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BUICK OPEN

August 2, 2006

Chris DiMarco

GRAND BLANC, MICHIGAN

TODD BUDNICK: Warwick Hills has been very kind to you, a place you've played well over last five years, talk about what you like about it.

CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, obviously you have a great course in the fact that it's not overly long. It's tight. You have to work your ball around the course. The greens are usually relatively fast and very good. So you know, it just sets up for somebody like me that doesn't feel like you have to overpower a golf course.

TODD BUDNICK: Talk about your runner up finish at the British Open, another great finish for you in majors.

CHRIS DiMARCO: Yeah, it was just a fun week. I really felt like my game had not been there all year. It felt like early in the year it was there and then I hurt myself and it was nice to get back in the mix of things. Certainly it was a great feeling contending for a major.

TODD BUDNICK: You're locked in for the Ryder Cup as well, that has to be a good feeling?

CHRIS DiMARCO: That was one of the goals at the start of the year that pretty much don't change every year. It's usually try to get back to TOUR Championship, try to get back to the Mercedes Championship, and play whatever team we're playing. It was nice to pretty much solidify that spot on the team. That was certainly one of my major goals starting the year.

Q. Can you talk a little about how your dad is doing and now that you're back in the States what that whole week was like, being with your son and your dad given everything that's happened?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Yeah, it was a great week for the fact that one, I played well but two, just to get his mind off of it a little bit. I think for the two and a half weeks prior to that, it was nothing but grieving. For him to be able to get out there and watch me and cheer me on and get out of that emotional grieving state and get into something else was great for him.

It's going to take a while. I know he's having good days and bad days. I know he has a lot of support at home. I know it's going to be a long time for him to get over it.

Q. Do you see this week after all of the emotion of the British, this week is getting back into the normal swing of things a little?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, I mean, you know that's why I went over to the British is to kind of get back in the norm of it all.

You know, I know that I'll never, ever forget my mother and the memories will always be there. She's always with me everywhere I go. But I also know that I have to move on and that I have to, you know, I have a family and I have children and I have people that depend on me. You know, I know that she would want that.

So in that aspect, you know, you have to keep going, but, no, it doesn't hurt to reminisce and thing about good things. I think about her every day, a lot of times a day. She'll never be far from my memory.

Q. So after Augusta, you talked about people will come up to you afterward and talk about how well you played, and I'm just curious, what has been the reaction, whether friends, strangers, just the emotion of the week and also how well you played at Hoylake?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I think it was the same type of greeting. I think people were definitely you know, especially the way I have played, my close friends, it was, okay, nice to see you back where you belong. Any time you contend and push the best player in the world at a major, people are certainly going to recognize it and it's been nothing but positive.

It's hot in here, isn't it? (Laughter) Golly. Hotter than Gainesville. Hotter than it was on the course.

Q. Talking about pushing Tiger Woods for that number one spot two weeks ago at the British Open, a lot of PGA TOUR members are talking about your competitive spirit. What would happen if you were caught in that situation on Sunday? Just talk about going head to head with Tiger and not being intimidated by him.

CHRIS DiMARCO: Most of the time whenever I'm going head to head with Tiger or anywhere near there, it usually means that I'm playing well because that means he's up there playing good.

But when I'm playing good and I'm confident in myself, I'm not really too fearful of anything. I mean, I'm just going out and playing golf, and if I'm up there by the lead, that means I'm playing good golf. And when I'm playing good golf, I tend to keep playing good. I'm not fearful of messing up. I'm anxious and that awesome adrenaline is in there. But other than being fearful of screwing up, that's not in there. It's just a matter of going on and trying to make birdies and seeing what you can do.

Q. Talking about getting close to locking up that spot on the Ryder Cup Team, it's not clinched right now; are you worried that you would not be a captain's pick if you didn't get in?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I wasn't a pick the first year, and I think I finished second here and then Curtis I finished third at the third or fourth at The INTERNATIONAL, and then I finished like 12th on the PGA and didn't get picked. That one made me kind of feel like, you know, okay, I need to go ahead and just get on it and I was able to get on it the next couple years.

There's that extra pressure that goes along with being picked. There's that pressure of, okay, they believe in you now. You haven't done well enough to get in there you know, Tom Lehman's picks, you have to back him up and make him right for picking you. When you earn your way on the team, it doesn't matter what you do.

Q. What you did at Oakland Hills and what you did at the Presidents Cup, you don't think that you proved yourself?

CHRIS DiMARCO: You know what, I don't I mean, it would hurt me not to be on the team. But if I don't make the team and they went a different direction, I would have nobody to blame but myself at all. I've got three tournaments left to really just a good week this week and it's done. So I put myself in a great position now. Now I've got to have people come back and get me, where it was the other way around.

I'd like to earn it my own way and not to have Tom have to pick me. Nothing against a lot of the rookies out there, but there's a lot of rookies out there and experience goes a long way in that type of atmosphere. It's something that you never experience until you're out there. It's such an emotional state, it really is. It's something that is, wow, it's hard.

Q. When do you think of the new points system for the Ryder Cup? Do you think it's a better system than it was two years ago?

