Chris DiMarco

Chris DiMarco (born August 23, 1968 Huntington, New York) is an American golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.

DiMarco attended University of Florida and turned professional in 1990. His career has built up quite slowly, and it took him until 1994 to become a member of the PGA Tour. He played where he could, winning the Canadian Tour's order of merit in 1992 and finishing ninth on the second tier Nike Tour in 1993 to earn his PGA Tour card. However he was not always able to maintain his place on the main tour, and his first professional win came back on the Nike Tour at the 1997 Nike Ozarks Classic. However, as he moved into his thirties, he continued to improve, capturing his first trophy on the main tour at the 2001 SEI Pennsylvania Classic. Further PGA Tour wins followed at the 2001 Buick Challenge and the 2002 Phoenix Open. By 2004 he had finished in the top 20 on the PGA Tour money list for five straight seasons, and had finished tied second in the PGA Championship, losing the title to Vijay Singh in a three-way playoff. In 2005, DiMarco lost a sudden death playoff with Tiger Woods to finish second in the U.S. Masters. This result was good enough to move him into the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time.

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DiMarco was a member of the U.S. team in the 2003 and 2005 Presidents Cups and the 2004 Ryder Cup. DiMarco sank the clinching putt in the 2005 Presidents Cup.

2005 Masters

DiMarco is known as one of the fieriest competitors on tour. He is best known at this point of being on the receiving end of the "Tiger Chip" on the 16th hole at Augusta in 2005.

With the exception of DiMarco, many had already handed Tiger the Green Jacket starting Sunday's round. However DiMarco matched Tiger shot for shot, including a brilliant long putt birdie on 11, only to give it back on 12 with a bogey.

Tiger came into the 16th hole with a 2 shot lead, however blew his shot over the green into the land of Davis Love III (another famous chip shot). Recall this is the area that cost David Duval a green jacket several years ago. DiMarco was below the hole and close, but couldn't capitalize after Tiger's miracle chip. Woods "made a mess" of the 17th and 18th holes with consecutive bogeys, but managed to prevail on the 1st playoff hole at 18 by holing a long birdie putt from above the hole. DiMarco had his chances on 17 and 18; he had a makeable par putt on 17 and nearly chipped in on the final hole of regulation.

In retrospect, DiMarco actually lost the Masters in the 3rd round where a weather delay led to the 2nd half of round 3 being played early on Sunday. While DiMarco struggled to a back nine 41 in the heavy morning dew, Tiger rolled in a flurry of birdies on the back nine to seize the lead, virtually out of nowhere.

Tournament wins

PGA Tour

2000 SEI Pennsylvania Classic
2001 Buick Challenge
2002 Phoenix Open

Other

1997 Nike Ozarks Open (Nationwide Tour)
2002 CVS Charity Classic (with Dudley Hart)
2005 CVS Charity Classic (with Fred Funk)
2006 Abu Dhabi Golf Championship (European Tour)

Team appearances

Presidents Cup: 2003, 2005
Ryder Cup: 2004