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ABU DHABI GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPJanuary 20, 2006Chris DiMarcoABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES SCOTT CROCKETT: Chris, thank you for coming in, off early and a good round today, one you must be very pleased with. CHRIS DiMARCO: Very, actually. Especially going this early this morning, I got to talk to my kids before they went to bed last night when we woke up this morning, so you know you're going off early. It was; I made five birdies, no bogeys, very solid, I hit a lot of fairways again today. I think I missed three fairways and all three of them were in the first cut. So I'm putting the ball in play and I'm not you know, it's the kind of course where there's a lot of easy holes and you take advantage of the easy ones and you just get by on the hard ones and that's what I've been able to do. SCOTT CROCKETT: Let's get the details. You started out with a birdie at 10. CHRIS DiMARCO: I did. I hit a driver and 3 wood. I had like 50 yards and I chipped it up to 3 1/2, four feet and made that. 12, I hit a little 6 iron to about I would say ten feet left of the hole and made that, and parred rest on the back. 2, I hit it just short of the bunker, chipped it up to about five feet and made that. 3, I hit an L wedge in there about five feet short and made that. 4, I hit a really good 7 iron to about five feet and made that. Actually hit a really good putt on 8 went the way, was supposed to go right to left. I don't know if it hit something or what, but that would have been a good way to finish. 9 I think is the hardest hole out here, with the way the wind is blowing, just a perfect drive right down the middle and hit a 5 iron in there 20 feet off the hole and almost made that. It was a good way to finish. Q. After the year that you had last year where you came so close, how would it feel to win here? CHRIS DiMARCO: It would be great. A win is a win. There's a lot of great players here. This is certainly not a second tier tour at all. There's a lot of great players on this tour. It would be great to win in a field like this, obviously in an inaugural event would be even more special. This is a beautiful place. I didn't realise how pretty this country was and it's really nice. So I'm glad to be here. Q. Can you compare the conditions today from yesterday with the wind? CHRIS DiMARCO: It was a lot easier today. Yesterday it was really hard. It was a good two to three club wind yesterday on a lot of holes. Today it didn't blow quite as hard, especially the first probably 11 holes. And then it started picking up a little bit, but still not as hard as yesterday. It was probably a good ten miles an hour less at its highest point today than it was yesterday. Q. Is it too early to notice the difference between playing here and in America? CHRIS DiMARCO: There's no difference. Obviously there's always a little more wind over here, I guess that would be the one. But as far as quality of players, you're not seeing much of a difference. There's a lot of great players over here. Q. Is there a different ambience? CHRIS DiMARCO: Obviously the only thing maybe you would say, when I was coming up No. 9, Vijay and John or Vijay, Colin and Sergio, there was a big gallery following them. That would be the only thing I would say would be different is that the galleries would be a little bit bigger in the States. Q. Did you enjoy playing with Thomas and David? CHRIS DiMARCO: Yes, very much, I've got to know those guys pretty good over last couple of years, Ryder Cups and stuff. They are very enjoyable to play with, very nice guys. Q. Do you see yourself coming over again? CHRIS DiMARCO: Sure. Q. This is your first trip over? CHRIS DiMARCO: It is. The hardest part I explained on Wednesday, you know, I'm taking away from money that I would put on my Money List at home, so that's the hardest part. Because in the end, that's how you're judged; you're judged on how much money you make on the Money List. So by me coming over here, I'm taking away potential money I could win on the U.S. Tour that would go towards the end of the year. That would be the only downfall to it. The golf is great, it's fun, and the competition is very good, too. CHRIS DiMARCO: Orlando. Q. What is the time difference? CHRIS DiMARCO: Nine hours ahead. Q. What did you use for your second shot on 5? CHRIS DiMARCO: I hit 2 iron. CHRIS DiMARCO: 2 iron. Yesterday I hit a great shot. That was probably the only time I've been angry all week was walking off that green yesterday, because I hit a 2 iron in there about 12, 15 feet and ran it by four feet and missed it coming back and made bogey. Today I hit another good shot in there about 20 feet but hit it 11 feet past and made it coming back. Parring that hole is a good score. Q. Do you carry a utility club? CHRIS DiMARCO: I do normally. Sometimes a 5 wood because it's so windy here, I put a 2 iron in the bag. Q. Getting back to what you were saying about taking away from your own Money List, how much do you think a lot of your fellow pros in America feel that it's a sacrifice to play