Golf

DiMarco best of would-be threats

By BOB HARIG
Published July 24, 2006

HOYLAKE, England - There is something about going against Tiger Woods that brings out the best in Chris DiMarco.

And the worst in about just about everyone else you would expect to challenge the world's No. 1 player.

Woods got a scare - again - from DiMarco, who made things interesting on the back nine at Royal Liverpool on Sunday before Woods pulled away to win the 135th Open Championship.

Meanwhile, the five players ranked among the top nine in the world who were chasing Woods barely put up a fight.

"It's hard to catch him, and you have to give it your all," said DiMarco, the only player close to Woods to shoot in the 60s. "Obviously, you've got to go out there and do it. I had a lot on the line. I was trying to win, obviously. I'm trying to get major points for the Ryder Cup. ...

"If you can't get up playing the best player in the world in a major, I don't know what else there is. I mean, absolutely, it pumps me up."

DiMarco, who lost in a playoff at the 2004 PGA Championship and to Woods at the 2005 Masters, shot 68 to finish two strokes back. The second-place finish earned him enough points to vault from 21st to sixth in the U.S. Ryder Cup team standings.

And it was the highlight of a tough year that saw him suffer through a rib injury and the recent death of his mother, Norma.

Then there are Ernie Els and Jim Furyk and Sergio Garcia and Retief Goosen and Adam Scott. All world-class players. Els, Furyk and Goosen with majors to their names. Garcia and Scott with the talent to win them.

And nothing.

Els briefly tied Woods on the front nine, but he could manage just 71. Furyk, who missed a 5-foot putt on the last hole at the U.S. Open that would have put him in a playoff, fell out of contention with three bogeys on the front nine. Goosen and Scott were probably too far back to challenge unless Woods faltered.

But Garcia missed a golden opportunity to claim his first major.

He played in the final pairing with Woods, but he failed to exert any pressure.

Poor putting doomed him again, and Garcia three-putted the second and third greens.

"I thought I hit good putts, but they didn't go in," he said. "Nothing seemed to go my way. I'm a bit sad, but not too disappointed."

Perhaps that is youth talking. Garcia is just 26, but he was supposed to be the big challenger to Woods after finishing second to him at age 19 at the 1999 PGA Championship.

They will all get another chance next month at the same venue, Medinah near Chicago.

[Last modified July 24, 2006, 01:22:36]