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WACHOVIA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 4, 2005

Chris DiMarco

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you, Chris, for joining us for a few minutes here in the media center at the Wachovia Championship. This morning you were supposed to play the Pro-Am, and just a few minutes before you were supposed to tee off, you had some injury. Why don't you just talk about that and then we'll go into questions.

CHRIS DiMARCO: Okay. It's been hurting me really since The Masters. The house I stayed at, if I was laying this way, the TV was over there, so I had to kind of look that way; it kind of froze up a little bit. I've been working out pretty good, and then the Monday morning after New Orleans, I woke up and I had no motion at all in my neck either way. I had somebody work on it Monday, I had X-rays yesterday. Everything was negative X-ray-wise, and today they worked on it, this morning.

There's just no way that I can swing. I could feel at the top of my swing that it was really hurting. I'm going to do some therapy today, I've got some muscle relaxers, sleep on it tonight and wake up tomorrow and hopefully be able to play. I really like this golf course and I want to be able to play.

Q. Were you home on Monday?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I was home on Monday, yeah. I went and saw an orthopedic doctor there, and he just basically said, "You just have a really bad kink."

Q. What time do you play tomorrow?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Early, 7:42. I'm going to get here really early tomorrow and have them work on it again and hopefully be ready to go.

Q. Have you had this type of injury before?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Never. I don't know whether I'm getting old or what. I've never had injuries in my life. This is like three times in the last five weeks that I've had some work done in the trailer. They're kind of getting sick of me. They haven't seen me in six years, now three times in five weeks.

Q. Is there talk you won't be able to play unless you improve some?

CHRIS DiMARCO: If it doesn't improve I'm not going to go out and play. If I don't feel like I can give it 100 percent and compete at my best level, I'm not going to go out there and do it. Right now if my tee time was in ten minutes, I wouldn't be able to play.

There's too many tournaments left in the year, and I'm swinging really good at the ball right now. The last thing I want to do is go out there with any kind of pain while I'm swinging because it's just going to create a bad move to compensate for that pain. I'm going to go out and just try to hopefully be able to hit some balls, some wedges hopefully today just to see how it feels, and like I say, get some good night's sleep, have them work on it again tomorrow morning and hopefully be ready to go.

Q. What is the overriding feeling from last week; the fact that your first trip out after The Masters you're right back up at the top of the leaderboard, or the way it ended?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, I'm certainly disappointed I didn't win. That's the only thing I'm disappointed in. I'm not disappointed in the way I played. I've been working with Gio Valiante, and we've really worked hard on making sure that no matter how the tournament goes, it goes on my terms, it doesn't go on somebody else's.

I really felt like on the 18th hole, I had a 15-footer, James had a four-and-a-half, five-footer, that he was going to make the putt. I would have felt a lot worse if I would have just lagged it down there, had an easy two-putt and then he knocks it in and I lose by a shot. I would have felt worse. I had no thought in my mind about a second putt; my whole concentration was making that putt. Obviously I ran it by five feet. The ball could have lipped in as easy as it lipped out, my next putt. I hit a really good putt; it just didn't go in.

The feeling immediately afterward was pretty good. Then I looked back and heard how the guys on TV were talking about how the guys were misreading putts and they were misreading putts. You don't know that everybody is misreading putts when you're out there, and you get discouraged and are trying to make putts instead of just hitting them like you were because you don't make any because you miss here and miss there and you're concentrating on your reads, and next thing nobody is making any putts. Tim made a great putt on 18 to get into the playoff. Other than that, there was a lot of missed putts in the last seven or eight holes by a lot of people.

Q. Can you compare at all the nervousness or whatever is going through your body when you're standing over that second putt?

CHRIS DiMARCO: There wasn't that much nervousness.

