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JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN OPENOctober 18, 2008Chris DiMarcoLAS VEGAS, NEVADA JOHN BUSH: We'd like to welcome Chris DiMarco into the interview room after a 9-under par 63. That was a great round of golf and quite a finish there: 6-under par on those last six holes, I guess. Just get some comments on a great day. CHRIS DiMARCO: Yeah, yesterday was probably the best ball-striking round I've had. I can't even tell you. I had 31 putts and 64 yesterday. Three of my birdies were two-putts. I hits every green and I think ever fairway yesterday, so it was unbelievable. So obviously I had a ton of the confidence going into today. This is a golf course that I've always played well at. I really enjoy. Even on Wednesday in the Pro-Am I think I shot 65. Really, believe it or not, just disappointed with the first round shooting 69. Felt like I -- even last Sunday I played a great round in San Antonio and shot 64. So I'm seeing some good things happy, and today I just kind of carried over. Really didn't really do much the first eight holes. I think I was 1-under through 8, and then just kind of caught fire and played my last ten holes 8 -- under. JOHN BUSH: A little preview of the Georgia/Florida rivalry. Ryuji give you a hard time? CHRIS DiMARCO: No, Ryuji, you know what, he's a good friend of mine, and he's a lot of fun to play with. Always helps to play with a buddy. The first round I played -- I was even. The first nine holes I was playing with Mike Weir and Joe Durant and they were both 5- and 4-under leading the tournament. And, you know, when you're 1-under you feel like you're 6-over. I know that he felt a little bit like that. He probably tried a shot on 16 that he shouldn't have hit, but when your partner is 7-under for the day and you're 1-under, you're feeling like you need to make something happen. But he's a good friend and a great player. Obviously he had a fantastic year. Finally got a win. I think he's ready for the year to be over. Q. You played the par-5s I believe to 6-under today. CHRIS DiMARCO: Okay. That's good. Q. It is good. Obviously it was a big key to your round. Can we talk specifically with about the eagle at 16? What did you hit? I mean, obviously you just tried to get it close, right, so you have a chance to score there, right? CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, I missed my tee ball just a hair right of where I was going. Probably three yards right, and it kicked into the rough. It was one of really the only lies all week where my ball sitting down. I had no chance to go for the green. I talked with my caddie about where I wanted to come in for my third shot. I know -- I knew that the pin was cut kind of up to the water, so I knew if I could get something up the left side I was hitting more straight across so I had no water to worry about. I probably had a 190-yard 7-iron because it jumped and just kind of motored up there. I had 75 yards and just hit a perfect little lob wedge in there, just about a three quarter lob wedge. Just tried to land it, you know, five, six yards short and have it kind of check. There was a little hill it ran down, and just happened to be perfect. Q. You're just trying to maintain momentum at this point, right? You're not looking for anything... CHRIS DiMARCO: I'm not trying to make eagle from there, but I'm definitely thinking birdie. Absolutely. Same thing on 9. I mean, I chipped in from probably 15 yards short of the green on 9 for eagle, too. Same thing. I'm just trying to get up-and-down, get some momentum going to the back nine. Low and behold I make that ship, and then actually hit a great shot into 10. Missed about a five-and-a-half-footer on 10 for birdie. I played very kind of flawless golf out there. Again, never really put myself in position. Really, in the last two days I've made -- I missed about seven-footer for par on 4 today, and I made about a five-and-a-half-footer for par on 5 today. That's the least -- or that's the most work I have had to make for a par this week. I'm doing what you need to out there. Q. The golf course is biting back just a little bit today, touch today. And that's seeing scores like yours over and across the board. Are you just locked in with your short game right now? CHRIS DiMARCO: I think I've only chipped maybe five times this week, to tell you the truth. I think two or three of the greens I've missed I putted. I really think -- I mean, I've only hit maybe four or five chips all week. On No.4 I missed the green, and it would have been my second chip of the week. I hit one on 12 that rolled over and went in the water and I had to chip it there. Other than that, that was it. So you know I'm just trying -- there's a lot of places out here if you get aggressive -- there's a lot of false fronts and a lot of balls where they roll off. If you do that out here you're going to put yourself in some precarious situations. I've been able to avoid that for the most part. If I do miss it, it's a 30-footer uphill. The greens are so pure and I'm putting really good. So, you know, it's just a matter of minimizing the mistakes, so to speak, because there's a lot of birdie holes out here. Once you get past -- really right out of the gate, 1 is a birdie hole, 2 has been playing tough this week, but 3 is a reachable par-5. Really every hole in. Once you get to 17 and 18, those are the holes. If you hit it on the fairway on 18 -- like today I hit a little 9-iron in there. So the intimidating part of that hole is the fairway. And 17 is a very, very intimidating hole. The golf course is there to be had, and there's not much wind. It's kind of defenseless. Q. (Question regarding Rick Smith.) CHRIS DiMARCO: You know, it's nice to have somebody. I can honestly say that these last probably -- we worked real hard these last two and a half, three weeks ago. He met me at Lake Nona and we worked for a good half a day. We worked on some things and, you know, just trying to eliminate the left for me, which has been my problem. I've been able to do that. So I haven't really talked with him much. He knows that when I'm going good, I'm good. You know, I'm going to text him on the way home because I know that they've seen a lot of my swings here in the last couple days on TV. I'm going to tell him to video those and keep those, because that's where I want to be when I'm swinging my best. So good relationship. Great guy. Helped me tremendously. Utmost respect for