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MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 10, 2004

Chris DiMarco

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA

BILLY MORRIS: Ladies and gentlemen, we are delighted to have Chris DiMarco with us. Chris had a very fine 68 today. He is presently tied for the lead at 6 under on the third round of Masters.

Chris, why don't you make some general comments about your round, and then we'll go to questions.

CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, I got off to really a good start. I hit a driver and 7 iron right over the pin on No. 1. It just trickled over and I putted up to about six inches, which is just the start you wanted.

Then I was able to birdie 2, made a great par putt on 3 and a great birdie on 4. To get those holes a couple under, I've been saying it all week, if you can get under par early out here, it doesn't necessarily it takes away having to go for certain pins. You can still play aggressive, but you can also play very smart, because you know you don't have to birdie every hole.

And when you feel like you're playing from behind, it's an extremely difficult golf course.

So I just kind of stayed very confident up there and just kept hitting shots on the middle of greens. I hit a lot of greens today, and the ones I didn't hit, I left in the right position.

Q. How did you birdie 14?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I hit a good drive up will there. I had 156 to the hole, 149 to carry the ridge, and we were between 8 and 9 iron. My caddie, Pat, said, short is no good here.

So I kind of just turned an 8 iron against the wind a little bit, just tried to hold it up, and it landed perfect. It landed about a foot short of the flat, so it had a little upslope, just got over the hill and trickled down to two feet, three feet, and was able to sneak that one in.

Q. Is that like a couple of strokes?

CHRIS DiMARCO: It's certainly a shot for sure, obviously. But I've played 132 over this week, so maybe that's a little retribution.

Q. I didn't see you play 6 today. What did you hit?

CHRIS DiMARCO: You know I hit a 6 iron right at it. The wind took it a little right. I had probably an 18 footer, and I left it about six inches short right in the middle of the hole.

Q. Slump?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Yeah, slumped it.

Q. What did you hit yesterday?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I hit a 6 iron again, yeah.

Q. Lanny Wadkins talked about your putting grip, and to an extent questioned your ability to get around here over the next two rounds with that grip. What's your the reason why you went to that grip and how do you feel with that grip on these type of greens?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, I said it earlier, I think the faster the better for me. My imagination around the greens is really good. My visualization is real good. My speed's been real good.

You've got to play from four, five, even six feet, you're playing sometimes six, eight inches of break, and you have to hit it with the perfect speed to make it.

I don't know why he's saying that. I finished in the Top 10 in putting the last five years, so I don't know where that comes from. Maybe he needs to look at the stats a little better.

Q. I've got two for you. First, I think there's 11 people staying over in your house right now. Has having the house full of proverbial crazy Italians kept the heat off you this week? And secondly, why are you better prepared now, maybe, than you were three years ago when you finished 10th here?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Yeah, actually it's great to have everybody here. We've been playing cards, playing gin and just having a lot of fun, playing some dice games. I actually have my kids here keeping me going in the morning, not keeping me looking at the club all morning.

Obviously I'm a lot more prepared. I think the Presidents Cup really helped me last year. I think that under that kind of pressure and to be able to perform really lifted me, felt like it brought my game to a new level.

I like it around this course. It suits my eye really well. Again, hopefully Phil stays up there, Phil and I are really good friends, and it will be a lot of fun tomorrow.

Q. Were you thinking during the round I know you're thinking about the round, but near the end were you thinking like you want to be in the final pairing tomorrow, and how important is that to be in the last group?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I was thinking, let's make a couple more birdies and make some more distance, to tell you the truth.

You just never know what's going to happen. Look what happened to Justin today on the front side. That's what can happen around here if you start pressing. You've got to really stay patient. I know I did that my first year on Sunday. I got a little impatient and shot 74 and wasn't too happy with that.

The pins are going to be tucked tomorrow. You're not necessarily going to have to birdie every hole tomorrow. Par is a good score around here now.

Q. Is it an advantage to be in the last group where you can see what you need to do?

CHRIS DiMARCO: The advantage of being in the last group means you have the lowest score, so that's good. That means that there's more shots. That's the advantage.

Obviously, yeah, coming down the stretch, if you know what you need to do, it's there in front of you.

