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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIPFebruary 21, 2007Chris DiMarcoTUCSON, ARIZONA JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you, Chris, for joining us for a few minutes here in the media center at the World Golf Championships Accenture Match Play Championship. Nice start to the week, 4 and 3 over Brett Wetterich, and you played very well in this tournament, so it's possibly a good feeling to get off to a great start. CHRIS DIMARCO: You know, it is. This is really only my third tournament of the year so I really haven't felt like I got my feet wet yet. To go out and beat Brett was a good finish. Top 10 on the Money List last year, Ryder Cup player. You know, it was good. You know, it's a nerve wracking format. It's a lot different than we're used to, and you want to get off to a good start and you want to advance. That's the whole key. Q. Can you talk about the difference between this year and last year? Last year you were injured. You had a lot of things going on. This year you seem to be a lot more fresh. Obviously you're healthy this time. CHRIS DIMARCO: Yeah, absolutely. I went overseas and played well over there, finished 4th and 11th over there, then played well in Phoenix and Pebble, just didn't get much out of it, but I played well. You know, I was going to play LA last week, but I was expecting the weather to be poor, and I also had played four in a row with those other two, so I took off to get myself fresh. I felt really fresh coming here. My outlook for the year is a lot better. I know last year, being injured for the year, my confidence was about as low as it could be. But the way I played from, I want to say the PGA on, was really good. The main thing for me, I play my best when I'm consistent, and I felt like -- I feel like the consistency is back. I feel like my bad tournaments I'm still making the cut and having a chance, where last year I was missing the cut by four or five shots just because I was hurt. I wasn't used to that, so my confidence was shot. Q. I know in match play the course isn't quite as relevant as stroke play, but what do you think about this lay out, and how did it play for you today? CHRIS DIMARCO: I think it's a good match play course. Today going in for me with Brett, as long as he hits it -- he hit it 80 yards by me on one hole today. The par 5s I thought were a huge advantage for him, and then two drivable par 4s, and I think I played those holes 3 up, the ones we did play. For me to do that against him is huge. I know that the first hole had to be about as demoralizing as could be for him. I pulled it left through the desert, went through, was able to hit it out and hit it right. My ball was actually in the tree and I was getting ready to hit it baseball style when I realized I was standing on the path, so I asked for a ruling, dropped it right there, had 12 yards, hit it in there about eight feet, made birdie. He hit it in there about seven feet and missed it. So for him to walk off that green one down I'm sure was pretty demoralizing, and for me it was huge. That's how match play is. Trevor obviously played real good. I think that's who I play tomorrow. I think I made six or seven birdies out there today and hit a lot of really good shots. I think I missed one green the whole day. Q. You were in a tree? CHRIS DIMARCO: I was in one of the bushes, cactuses, bushes. I was up about waist high, belly button high. I was getting ready to swing it and I realized my left foot was on the cart path, so I called for a ruling and I said, This is the only way I'm going to hit it. I'm 122 yards back. I'm not going to take a drop. I said I was going to give it a shot, and Steve is like, Yeah, that's the only shot you've got. He gave me a drop and I hit it eight feet, nice birdie. Q. What did you think when you saw what the weather was like in LA? CHRIS DIMARCO: You know, it was funny because I played at home and it was about a high of 50 at home and the wind was blowing 30. I was trying to get out of that. The wind was blowing 30, it's a high of 50, and I'm seeing these guys in short sleeved shirts in LA and I'm going, "What am I doing?" But you know what, mentally I needed it. I just needed a little break. Physically, we can all go 45 weeks here physically. Mentally it wears on you. I felt myself at Pebble getting down on myself, and when I start doing that it's time for me to take a week off. You have to be mature enough and you have to have enough -- know better in your -- you have to know when you need that, and I think that's a lot of maturity, and I think that that's a big part of why I played well the last seven or eight years is because I know that no matter how I'm playing, I need to take a couple weeks off here and there. You just can't play yourself through it. You're going to kill yourself. Q. You're such a good match play player, and we talk every year in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup. Because of that, do you look forward to this event more than other events? CHRIS DIMARCO: Absolutely. I think the reason that I am is because I think everyone knows I'm not going anywhere. They know I'm going to be here and I'm going to give it my all 100 percent of the time. I think they know going in they're going to have a dog fight. If somebody goes out and shoots 7- or 8-under they deserve to win, but I'm certainly not going to let somebody just win. I'm going to give it my all. I know last year, Davis, I putted pretty poorly against him or else it would have been a lot closer than it was. Usually that's what it is, it's putting in these things. I know Brett gave me a bunch of chances today. He missed probably three or four putts from eight feet for birdie that would have made all the difference in the world had he missed. You know, even on 14, I guess -- was that the par 3, 14? Yeah, 14, he had about a seven or eight-footer there to get only 2 down with four to go and missed it, and there were three to go and I made birdie on the last hole. That's how match play is. He can make a 50-footer and he can be in there four feet and miss it. You just always have to think there's a chance. Q. Do you have a final four weekend open, or did you keep that open in Atlanta because of the Gators? CHRIS DIMARCO: If the Gators are there, I will be there Monday night without a doubt. I'll drive over from Augusta, actually. I'll practice at Augusta and then I'll drive over. Q. We've seen Charles Howell has had a win last week and he's had two seconds and a lot of people are kind of waiting for this to happen. What do you see when you see his game now? CHRIS DIMARCO: Charles has always been a great ball striker, and I think one thing that's held him back is putting. I think he's putting very well this year, and when he putts like he did last week, he's going to win a lot of tournaments. Q. Do you play the golf course or the opponent or a little bit of both? CHRIS DIMARCO: Today