him. Just a great person on top of being a great coach. Q. You guys started in the spring? CHRIS DiMARCO: We started the Sunday before Firestone, so I guess August. Three months ago. Q. That's pretty quick to make swing changes and have these kinds of results. CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, you know, I wasn't far off. From the injury, I had created some bad habits, and I just wasn't turning. I just had some things -- and I couldn't feel it until actually I saw it, and then he gave me the feeling. I was able to kind of overcome it. It's been a gradual -- you know, I played really good at Firestone and the really good at the PGA, then all these weeks off we had I didn't get to play much golf. Played really well last week, and obviously this week carrying over. I just finally feel healthy. I really feel like my shoulder a 100%. I don't have any pain, which I've been playing with pain for about a good year and a half, two years now. It's nice to know I can make a nice big, full swing, shoulder turn, and my shoulder is not going to hurt me. Really that's where it's it. I just kind of feel healthy. Q. The session in Nona, did you leave with the feeling that I can win this fall or contend this fall? CHRIS DiMARCO: Yeah, we talked about it. Absolutely. We talked about winning more than once. The main thing for me is it's been a while since I've been up there. The main thing is how I'm going to handle myself. The way I'm playing right now, I just need to get out of my own way. I've been playing very loose, which is very good for me. Last week's round on Sunday is going to carry over very well for tomorrow. Just kind of hit some really great shots down the stretch last week and made some birdies. You know, it's just a matter of going out and having fun. This is why you play golf, to have a chance to win tournaments. I've missed it for a while, so it's going to be nice to be back in the hunt. Q. Coming into today I think you were eight strokes off the lead. Did you feel conditions here were pretty good for a comeback like you had? CHRIS DiMARCO: I knew it was going to have to be something 64, 63 to get back in the tournament, without a doubt. With eight guys 16-under or better, I knew that I was going to have to do something crazy. I don't think 20-under is going to be leading by the end of the day, but think I'm going to be at least within a distance now where I can see them. Maybe be one or two back going into tomorrow. They got some birdie holes coming in, so they're gonna make some birdies. It's a birdiefest out there. For me to shoot 9-under, I definitely played catch up, and that's all you want to do is just play catch up and give yourself a chance on Sunday. That back nine is fun, because a lot of things can change. You saw Tim Herron shoot 7-under on it yesterday and make the cut. He was even par, and after 27 holes ends up being 7-under. A lot can be done. To me, that makes golf exciting. I think the fans want to see that and I think people want to see that. They want to see us make birdies and eagles and shoot low numbers and win tournaments like that, rather than just trying to hold on with bogeys and pars. Q. You've been out here many times over the years. Could you sense a different atmosphere, a little more energy among the crowd, everything with the Shriners and Justin Timberlake? CHRIS DiMARCO: Yeah, I think it's great. I think last night they raised over $1 million, which is fantastic. I always appreciated him as an entertainer, but actually seeing him last night was truly amazing. He has a gift, without a doubt. He didn't miss a beat. I think he got everybody he needed to get in last night thanking. Right out of the gate he thanked the pros and said how much we tick him off because we can hit shots like we hit. So he's jsut got that gift. He's unbelievable. The way he performed the other artist's songs were tremendous. My wife and I had a ball last night. I will say that on top of it, by the way, is that what's helped the last couple weeks, is that my wife has traveled with me and I haven't had the loneliness of being on the road. I've been able to kind of mull in my own dwellings, so to speak. In the last couple weeks she's been out and takes my mind off it. We go out to dinner, have a nice glass of wine and kind of relax. The kids out last week, and it was great. Q. You've been a Presidents Cup hero; you've contended in majors. The Fall Series, do you have to talk yourself into being excited and getting up for these events? CHRIS DiMARCO: No. Because, you know, up until the FedExCup these were great events. I've always loved coming to vegas. Turning Stone, what a great place that is. Disney, I live right there, so that's awesome. Greensboro got moved, but it used to be in the Fall Series, and Tampa also. So I kind of feel bad for these tournaments, to tell you the truth, because it's like they're not as important, where they are. Guys are still competing and you're getting some great golf, as you're seeing this week. I think that this tournament is going to go on for a long time as long as Justin's name stays on it. Q. Do you see a different demographic, more young people out there? CHRIS DiMARCO: I did last night at the concert. A lot less clothes and a lot younger women, yes. This week, you know, with the Shriners, you see a lot of Shriners. I've seen kind of a mix. There's been a lot of -- you know, I think it's been an all-around demographic, to tell you the truth. I think it's been good. Obviously today I think at 5:00 it's going to be unbelievable with Justin and Butch Harmon doing a clinic out there. It's going to be fantastic. He's doing all the right things. I'd like to see more people and more fans out there. I think that that would really make it a top notch and be exactly where it needs to be. But it's growing, and it's going to get there. JOHN BUSH: All right. You took us those eagles. Let's do the birdies on the last stretch, starting on No. 13. CHRIS DiMARCO: 13, I actually hit it in the bunker and then hit a 3-iron. I had about 85 yards and hit a lob wedge in there about four feet and made that. The next hole I hit a 9-iron to about a foot and a half. Beautiful shot right behind the hole. 15, I drove it into the hill, it rolled back, and I chipped it up about five feet right of the hole and made that. Then 18, I hit it about six feet right of the hole. JOHN BUSH: All right. Great. Play well tomorrow. End of FastScripts |
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