elsewhere? CHRIS DiMARCO: It's not that it's sacrifice. That's how we're judged. That's how we keep our jobs is by our Money List. If you play that's why I think you only see the guys, the real superstars on this tour be able to handle it because they are only playing 15 to 17 tournaments on the PGA TOUR and they have to make their money on those tournaments. Like Sergio and guys like that, there's only a few guys that can do it on both tours. Q. The experiences that you suffered last year, do you think that made you a harder player, a tougher player? CHRIS DiMARCO: You know, I did, I played a very good last year and had and played well enough to win three tournaments and just got beat. So I didn't beat myself down the stretch on those tournaments. It just happened to get beat. I played against David Toms at the Match Play, who was ungodly, and Tiger at the Masters and obviously at NEC also. Those three tournaments in fact, at TOUR Championship, he made a few bogeys coming down the stretch to let Bart (Bryant) win it. He was right up there with it, and I said, "Why don't you ever do that when I'm up there by the lead? That would be nice every once in awhile." My time is going to come. Q. A lot of the players felt for you last year? CHRIS DiMARCO: Yeah, we talked about that today because we played the third round together at Masters. Where they stopped us, with as much light left was a good break for Tiger and a bad break for me because he had mud all over his ball and I had to play the next day with wet, uncut fairways. But that happens. That's what golf is. You know, you can't dwell over it, you move on, and you hope to win some tournaments. Q. Did you children have any particular message for you? CHRIS DiMARCO: Yeah, win and get back quick. Especially my 10 year old son, he misses us when we're both away. It's been nice to have my wife on the bag, that's been great. And she has not done that in, boy, probably eight years. She did one tournament about eight years ago and before that, it's been '92, '93 that she caddied. So it's been nice. She keeps me I feel like I slow down a lot more with her, which is great, because that's my big problem is I get too fast. Q. Are you going to win and get back quick? CHRIS DiMARCO: I'm going to get that quick, I know that, so it's just a matter of going out and playing. If I just keep playing good golf, I'll be up there at the end. It's just a matter of me going out playing consistent, good golf like I did today. CHRIS DiMARCO: Cristian (correct) CHRIS DiMARCO: Amy. Q. You obviously had a good Presidents Cup, can you tell me why you paired so well with Phil Mickelson? CHRIS DiMARCO: You know, we both chat a lot on the golf course, so we have a lot it talk about, not necessarily golf, talking about other stuff. I don't know, we both feel very comfortable together. I think that is a huge part of playing team golf is you have to I think last year or two years ago at the Ryder Cup when you saw Phil and Tiger play together, as great of a team as that should have been on paper, you saw not the partnership chemistry working and, that's a huge part of it. Phil and I get along real well, our wives get along real well. He has three children, I have three children; there's a lot of similarities. Obviously I'm real our caddies are real friendly; I'm friendly with Bones. It's a good partnership, it really is. It's nice because I'm pretty straight and I hit it in the fairways, and he can go ahead and bomb it and we're both good putters and good short games. CHRIS DiMARCO: We used actually in the alternate shot we used his ball last year, but when I had a chance on par 3s, I hit my ball. Q. So you would be very comfortable if you played together this year? CHRIS DiMARCO: If I play well enough to get on that team, I think you'll see me and Phil as teammates. Q. Will your wife caddie for you again? CHRIS DiMARCO: No, she's already told me she's done. In fact, she wanted to quit after yesterday's round but I made her go on today. We'll see what happens for the weekend. Q. What do you see your stature in the game as now? CHRIS DiMARCO: I guess the only thing I need to do is win more, bottom line. Obviously people know that I have the talent and people know that I can play, and it's just a matter of me winning some more tournaments. Q. Do you have any idea what a winning score will be? CHRIS DiMARCO: I think it all depends on the wind. If the wind blows like it did yesterday afternoon for last two days, it's going to be a lot lower score, or higher score, however you do it. But I would say it's probably going to be double, somewhere around 15 or 16 under if it stays like this. Q. You have a smaller bag with you this week? CHRIS DiMARCO: It's a pain. Getting those clubs in there is a pain. It's nice for her because it's light, but it's a pain for me because my clubs won't go in there. Q. So you've got the clubs you want, but do you have all the other stuff? CHRIS DiMARCO: Yes, I brought you will all the necessary ties that I have in my other bag, the essentials.
SCOTT CROCKETT: Thanks again and good luck.
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