand Slam events without a title.

But after opening the tournament with 74, Woods rebounded nicely, shooting 66 in the second round and adding 31 on the front nine early Saturday evening before play stopped.

"I've just got to set myself up," said Woods, 29, who has not come from behind to win a major. "We've got a long way to go. We've got 27 holes to go. It's a long, patient day, and I've just got to continue being patient, plod your way around. We're obviously going to have some time between rounds, get focused, get something to eat and off you go again."

DiMarco completed 45 holes of the tournament at 13 under par. Woods, with a three-birdie finish to the front nine, was four strokes back at 9 under. Denmark's Thomas Bjorn was another stroke back at 8 under. The No. 1-ranked player in the world, Singh, was tied for fourth, nine strokes back. Defending champion Mickelson, who has seven holes to play in the third round, was 10 back.

Because of the numerous weather delays, the second round was not completed until Saturday afternoon. The cut was made at 4 over par and the field reduced to 50.

A computer problem with 36-hole scores kept Masters officials from posting tee times, causing a 20-minute delay. Players were sent out in twosomes off both nines, with officials telling those on the putting green when it was their turn to play until tee times could be printed. Only six players completed the third round. The round was scheduled to resume at 8 this morning, with the fourth round starting at 11 a.m. The leaders were expected to tee off around 3.

There is a long way to go, but the field could be playing for second behind DiMarco.

"I can only say that if Chris keeps playing the way he is, he's going to be very difficult to catch, because it's fine golf," said Bjorn, who was paired with DiMarco in the third round.

DiMarco is bidding to become the first wire-to-wire winner at the Masters since Raymond Floyd in 1976. It is difficult to lead such a pressure-cooker of a tournament for so long, but the numerous stops and starts might be more distracting.

Although steady on the greens and impressive throughout the tournament (he leads the field in putting and is fourth in greens in regulation), DiMarco is not a hardened winner. His last win was in '02 and he has just one top-10 finish this year.

But he learned something in the last pairing with Mickelson a year ago.

"I watched how it was done," DiMarco said. "I watched how it was to win. If anybody had sat back and had the best seat in the house, it was me. Did I enjoy watching him win? As a friend, yes. As a competitor, heck no. I wanted to do it.

"So I sat and I watched. And he had fun. That's what he did. He was getting pumped up, he was getting the people involved, and he was also playing some really good golf and he was being very aggressive. And that's what you have to do."

If he does so today, DiMarco can get the favor returned from Mickelson, who will slip the green jacket onto his shoulders.

[Last modified April 10, 2005, 00:41:07]