Q. As opposed to the one you hit at Augusta?

CHRIS DiMARCO: The one at Augusta was extremely calm. I was nervous at the fact that I knew that the putt on 18 at New Orleans was to get into a playoff, but I'd been striking the ball all week. I wasn't worried about not putting a good stroke on it. The only thing that made me nervous about that one was I had hit a lot of five- or six-foot putts that week that didn't go in; whereas at Augusta the greens are so pure that if you start it on that line, they're going in. You can take the doubt of maybe a misread or something like that out of play at Augusta, but at that course, you know, I watched Tim putt right before me, and his putt as it was going up to the hole went a little right even, so I played mine straight and firm and it went straight and lipped out. He said he was trying to play it right edge and he said his ball went right at the hole. My ball in coming off the fringe went to the right and I watched his ball go to the right. In my mind, I just tried to stay as in the moment as I could and just say, okay, let's just pick our line. I lined my ball up to where I wanted to hit it, I did my routine and I stroked it, and I felt like I did that pretty good.

Q. In the big picture, obviously you're starving to win again and you've been right there so many times. What's the emotion there? Are you getting frustrated, are you aggravated that it hasn't --

CHRIS DiMARCO: It's actually a good thing. I'm putting myself in position to win a lot, and if you can do that, you're going to win. One of those things, it's just not my time yet. It's going to happen. You know, I played really solid last week. It was a very long golf course. I'm thinking I was one of the few guys that hit the ball my length that was up there. I think all the other guys up there were pretty long hitters.

My iron play is very good. I'm putting the ball very good, I'm driving the ball very good, it's just a matter of maybe a couple more putts on the back nine. I hit one kind of poor shot on No. 10 that just kind of maybe -- I was in such control of my game that just kind of maybe took me out of that just a little bit, and I made bogey on 10, and that was -- I maybe played 11 too aggressive. I'd like to go back and play that hole over. But other than that, I played pretty much really good golf, just didn't make many putts on the back nine.

Q. When you're in contention to win a tournament, particularly a major, on that Sunday, how do you handle the time between when you wake up in the morning to that 3:00 o'clock or 3:30 tee time?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, at Augusta this year we didn't have that because we had to come back out and play. Normally it's hard. That's the hardest thing. That was what was great about New Orleans last week was I had to go back and finish my round and I only had maybe two hours between rounds instead of six or seven. It's tough. For me, I hope my family is there, they can keep me busy, my kids, and if not, you just sit around and wait, and waiting is no fun.

Q. The last two majors you've obviously come close. Have you thought about Pinehurst yet because you didn't play in 99?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Certainly. You know, I remember hearing Tiger and these guys talk about how they try to gear themselves up for the majors. I try to do the same thing. Obviously no tournament -- there's not one tournament out there I don't want to win. I'd love to win every tournament. But you want to be physically and mentally ready for the majors.

You pick your schedule beforehand and you try to stick to it as much as you can. I'm a guy that likes to play before. Obviously when I was in Atlanta this year I felt like I needed to play a lot and we didn't play much golf, so I wanted to go home and at least get a lot of golf in before I played. That's why I didn't play it. I'm going to play a lot going into the Open. I'm going to take a week off after Colonial and then I'm going to play Memorial, Kemper (Booz Allen) and then the Open.

Q. What do you know about Pinehurst, or have you ever played there?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Just from watching it, I know that the greens are very undulated; I know that they're upside-down kind of bowls so you can roll off and you're going to have to control your distance and your spin.

The one thing about an Open is you don't necessarily have to go for every pin at the Open, you're just trying to put the ball in the middle of the green and make birdies when you can. If they don't get any rain, you know it's going to be hard as fast by the weekend and you just try to hit a lot of fairways because you know the rough is going to be up.

Q. Could you talk about playing a tournament under your own terms? Is that how you phrased it?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Yeah.

Q. What's involved in that?

CHRIS DiMARCO: When I say that, I mean, I'm not giving into the fear of not winning, that I'm not giving into the fear of -- you know, of how I'm going to do in those situations. I mean, I was in total control of my emotions. I was nervous out there, sure. Who wasn't? If you're not nervous, you're not having any fun. That's by far the best.

