PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 17, 2001

Chris DiMarco

CHRIS DIMARCO: No bogeys. I made three birdies and 15 pars. Made a good par on 11. Made about an 8-footer for my par and that kind of got things going. And I made a good birdie on 13, made a great birdie on 15. Hit a 3-iron to about 20 feet. Made a 20-footer. And then I birdied 1, about an 8-footer, and that was it. Made a great up-and-down on 2. Hit it in the front bunker. Had about a 40-yard bunker shot and blasted that about 12 feet past and made that for par. Had some good chances coming in. Just a couple misreads coming in, but it was pretty solid.

CHRIS DIMARCO: I'm playing -- I've been playing really good coming in to this week. Last year, I only made one bogey the whole week. You know, when you're playing good, you just take that roll, and right now, it's on a good roll. I'm going up where I need to be right now. You know what, it was a little bit more pressure this week, with the Ryder Cup and everything like that. I just feel like if I play four good rounds, I'll take care of myself. And I put myself in position to do that.

CHRIS DIMARCO: Of course it is. How can we not think about it? But this course is plenty hard enough, and if you have start getting ahead of yourself out there, you are going to start making bogeys. I was very proud of myself; that I was able to put it behind me and concentrate on my shots. I am hitting the ball very crisp and hitting the ball where I'm aiming, and that's a good thing. You know, I'm not really -- I know that you don't need to shoot 20-under here to win, not like last week. So you don't necessarily have to go at every pin. I'm playing -- I don't want to say I'm playing tentative, but I'm playing aggressive when I can and I'm playing smart when I can't.

CHRIS DIMARCO: Yeah, I mean, it feels good. Obviously, I've played good. There's been a few disappointing finishes. If you look back in retrospect, if I played the 18th hole a little more tentative, I would probably be already in the Top-10, but I'm an aggressive player. I made a bad bogey in Atlanta on No. 18, the last hole, and went from finishing -- if I made birdie, finishing second to finishing sixth and there's some points there. It feels good. You can't think about it. You really can't. You've just got to play golf and whatever comes with your finishes comes with your finishes. If you are out there thinking about Ryder Cup, you are not giving yourself half a chance. There's 155 players that are pretty good this week and you have to try to beat. If you are putting other things in your mind, it's too hard.

CHRIS DIMARCO: I think the first two days, I felt more pressure because I felt if I go out and missed the cut, I gave myself no chance. So not that I was just trying to make a cut -- I mean, I'm trying to win the tournament. But for me to go out and play well, with all the questions and all the Ryder Cup stuff going on, sure. I think he looks at it and goes, "You know, he's playing good and he can handle the pressure." There was a lot of pressure out there, for sure. Everybody is asking me about it. To go out there and shoot 5-under the first two days makes me very proud.

CHRIS DIMARCO: Yeah, I mean, we've got 36 holes left, so who knows. By the end of the round somebody could be 8-, 9-, 10-under par. All I try to do is put myself in position. I know it gets kind of redundant saying the same thing, but, you know, you just want to be there on Sunday with nine holes to go and just give yourself a chance.

CHRIS DIMARCO: Mississippi State. (Laughter). I know that game. I was planning to go on that game and I'll miss that game, and I'm sure that the Gators will forgive me.

CHRIS DIMARCO: I'm thinking that it will probably be on in the early morning. I'm sure I will get some updates, for sure. Thankfully we are playing them at home, so hopefully we should take care of them.

CHRIS DIMARCO: You know, it was really hot out there at the end. It's nice to be in this air conditioning. The fairways are firming up. The greens are firming up a little bit. They are getting a little bit faster, and you know the rough is still the way it is. It's really tough and the fairway bunkers are very penal, because you don't get good lies at all. They roll in and they kind of half-bury themselves in the bunkers. If you miss a fairway, whether it is in a bunker -- obviously, you would rather be in a bunker, but it is not a sure thing at all.

CHRIS DIMARCO: I'm sure he would say do exactly what I'm doing right now. He would just say go out and do what you've done the first two day. I gave myself a lot of opportunities. I left some out there. I missed a bunch of 12- to 15-footers that could have put me three or four shots better, for sure.

CHRIS DIMARCO: Obviously, when you perform with all of the pressure on, I think that's when you get confidence and you feel comfortable. 1999, the last tournament of the year, which was the Deposit Guaranty in Jackson and I finished second. I lost by two shots, but Brian Henninger shot 32 on the back to beat me. I played well and he just beat me. Then going to Tucson two or three tournaments into the year, I finished second there, too. I shot 66 the last day. So doing that kind of stuff when everything is on the line is what just gives you confidence. It's all experience. Once you've been there and played well, it's easier every time you get up there.

CHRIS DIMARCO: That would be pretty cool, I think. We might just freak 'em out to win the match. You know, the funny thing about that is that since I've been playing better people have really started to overlook the grip. I mean it was the big thing, it was the grip, "Oh my God, look at the grip." Now, that I'm playing so good I think people overlook it. I know I get a bunch of people that come up to me and say, "You've saved my game. I can go out and play with the guys on Fridays because I'm putting so much better." It helps me. I don't even really think about it anymore. It's second nature now. I've been doing it for six years.

CHRIS DIMARCO: I never have problems with the 15-footers, with the regular grip. The greens are -- you just try to read too much into them. They are really straightforward. I just, you know, they are tough. The speed on them, they were a little bit faster today, so my speed was just a little bit off; and speed, as much as line, are the two keys to putting, for sure.