CHRIS DiMARCO: You know, I don't think you're seeing there's so many guys that have played great and that are all around there. But I don't know, I think it's weighed a little too heavily personally. I think it's a little too much. I think somewhere in the middle be might be better. I think certainly the year of the Ryder Cup the points might be more. Basically what they have done is said what you did last year doesn't really even matter.

Q. You said not making the team would hurt yourself. Do you think guys like Stewart Cink and Scott Verplank, that would hurt the team itself, do you think they need to be on the team?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I think those guys would certainly be two good picks. Davis Love and Fred Couples would be two good picks. Those are the four guys I'm thinking of, Stewart Cink, Scott Verplank, Justin Leonard, Fred Couples, and Davis Love, those are the five guys with the most experience out there.

You know, I would think that that would be the way he would go because if it ended right now and we had four rookies at the end there, I think he would want to go with experience. I don't know, Tom has got his own system, he's got his own points, he's watching what everybody is doing. Only thing he can't do is touch a Top 10. He's locked in. But there's three big weeks left. There's so many points out there left, it's unbelievable.

Q. What has to go absolutely right for you to get your first win here at the Buick Open?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I've got to beat everybody in the field. I've got to drive the ball good, keep it in play and I've got to putt good. Putting is what it's all about here. The course I thought with the wind played pretty tough today. Not overly tough but it was tough to get it close on some of the holes out there.

You know, there's some great players, Tigers Vijay, David Toms is back. There's a bunch of really good players here. So to win out here, it's hard. It's a hard thing to do is win on this tour. There's so many great players.

Q. In the World Rankings there's not a single American player who is under the age of 30 in the Top 50. Is there a shortage of good young American players, or is there so many players it's hard to move up?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I think when Tiger came out, he kind of set a precedent for, you know, it wasn't like that 10, 12 when I came out, I mean, when you were 22 or 23, you were extremely immature to come out here and you didn't see guys killing it like they are doing now.

It's hard. There's a lot of pressure out here, and Tiger was able to handle it so great. There's been a few guys since then. But for the most part it just takes awhile to get your juices going. A lot of times they used to say your early 30s were the years, and now they are saying your early 40s are when the guys are having their best years. I think experience and comfortability are the two big things out here.

Q. The momentum you're carrying in here, do you feel like you're coming into this week with the attitude that this really could be the week that you turn it on?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, yeah. I mean, my expectations are high for sure. I really feel like I'm doing a lot of really good things. Obviously coming it a course that I feel comfortable on, too, tee ball wise, is great.

And you know, it is going to be a fun week. I have a great pairing. I'm playing with Sluman and Jim Furyk, two good friends of mine. It's going to be a fun place. I love coming here. The fans are great here with the exception of about eight to ten people on 17 that get a little out of control. But for the most part, you know, 99.9999% of the fans are phenomenal here. They are as good as anywhere we go.

Q. Given your close calls in the majors the last couple years and the fact that you peer to be on top of your game again, heading to Medinah, will you be more optimistic and excited major weeks?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I mean, there's so much that goes with a major. I mean, you know, it's getting over that hump to where you're not really thinking about I don't know how to explain it really. When you're playing well like you saw Geoff Ogilvy and you saw some guys playing at the Open you didn't expect to be up there, they were just playing so good. The course fit their eye and everything was really good.

I haven't been to Medinah since we played at the PGA in '99 and I heard it's 300 or 400 yards longer now than it was then. I liked it then. I played well there. Hopefully it will continue. I mean, it's a great venue for sure.

Q. Talk about this Ryder Cup Team, you have a lot of youth on this team from the Americans. It's going to be a little different change like it was at Oakland Hills. What do you think, dealing with this youth on this team right now?

CHRIS DiMARCO: The one thing about the Ryder Cup differently than the Presidents Cup is the Presidents Cup, I think there's only four guys that sit the whole time, where I guess at Brookline, I don't even know who the captain was on the European side Mark James maybe, somebody. I guess four guys, they didn't play until the singles. So you can hide your players if you have to. I don't think Tom is going to do that. If you're good enough to be in the Top 12 on the Ryder Cup, I think you're going to play.

And you know, guys are going to eventually have to play their first Ryder Cup. That's just the way it is. If you're going to expect a guy to be there and be a stalwart on that team, you're going to have to get in there and play and do your thing.

I know my first match was extremely nerve wracking. Thankfully I had a veteran in Jay Haas who we kind of carried each other around and we ended up winning our match. It was a lot of fun and once you get into the groove, there's nothing better than that, playing for your country.

Q. Other than the difference between winning and losing, when you look back at last year's Presidents Cup and Oakland Hills at the Ryder Cup, what were the differences between winning and losing, and do you think the 2005 Presidents Cup team, you learned some things that will help you?

CHRIS DiMARCO: A couple things we learned were some pairings. I know Jim Furyk and Tiger worked well together and I know Phil and I worked well together. In that aspect I think we maybe found something there.