I feel like for me, if you go back and look at the tapes of Augusta and this week or last week and you look and you see my mannerisms, I'm really working on getting a lot slower. If it was up to me, I'd be the first one to my ball, be ready to swing, I'd be going. That's the way I am. I have to consciously think about slowing myself down and relaxing. I'm ready to hit the putt. I'm a pretty quick reader of greens. I'm ready to hit the putt as soon as I get up there, but I've really made a conscious effort to go around the hole, both sides, make sure I've got the right read, not over-analyze it but by doing that relaxed me, concentrating on breathing hard, breathing deeper, so when I'm over a putt I'm relaxed.

Q. Is it a matter of almost fighting yourself or realizing that --

CHRIS DiMARCO: Not fighting myself, just a matter of me just slowing down because a lot of times when you're in those situations where you are nervous you tend to make rash decisions and not think about it enough, and that's what I'm trying not to do. I'm trying to make sure that every shot I hit, I'm ready to hit basically, and we've thought about it and -- that's too many times in the past where I've hit a shot and I get up there and I go, "What are we thinking? Why did I hit this shot here?" I'm trying to avoid that.

Q. You mentioned there were other guys who were sort of ramping their games up for majors. Was there a point in your career, a specific time where you said, hey, I should start doing that? I'm a guy who can win these? I should prepare for it?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Once you start playing them -- a lot of guys don't get to play in four or 16 or 20 or 24 in a row. I mean, it's kind of jumbled up. It's hard to get in the Open. The Masters you have to qualify -- I mean, all these you have to qualify for. From last year I've been fortunate to where I've played well enough at the beginning of the year where I'm in all four of them. I don't have to worry about qualifying at certain tournaments.

When you've played enough in a row, after I played maybe my 15th or 16th major, I'm like, "Okay, I get this now." You don't have to shoot 62s at the majors. Wow, that's different. And you've got to hit fairways. Pars are good scores. That goes up my alley. That's how I like to play golf. I like to be aggressive. If I'm swinging my irons good, I'll go at any pin. But in the majors I've learned that, you know, 10 or 15 feet right of the pin isn't a bad play.

I've learned to stay more patient in them, and obviously once you get to a new level and you get up -- I mean, I wanted to contend in majors. Now I want to win majors. You always get to another level. If I win one, then I'm going to want to win another one, then I'm going to want to win more. It's just a matter of taking your steps up.

Q. Would you talk about your -- like for the Open, your routine for the week?

CHRIS DiMARCO: It's usually the same. I'll probably play 18 on Monday and then I'll probably do 9 and 9, just to get enough of the course. I'll spend a lot of time at the chipping green and putting green hitting all the different shots, making sure I get the feel of running it up on the greens, if I have to flop a few, try and do that. So if I'm in a situation at least I've practiced the shot and I know what I'm doing.

Q. Do you hit the same practice shots for an Open course when you're out there as you would for this week?

CHRIS DiMARCO: It all depends how the course is playing. If there's no rain and it's playing softer, you know, you can maybe fly your irons at the pin more. If not you might have to bounce them in there and different things. I won't know until I get there and see how it's playing.

Q. Will you play Pinehurst before that week?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Probably not. I'm going to play such a heavy schedule going in there, I won't play it.

Q. Have you played a lot of courses -- I know there's not a lot of courses like Pinehurst, but are you comfortable with the runoff areas?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I like courses like that. I like where imagination comes into play and you've got to putt up hills or maybe even take a 3-iron out and run up some hills. The imagination part I'm really good at.

Q. Were you here yesterday to practice?

CHRIS DiMARCO: No, I got here last night. I was taking X-rays on my neck.

Q. Are you concerned at all about --

CHRIS DiMARCO: I've played here. I mean, it's a great golf course. It's one of those courses, the few courses we play that's right in front of you. I mean, you know what you have to do. You have to put the ball in the fairway, leave it on the right area of the green to make putts for birdie and you just go from there. The reason you see the field like it is is because we're playing a very good golf course this week.

