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PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 15, 2006

Chris DiMarco

MEDINAH, ILLINOIS

KELLY ELBIN: Chris DiMarco, ladies and gentlemen, appearing this week in his eighth PGA Championship here at Medinah Country Club. Chris was the runner-up in the 2004 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

Chris, some thoughts coming in here, particularly after an emotional time at the British Open, coming in here to the final major of the year.

CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, it's obviously nice to be back here. This is a great golf course, great venue. Even though it says it's 7,561 yards, it's not playing that long, and you're actually able to hit some 3-woods off the tees and some iron shots. It's looking like it's going to be just a tremendous championship.

Q. Obviously you've come so close in a couple of majors now. How do you put into words how you're feeling right now about that opportunity to win a major and how hard it is to get that first win?

CHRIS DiMARCO: You know, this year has been obviously -- a few good tournaments, but for the most part it's been not a great year, the passing of my mother and then obviously getting hurt and putting myself behind the 8-ball for ten or 12 tournaments didn't help. But my main goal starting the year was to play the Ryder Cup. With the British Open a couple week ago, I put myself in a really good position to do that.

It's been nice to come in here basically knowing I'm going to play the Ryder Cup. It's been such an awesome event to play in, and all the team events are so great. The year hasn't been the way I'd like to see it. I've missed more cuts this year than I think I've missed in four or five previous years together.

You know, I'm looking for the way I've played this year to be over, but I'm really looking forward to three weeks and moving on from there, having a good off-season and just getting myself ready for January again back over there. I'm not overlooking this week, not overlooking anything. I'd love to win this week. I have great memories from two weeks ago when I put myself in position at the British Open, and if I can get myself into position like that again, obviously I feel like I learned a lot from even that week. The bottom line is it's all about putting. If you're putting good, you can win anywhere. We've just got to get the putter hot.

Q. Tiger and Phil are playing together the first two rounds. You've played with both of those guys in the crucible of pressure in the majors. Is there a difference in the fan base? Do you see a difference in their fans? Are there any characteristics of them? And what do you get when you put oil and vinegar together like that?

CHRIS DiMARCO: The only difference I see is that Tiger has become like my Florida Gators. I think people either love them or they don't want them to win. I don't say that in a bad way, not because of him, it's just because he's so good that I think people are tired of seeing him win. But the thing about it is I know that they all respect him for as good as he's playing, they just want to see somebody else. And Phil has been the one lately who's stepped up and won against him and won majors and taken three majors of the last eight or nine or whatever.

So I think you'll see it's going to be loud. I feel sorry for Geoff Ogilvy is who I feel sorry for. Because you're going to have people that just love Tiger and people that just love Phil, and they're going to be screaming at each other. They shouldn't serve any alcohol that day is what I think.

You've got two of probably the best players at the top of their games right now playing together, I think it's awesome and I think it's going to be great. It's a great golf course because Phil loves to work the ball and Tiger loves to work the ball, and this is a course you can do it on.

Phil is going to hit some draws and cuts with his drivers and Tiger is going to hit some draws and cuts with his 3-woods, and it's going to be fun to watch. They're only two groups behind me, so I'm sure I'll take a peek back every now and then.

Q. You've talked about how you're ready for this year to be over. How physically and emotionally draining has the season been on you with all you've gone through on and off the golf course?

CHRIS DiMARCO: It's been obviously emotional the last six weeks. It's been very emotional. The most emotional thing for me and draining thing for me is in the midst of that, trying to come back from my rib injury, some of the shots and scores I was shooting, I just haven't done that in a long time.

Even three months ago I was just like, let's just be done with this year and move on and be ready for January. Thankfully the British Open saved that. Money List-wise, also Ryder Cup-wise, and gave me something to look forward to, which I haven't really been able to do since March.

Things were just starting to turn around, I was starting to play good, and then unfortunately my mom passed and that threw a big wrinkle in there. Then as emotional as it was to go over and play that well at the British was great, not only for me but for my father, too.

That week has given me hope for the rest of the year and obviously hope for my career. So I'm looking forward to finishing this year out strong. I mean, I can turn this year around. If I go out and do something crazy and maybe win a couple coming in, it could be my best year ever. So you have that out there to always do. That's the best thing about golf is there's always next week.

Q. Switching caddies, is that just changing pace a little bit? Anything Pat was doing wrong?

CHRIS DiMARCO: That was the hardest call I've ever had to make. Pat actually was my caddie for six and a half years, but he was a friend of mine for six and a half years.

Even when I called him up and told him, it was getting to the point where we were not playing well. It was not his fault. It was obviously my fault. I was not playing great. But there were certain things that were frustrating me which were making it -- I don't need to be thinking about those type of things while I'm not thinking real straight as it is out there. And once he heard that and he understood it, he was good. I told him this wouldn't be the last time. I told him it could be five weeks and you'll be back on the bag, we just need some time apart. We were together for six and a half years, and that was a very good run. We had a very good run together.

Q. What's your new guy's name?

CHRIS DiMARCO: His name is Ryan Rue. He's actually my brother-in-law's brother is the easiest way to do it or say it. My wife's sister's husband's brother, or my brother-in-law's brother. It's easier that way.

