FBR OPEN

January 31, 2006

Chris DiMarco

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you, Chris, for joining us for a few minutes here in the media center at the FBR Open. A great week about two weeks ago. Must have been a lot of fun having your wife on the bag. Just talk about being back in that winning circle again and what it's going to do for you this year as you head into the PGA TOUR season in your first event.

CHRIS DiMARCO: It has. It's been obviously four years since this tournament. It's nice coming off a win and coming back to someplace you have won.

The course is playing very good this week as far as you're getting roll, and with the changes to length, as long as the ball is rolling in the fairway it doesn't play overly long. I'm looking forward to good things this week. I feel good, and my confidence is obviously pretty high. I'm looking to do good things. I've had a lot of good finishes here and the course sets up good for me.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Anything you did in the off season that might have

CHRIS DiMARCO: At the end of last year, probably starting early September, I started working out with Joey D., who works out with Vijay Singh. I felt like I needed to get a little bit stronger, so I'm doing that. As hard as that is to believe for some people, I have been trying to do that and say pretty regimented with that.

I played over in Abu Dhabi so I was able to work out with him there, and it helped because he stretches me really good, and that was the first time I was able to do that for a couple months. Just a lot of core work and stuff like that, it's really helped.

Q. What led you to play in Europe as your first time other than majors?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, I wasn't starting my year until at least Bob Hope or San Diego, so the timing was right. I don't think I would have done it if I would have been in two or three tournaments. I wouldn't have taken one off to go over there. So the timing was right in the off season. I didn't end until December 13th, Tiger's event so, I really didn't have too much of an off season. I felt like that gave me an extra week, then another week and then coming here. It's good timing, really.

Q. How was the experience?

CHRIS DiMARCO: It was great. You know, it's something that I think in my career I've always thought about doing, going and playing abroad and different places, and to have a chance to go over there, it was such a beautiful country, and the hotel was amazing.

I was a little apprehensive going over, not worried about my safety, but I couldn't have been more safe once I got there and felt safe. And the accommodations were second to none.

Q. Your wife was on the bag?

CHRIS DiMARCO: My wife was on the bag. What was great about that for me is I just felt like early on in my career when I was starting out and getting my feet wet she was on the bag with me. So for her to be able to experience a win I think was great. It was great. She calmed me down and it was great. It was like old times. My caddie is not in jeopardy, but my wife is going out a winner. Just the two of us we have three children, so it's the first time in a long time the two of us were able to go on a trip, no family, no brothers, no anything, just the two of us, and we spent the whole week together.

Q. You have won a lot of money in past years except you had that long dry spell. How frustrating was that?

CHRIS DiMARCO: It was pretty frustrating because I know last year New Orleans is the only one I felt like I probably gave away that I should have won.

The other tournaments, The Masters, NEC and La Costa that I all finished 2nd, I thought I played well enough to win those tournaments and somebody just beat me. The frustrating thing is I know I saw Tiger at the TOUR Championship and I said, "How come you make bogeys down the stretch when you're playing against Bart Bryant, but you can't make bogeys when you're playing against me?"

It is frustrating and it's good to have it off my back. It was a good field over there. I think there was six guys in the top 14 in the world over there. It was nice to get a W. Any W is a good one. It was nice for my confidence.

Q. So you're coming in here probably as confident as you've been in a bunch of years?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, I'm hitting it good, and I felt like that was the main thing. Obviously I putted very good over there, and putting is a huge thing on our Tour, their Tour, any Tour. My confidence is pretty high with my putting. As long as I can keep that up, I should do well here. Good memories here, and good memories go a long way.

Q. Talk about the atmosphere surrounding this tournament, and in particular 16.

CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, I think it's great, the fan support here. How many tournaments get 600,000 for the week? It's amazing. Like I say, I say it every year, 16 is unbelievable with the exception of five to ten people. When you've got 30,000 people and you're only having five to ten people a little bit more inebriated than anyone else, it tends to be a little bit but 99.999 percent of the fans here are awesome. You're going to get that anywhere, no matter where you're at.

16 is an unbelievable atmosphere. You walk on that hole and you don't feel like you're at a golf tournament, you feel like you're at a football game. The hardest thing is calming yourself down because you get pumped walking through that tunnel. It's an 8 iron, and if you miss the green you deserve to get booed.