my goal was I knew that Brett was going to be a lot longer than me off the tee. I knew I was going to be hitting first into every green, so my goal today, my strategy so to speak, was to hit a ball on the green and have him looking at a ball on the green every time he hit a shot, preferably closer so that would put the pressure on him. I know that that is the advantage of being a shorter hitter. I mean, obviously I'm hitting more club in there, but if I can put a ball on the green and hit it in there, it certainly puts the pressure on somebody always seeing a ball on the green. Q. What did you think? CHRIS DIMARCO: You know, it's always hard playing a friend. Brett is a good friend of mine, a great player. You know, I said it earlier, my strategy was I knew that I was going to be hitting first from the fairway because he hits it really long, so my strategy was to hit the ball on the green and make sure he always saw a ball on the green and make sure he had to make birdies to beat me. He didn't play great. He missed two or three putts from eight feet that he could have made for birdie. But other than that, I played well. I made six or seven birdies out there today. I'm happy with the start. Obviously Trevor -- I played with Trevor in Phoenix. He wasn't hitting it too good but he's obviously turned that around. He was 6 and 5 today with Thomas. Q. Is it kind of a relief to get through the first round? CHRIS DIMARCO: Absolutely. It's a relief to get through any round. You know, anything can happen in match play, and this was probably one of the easier -- I mean, I don't want to say that, but I don't think I've ever beaten -- well, a couple times maybe on the 15th hole, but it's always nice being three or four up. It seems like I'm always 1-up or even or 1-down and it's a battle going down to the 18th hole. Maybe that's why I'm good at match play because I've had so many matches go down to the 18th hole. You just have to fight and claw and do everything you can to get a hole here or a hole there. Q. What do you think of the golf course? CHRIS DIMARCO: You know, I like it. I think it's a good match play course. I'd like to see the fairways being a little firmer personally. I'd like to see the ball rolling around and squirting into that desert and doing more of that. That's the only thing. But we like -- our PGA TOUR officials like green for some reason. They don't like anything brown. So everything is really green out there, I guess for TV. But this course seems like it should play hard and firm, and it just is not. I think some of the par 5s would be a little bit more fun if you couldn't reach them -- I mean, the 600-yarders. But other than that, it's a good course. I think it's fun. I think the greens are big. I think the greens are good. It's nice to have that tournament on good greens. That's huge. I think it brings out the putters, and if you putt well, that's usually what match play is all about. Q. Could you get to 7 today? Did you even try? CHRIS DIMARCO: 7, 7, actually I hit it in the bunker. Brett hit iron in there. He probably hit 3 or 4-iron in there. Is 7 the reachable par 4? Yeah, he hit driver pin high. He hit 3-wood past me. Q. He hit 3-wood there? CHRIS DIMARCO: He hit 3-wood. No, 5 I guess he hit an iron in there. But we both hit -- I could have easily got there. The pin was back left and the wind was off the left, so it was a hard one to get to. Q. Given your personality, is this an event you look forward to because it sort of fancies your style? CHRIS DIMARCO: Absolutely. I think that -- I love that. I love the fact that I know that my opponent, whoever it is, knows that I'm going to be on the first tee and I'm going to give it my all the whole day, and they know that. I think that gives me a little bit of an advantage, not much, but at least they know I'm going to be there the whole time. And like I said, you've got to fight and claw anyway to win a hole. Sometimes like the first hole today for me, to be able to win that hole the way I did, it had to be a little demoralizing for Brett going to the second tee. If you can do stuff like that, I hit it in a tree and got up-and-down from 122 yards and made it for birdie, and he had hit it on the green and doesn't make birdie. That kind of stuff happens in match play. Q. Do you find yourself looking at the brackets at all? CHRIS DIMARCO: No, not really. I do look and make sure Tiger is not in my bracket, yes. That I look for (laughter). And he's not. If I'm fortunate enough to make it all the way through then it'll be the semis. If he makes it through, too, you really can't look at it. I mean, all those guys could lose today. You don't know what could happen in match play. I think it was only three or four years ago that three of the No. 1 seeds lost. Q. Starting with I guess South Africa in '03 you've had a very good run in match play, whether it was the finals and the Cups and things like that, and it hasn't really translated to winning in stroke play. Jack was in here the other day thinking that match play probably conditions guys for stroke play because every day is the final round, so to speak, and it teaches you to close. You almost seem to be on the opposite side of that. It was a great question, wasn't it? CHRIS DIMARCO: It was. I look back at the seconds I've had in the past two or three years, and every one of those seconds I've played well enough to win. I just got beat by somebody. And that's going to happen on the PGA TOUR unless you're last name is Woods. I mean, that's going to happen. Certainly Tiger and I at The Masters in '05, we beat the field by seven; in the British Open I finished second by three or four shots. It happens. I know I had a good chance at Firestone three or four years ago. I posted a number and he made a birdie on 16 to beat me. I think it was like three weeks later he went to -- made a double on 17 at the TOUR Championship to lose to Phil. I asked Tiger, What are you doing? Can you do that against me, please? You make birdies against me. Q. It couldn't have been the TOUR Championship if Phil was there. CHRIS DIMARCO: I think it was three years ago (laughter). You know, I've put myself in position to win. Obviously I feel like I should have won more tournaments than I have. And you're right, closing is what it's all about. Match play, I just feel like every hole is the last hole to tell you the truth. Every hole is its own little match. I just feel like there's something about it. Maybe I putt a little more aggressive in match play because you could have a five-footer to tie the hole and you're not really worried about the putt coming back, and maybe you putt a little more aggressive, and maybe that's the difference. I seem to get a little tentative in stroke play coming down the stretch without a doubt. I know that about myself. I know the last thing I want to do is pop it by four or five feet and miss it coming back. End of FastScripts |
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