Q. What's the drill been at Chateau Sluman?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I haven't even bowled a game yet. I know one thing, every time he brings up a bottle of wine, it's a good one. We had a bottle of wine last night. I said this is pretty good, and then he told me how much it cost, and I said, "No wonder it's good."

Q. Who's staying there?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Me, Davis and Slu, and then my wife is coming in tomorrow and staying, too.

Q. There's a possibility there's going to be an extremely strong rookie presence on the Ryder Cup team when everything gets nailed down Sunday night. Is that necessarily a bad thing, or is an infusion of new blood good, since the track record over long- and short-term has been pretty forgettable?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I think it's good personally. I think that everybody has got to be a rookie sometime. Everybody has got to play their first team competition. The guys that are up there right now have been playing great all year. It's not like they're guys that have just had two or three good weeks. Each one of these guys that are in the Top 10 have had six, seven Top 10s this year, so they've all played phenomenal and deservingly so are up there.

I think a good influx of new blood is always good, for sure.

Q. There's long been a perception in this room, right or wrong, that Tiger and Phil don't necessarily get along, and yet we've heard a little bit today about them playing ping-pong together at the Presidents Cup. You were a part of that. How do you classify their relationship, and is it somewhat understandable that two players as talented as they are don't get along?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I think they get along. I think they're two competitors that are constantly trying to beat each other's brains in week-in and week-out. Tiger is No. 1, Phil is trying to beat No. 1. Phil is trying to become No. 1 so Tiger is trying to put him back. They constantly are playing against each other. I think each one of their games is respected by the other, without a doubt. I think they both respect what they're both about, and I think that it's unwarranted to say that they're not friends. I think that they're friends.

Q. To follow up on what you were saying about your dad, how is he doing now, and what impact does your golf have on him, and what impact does he have on your golf?

CHRIS DiMARCO: He's still struggling. He has to go home every day, walk into that house, walk into that bedroom, empty. They were together for 46 years. They were apart two weeks in 46 years. He told me that the hardest part for him is 5:00 o'clock they used to go do their own days, and at 5:00 o'clock they'd meet in the family room for a glass of wine together and talk about their days, and that's the hardest time. Me and my brothers both try to come about that time, let him talk to us, and if he has to cry, cry. He's a very emotional guy. I think it's healthy that it's a very emotional guy because he's getting it out.

So it's tough. My golf game is good for it. The British Open was great, very therapeutic. It was great for him to be able to have a different emotion than grief. I think him coming here -- he keeps telling me, it doesn't matter what you do, I'm just glad you're out there doing it. He used to be very intense with my game, what's wrong. I think this put everything into perspective for him, and it does. I play a game, and that's life.

I think that it's been -- if there's anything positive to come out of everything, it's that I really got my dad back, so to speak, rather than a huge fan of my golf. He could care less about the golf now. He just is so happy he's my dad and I'm his son. Fathers in this game can get caught up in that sometimes. Their son is on the PGA TOUR and how is the PGA TOUR going, and they tend to forget about how their son is doing.

That's the one thing that I would say if there's anything at all, which barely is anything at all, that would be the only thing. Our relationship in the last six weeks has been better than it ever has been.

I think when you tell somebody you love them so much, everybody starts believing it. It was always taken for granted before, and I think now the genuineness -- showing how genuine that is, is really proving itself in the last six weeks.

Q. Could you talk a little bit about playing this course and the differences between the front and the back nine? It's obviously a very long course, and how do you plan to go about playing each one and which holes should be the most difficult for you?

CHRIS DiMARCO: With the exception of the 2nd hole on the front side, the front side I think is about as straightforward of a nine holes in a major that we've had. It's right there in front of you. I don't think your plan of attack on that side is going to change dramatically with any type of wind or anything. I think it's pretty much going to be the same no matter the wind direction.

The back nine is a little trickier. Once you get to 13, 17, some of those holes, even 15, a short hole where you can be more aggressive, the wind is going to be a major factor. You have to be careful on the holes where the river comes into play. If you can get by those holes and play those holes around even par, I think you're going to be up there on the weekend.

Q. Back to a relationship question, what's your relationship with Tiger and Phil? Are you friends, acquaintances, hang out and watch football? And how have those relationships changed?

CHRIS DiMARCO: You know, I would say Tiger and I are mutual friends, respected friends without a doubt. We don't have much together. He's a lot younger than me. He's a kid for God's sake. Where Phil, we tend to do some things together sometimes. People think when we come out here on Tour that you're always out to dinner. When my family is out, we're trying to track three kids down and get them fed and bathed and put to bed at a certain time. We don't have much time for social life.

We do try to get together. I know that Tom's influence on the Ryder Cup has been phenomenal about us trying to be better friends, and there has been more times this year in the last, say, year that I've had dinner with Davis and Phil and David Toms and guys that I normally might not eat dinner with, but we're doing more together to try to get that camaraderie. Staying with Davis and Slu this week has been awesome. This is a business out here what we're doing, and you barely have time for yourself, let alone trying to fit everybody else in. It's hard to try to do that.

Football season is a different story. Guys will meet up certain places, but it's not like Tiger and I can go to a bar and watch a game. He'd get mobbed. Same with Phil. I'll put my Gator hat on and some shades and I'll be okay, but for the most part those guys can't go anywhere, so it's hard.

KELLY ELBIN: Chris DiMarco, thanks very much.

End of FastScripts.

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