They like to have a good time, and that's what we're about. We're about having a good time, and it's fun. It is a fun atmosphere.

Q. Do you find yourself when you're getting close to that hole hearing what's going on?

CHRIS DiMARCO: It doesn't matter what hole you're on, you can hear it. It doesn't matter if you're on No. 3, No. 6, you can hear it. Again, they're having fun so you hear it when they're having fun.

For the couple bad things that happen on that hole, there's nothing but good other times. When I say that, again, you're talking maybe five to ten people a week that maybe just get a little bit out of hand. For a week when you're having 100,000 to 150,000 people on a hole, that's not bad.

Q. What is the most creative thing you've heard on 16 that you can repeat?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I always like what they say to Fred Funk, which is "funk you, funk you, funk you." I think that's great.

Q. Do they say anything about the Gators?

CHRIS DiMARCO: They go, Gator, alligator, whatever that song is. When they do that, I always give them the Gator chomp just to let them know I hear them.

Q. So you've got good vibes here despite last year missing the cut?

CHRIS DiMARCO: It was tough last year. The wind was blowing and I got off to a bad start and I think I triple bogeyed my first hole in the second round. I just really didn't play good. My attitude wasn't good. I wasn't playing good on the West Coast coming in. I think I made the cut at the Hope and finished 65th. And this was my second tournament. I squeaked by, so to speak.

So this year obviously I played well a couple weeks ago and I played a lot last week, so I'm looking forward to playing good today and I'm looking forward to it.

Q. You couldn't have a better combination, coming off a win and coming to a tournament where you last won.

CHRIS DiMARCO: Absolutely. I always look forward to coming here. I know some guys don't, but for the most part, I've always liked coming here. I think that it is great. I mean, I say it every year, not many tournaments get 600,000 people to come and watch, and that's awesome. The Thunderbirds do an awesome job.

Q. Talk about being recognized more the last two years. Two matches in a row you had a chance to win and I'm sure it went up exponentially the last few years, and then the Presidents Cup, making that last putt. How much more famous does it feel like to you?

CHRIS DiMARCO: The only difference is I get noticed a lot more, wherever I'm at, whether it's at an airport. It's funny, you get the double take, and it's cool, it is. It's flattering. For the most part, I haven't really had any bad experiences, so it's fine. I couldn't imagine being Tiger. I still do a lot of things and go a lot of places and people come up to me and say, "I enjoy watching you," and it's great. It's a good thing. Obviously if you're touching people like that and they're saying good things about you, then it's great. It's nice to be noticed for your talents.

Q. Was it a lot more after The Masters last year?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Absolutely, The Masters and then obviously The Presidents Cup even pushed it to another level.

Q. One other thing on that little drought you went through. Despite being successful, second place is wonderful, and the money you won last year, do you have doubts? Do doubts creep in, or how do you deal with that?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I don't think the doubts. It's just that every time you didn't come through, it just was harder the next time. Like I said, I played at The Masters, I mean, Tiger and I beat the field by 7. I just happened to play against Tiger Woods. NEC I posted a number in and he had three really hard holes coming in, the way the course was playing and I birdied one of them to beat me by a shot. I don't think anybody would have beat David Toms at the match play last year. The guy was phenomenal. I just ran into the wrong guys at the wrong times. One of them was Tiger Woods and one was David Toms playing his best golf.

New Orleans, going back there, I wish I could go back and play the last nine holes because I felt like that was probably the tournament I should have won.

Q. Do you have some early thoughts on the Ryder Cup this year?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Nothing other than I'm very much excited. It's huge on my list of goals starting the year getting off to a good start and solidifying myself on that team.

Q. There's still details being worked out, but what is your take on the '07 schedule, the FedEx Cup and all that?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I'm still kind of like you are. As things are getting worked out, I'm not exactly 100 percent sure on all the specifications that go with it and what tournaments are going to go and what tournaments are after and what the point system is. I'm not 100 percent sure, so I don't know if I'd be accurate enough to comment on that.

Q. Have you seen a difference distance wise since you worked out in the off season?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I absolutely have. On a course like this where the ball is rolling out, absolutely, I'm certainly longer. My flexibility is better and I'm definitely stronger. I'm seeing probably 5 to 12 yards difference for the most part.

Q. What's your wife's name?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Amy.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thanks, Chris.

End of FastScripts.