Q. Can you talk about what it means to do this after last year?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Last year, 35 holes on Friday, I think I was plus 15, 16 or 17. I was playing with Brad Faxon and he just said to me, he said, I wonder what the over/under is for withdrawals. It never even entered my mind; what the heck. Big mistake on my part.

This is my favorite tournament of the year, without a doubt. You know, I learned a lot from that. You know, obviously, it was no disrespect to Augusta, at all. It was just a poor decision on my part.

Q. Can you talk about 18? It looked like a great shot into the green there.

CHRIS DiMARCO: Yeah, that was a pretty good shot. It's a hard tee ball for me, being that it really sets up for a cut, but I can't get it started far enough left because of trees to cut it, and you really don't want to draw it in there, either. So I had 197 yards. I had to aim it about 40 yards left of the green and took a 2 iron, the wind was helping me, got it up there perfect, about 16, 17 feet short.

Q. What specifically do you think the Presidents Cup did for you?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, you know, when I was walking on the 16th hole, I had Jack and Sluman drove up next to me and said, "how ya doing?" And I was like, "Well, I'm having a lot of fun," and I was. They said, "Well, that's good. We need your point." (Laughter.)

At that point I was tied with Stuart Appleby. I remember looking on the green, I was on the 16th green, I had about a 3 footer and I looked back and I saw President Bush and President Mbeki, all of the dignitaries out there watching our match. I was like, "wow, this is a pretty big match." I was able to make birdie on 17 and win the match 1 up.

To be able to do that with that much intensity flowing through me, that's probably what I've learned the most. I'm certainly going to be nervous tomorrow, no doubt about it. But I've learned to handle it a little better than I have in the years past.

Q. The crowd will be on Phil's side; how will that be for you?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Every time I play with Phil, it's like that. I played with him in Phoenix in the last round, and it was a little pro Phil there. (Laughter.)

Q. Does it inspire you, make you focused?

CHRIS DiMARCO: It doesn't matter. I tell you, really the truth, I'm so focused out there, I don't hear anything. I just need to worry about myself, not worry about what he's doing. The course, obviously, suits his game real well. He's hitting a cut shot right now, which is really good for this course. Most of the tee balls favor a right to left shot. I'm sure Phil that's the thing about it, he's going to have a lot of pressure on him tomorrow, too, because he's got to try to get that monkey off there. It's going to be fun tomorrow.

Q. What will you do differently tomorrow than a couple of years ago?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Hopefully make a few more putts.

I don't know. Again, I'm going to play smart. You know, there's certain pins you can go at, certain pins you can't go at, and you've just got to kind of play your game and not necessarily watch what everybody else is doing and just play good, solid golf.

Q. Just to follow up, does it make a difference if you're sharing the lead or you're in the lead by yourself?

CHRIS DiMARCO: No. There's 18 holes tomorrow. It really doesn't matter. I'm sure it's going to go back and forth all day tomorrow.

Q. You talked about Phil needing to get the monkey off his back. Do you feel like there's anything that you need to prove at this stage of your career?

CHRIS DiMARCO: No, to tell you the truth. I obviously want to win majors, certainly. I want to win more tournaments. But if it all ended tomorrow, I'd be happy with my career, the way I've played and what I've done and the success I've had.

Again, I've got three children that are a lot of fun and I enjoy. You know, golf is obviously, tomorrow is going to be one of the biggest days in my life in golf, for sure, but I'm not go dwell over it, no matter what happens.

Q. You mentioned your friendship with Phil. Can you talk about that relationship, how long you've been friends and what you have in common?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, I've known Phil since college. Whenever he was a freshman I guess I was a junior when he was a freshman. So we've played a lot of tournaments together. This year, playing on the Presidents Cup together. He's a great player. Certainly I don't think he has anything to prove. I know that he has not won a major yet, but in my mind, he doesn't need to. He's had a pretty good career.

But it's nice to go out and play with somebody that you're friends with, that obviously you want to compete, but you can still chitchat and have a good time.

BILLY MORRIS: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. Chris DiMarco, good luck to you tomorrow.

End of FastScripts.

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