Q. With the knocking on the door you've been doing at the majors, do you almost -- is there any part of you that looks back and realizes what Mickelson went through to a larger degree as they mounted?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Absolutely. It's hard to win majors. I remember talking to Steve Elkington one time, and he says, "I've played in 50 majors and I've got one. I'm happy with that." It's hard enough to win a tournament out here, and then if you have only four tournaments a year, one of four, it's hard to do. Especially when you want it really bad, it's even harder. You could tell that Phil really wanted it bad. I know that he's a lot more relaxed, a lot -- you can see it in him now. He's a lot looser, and it's because he won one.

I mean, he was really tight in his interviews the last couple of years because he was sick of hearing it. Now that he's done it, he doesn't have to hear the questions anymore.

Q. Obviously you badly want to win. Elk is the perfect example. You win one major and you never have to hear the fact that you've never won a major. Is it kind of an interesting phenomenon to you where you win that one tournament out of those four and you kind of are perceived in a different way?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, I just think that -- like I said a couple weeks ago after The Masters, I felt like I got perceived in a different light by a lot of people because I did play good enough to win, I just didn't win. You know, I've never gotten so much recognition for finishing 2nd in a tournament in my life.

Once you do that and you see yourself doing that and you're -- I can take so much away from that day. I mean, the day happened so fast, it was unbelievable. But I can go back and I can look at it, and if you can do that, play well in that arena, you can win anywhere. That's what I take out of that, as far as Augusta. I know if I put myself in that position to win that tournament like I did, a chip on the last hole goes in, it's the other way around. I'm wearing the green jacket.

It was that close, you know it. You know you can do it at any major and you can do it.

I'm still learning the British Open. That's the only one I'm still learning. We don't get to play too many courses like that. Over here, Augusta we play every year, a lot of courses like Augusta, not so severe but pretty close. And the Open is just the Open. We know what that's like. PGA is always kind of like the Open. But as far as links-style courses, we don't play too many like that and I'm still learning that one a little bit.

Q. What's the difference between a major and a week like this when you have a spectacular field? Is it the amount of pressure you put on yourself?

CHRIS DiMARCO: No, I don't think that's it at all. This is just -- this would be a great -- any tournament is a great win. I mean, I would love to have had the beads on me and had the trophy last week; it would have been great. This week obviously you want to play against the best. This week except for Ernie and I don't know who else who was in the top 11 --

Q. Retief.

CHRIS DiMARCO: Other than those two guys, we have pretty much a -- pretty awesome field. If you can win in this field, wow, it's pretty awesome. Even last week was a great field. We had a good field last week, too. It's just nice when everybody is there. That's when you want to win. You want to win when everybody is here. That's how you get World Ranking points are always graded with the greater the players here.

Q. What are your thoughts on Monday corporate outings at the site of a golf tournament and whether or not they can be perceived as kind of disguised appearance fees?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I really haven't given it much thought to tell you the truth. I don't know. Depends.

Q. Have you ever been approached to participate in --

CHRIS DiMARCO: No, not to my recollection I haven't.

Q. If this thing is not better tomorrow, where do you go from there? Do you have to get it checked --

CHRIS DiMARCO: I'll probably stay here and have them work on it all day tomorrow and really work on it hard and get it to where it is and I'll go home and I'll wait until next week, and hopefully it'll get better over the weekend. I'm not going to take the place of somebody who's 100 percent healthy that can go out and play if I don't feel like I can compete here.

Q. What I was thinking was do you feel like if it doesn't respond you need to go see a specialist somewhere else maybe?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, I went and had X-rays done, and it's nothing neurological. It's not broken. There's no -- nothing like that. It's just a matter of a really bad tweak or whatever it is, and those take time.

It happened on Monday, which I'm lucky it happened on Monday, not Sunday. I wouldn't have been able to play on Sunday. It's also lucky that it's Monday because now I have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday to get better. It certainly feels a lot better now than it did when I woke up this morning.

Q. And it was the angle of the TV?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I don't know. That's when it started first -- I remember stopping watching TV going, "ooh," I kind of worked it out and it was fine, but it's been stiff since then, and then Monday morning it was both left and right.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thanks.

End of FastScripts.

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