At Oakland Hills, you've just got to take your hat off to them. They outputted us, they outplayed us, they played the crucial holes better than us. I mean, I think the 18th hole went down, we played 11 times, but I think we got two halves out of it.

You know, you've just got to take your hat off to them. They out played you and it wasn't a lack of team camaraderie. There wasn't a lack of it. We just got our butts handed to us, bottom line. Believe me, there's a lot of us that remember their little, "Ole, Ole, Ole," believe me, on that green, believe me; thinking about it for two years.

Q. My condolences to you. Up in Gaylord, there was a young man in Gator glue and orange flipping a 5 iron over and striping it down the range. Can you talk about how fun that is to see your son take your clubs and play from the other side of the ball and actually stripe it?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Yeah, he loves the game. He's got the itch for sure. He plays every day of the week, loves it. Wakes me up at eight in the morning and says, "Dad, take me to the course," and he's there until five in the afternoon. It's good. I know when he's at the golf course, he's not getting in any trouble. It's pretty neat. Still doesn't think I know what I'm talking to but eventually he'll come to me for some advice.

Q. Getting back to the pressure aspect of the Ryder Cup, a little bit earlier Tiger was in here talking about how one of the things he thought was interesting about the Ryder Cup was having guys like Fred Couples and Davis Love follow him around and watching his match. You guys never see each other play out here. Is that part of the pressure is having your guys or teammates out there watching you?

CHRIS DiMARCO: There's certainly that amount of pressure to it also, yeah, there's no doubt. But the only difference is they are rooting for you. They want you to do well. For me it's a motivation when I have all the guys out there you know following you. It's a motivation to play good. I visualize them going crazy when you do something good because I know that's what I do when they do something good. It's just the one event a year where we get to be teammates with each other and it's not an individual thing. It's just unlike what everybody thinks, we don't have any camaraderie, it's the most camaraderie that I felt out here in years and years.

Q. While there are no young American players that are in the Top 50, there are seven international players in that group in the Top 50, Sergio, Luke Donald, Adam Scott. Any explanation why they have been able to succeed at a young age where the Americans haven't?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Sergio has been doing it golly, this is going to be his third or fourth team, so he's been doing it for a long time. Luke Donald, unlike a lot of guys nowadays, went four years to college, won the NCAA Championship. The guy knows how to play. And Adam Scott, he's one of best players in the world. He's been there for five, six years. So you're taking three exemptions to the norm, firstly. Those three guys have been in the Top 10 in the world for a bunch of years now. Those guys can play on any level. They are also world players. They play everywhere and they know what that's all about.

The American players, I think you're going to start seeing great young, American players. Zach Johnson is a great player. This is only his second year on Tour, third year on Tour and he's been in the Top 30 the previous two years. I think he's 10th or 11th on the Money List right now.

I think Brett Wetterich, is this his first or second? Third year. It takes a while to get into your own. The guy, he won in Dallas, what an atmosphere that is and then he played great at the Memorial, another great atmosphere. The guy doesn't shy down from the big moments and he's going to be good.

Vaughn Taylor has been as solid as it comes over the last couple of years, so he's going to be good, too. You're going to see some great golf. If the team ended right now, I'd be very happy going over there right now with what we've got.

Q. Could you give us a little insight into the Tiger who won the British Open, could you compare Tiger now to the Tiger who won the Tiger Slam?

CHRIS DiMARCO: You know, when he was winning back then, he looked so flawless to me, his golf swing. He looked in such control of everything all the way down to the driver, all the way down to the putter. The only difference I see right now is he is not as straight with his driver as he used to be. His iron play and his 3 wood are as good. But he just has a tendency with his driver to go askew and that's the only thing I see. When that's on, he's unbeatable. When he hits the driver in the fairway, he's unbeatable.

Q. You really pushed Tiger in the British. There's a sense out there that some of the bigger players just haven't been able to push in those situations, haven't been able to beat him. Is that irritating for players? Just what's the sense of going against him in those situations.

CHRIS DiMARCO: I don't think it's necessarily against him. I think it's just the fact of trying to win a major, period. There's a lot of pressure out there.

You know, Ernie has the whole pressure of South Africa on his shoulders. There's only two or three guys, Tim Clark, actually Trevor Immelman who has been playing great, Retief, Ernie, those four guys. As an American player, there are hundreds of us who are doing well with chances to win. I think that's so hard for some of these guys that represent their countries and there's not that many players in their country that play. I think that weighs on it.

I don't think anybody is backing down from Tiger. I just think he's that good when it counts.

Q. Just wondering whether going over to Ireland as the underdog may be the prospect of a little more fun and less daunting, and maybe you guys are looser and there's not as much tension, expected to be flawless, by the media and whoever the heck else is keeping track of your antics over there.

CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, there's no doubt that the last five or six Ryder Cups, that according to the writers on paper, we are clear favorites. So after a while, you know, when you get beat five of the last seven times, you've got to go to the underdog, especially getting whipped like we did last time.

I definitely think that they are going on their own turf, them beating us like they did last time, they are certainly going to be a little more confident than they have been and we certainly should be the underdogs going in there. Until we take that Cup back, we're the underdog.

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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