Golf

Chris DiMarco is one of the best golfers in the world. Want proof? In the United States alone, some 27 million people play the game. DiMarco ranks in the top ten. And when the best in the U.S. battled it out against an international field in the 2005 President’s Cup, who did team captain Jack Nicklaus turn to in the clutch? DiMarco, who made a spectacular putt to deliver the winning point for the Americans.

Why isn’t this guy a household name? Well, to everyone who loves golf, he already is. But it’s often said that in this ancient sport, there’s one winner – that is, one superstar – and “everybody else.” Throughout his career, DiMarco has worked his way to the top of the “everybody elses,” most famously finishing second to Tiger Woods in a heart-stopping, sudden-death playoff at the 2005 Masters. Many feel that it’s only a matter of time until he captures his first major. Meanwhile, with his revolutionary putting grip, Chris DiMarco is proving to be a catalyst for progression.

College and the PGA

Growing up in New York State, where he was born in 1968, DiMarco played football. When the family moved to Florida, seven-year-old Chris learned to play golf, too. “It always came easy to me – I never really struggled with it,” DiMarco remembers. As a student at the University of Florida, DiMarco didn’t expect to see much playing time; but the sociology major was better than he knew, earning the SEC Championship, SEC Player of the Year, and, ultimately, First-Team All-American honors.

DiMarco turned pro in 1990. After playing on the Nationwide Tour and the Canadian Tour (winning the Canadian Order of Merit), he joined the PGA Tour in 1994 and promptly recorded a pair of back-to-back top ten finishes. Ever since, his reputation has grown – and so has his earnings total, a key factor in a sport where it’s necessary to rank in the top thirty money winners to land a spot in the season championship.

DiMarco broke that ground in 2000, when his season winnings first topped $1 million, aided by his first tournament win: the SEI Pennsylvania Classic. In 2001, DiMarco got even hotter, leading the early rounds at his first Masters, winning the Buick Challenge, and breaking the $2 million season earnings mark. The 2002 schedule saw DiMarco take his third consecutive-season PGA win (the Phoenix Open), and he was named to the President’s Cup and Ryder Cup teams for 2003 and 2004, respectively.

But it was in 2005 that DiMarco truly earned his status as best-loved underdog on the Tour. Not only was he runner-up at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and the WGC-NEC Invitational, but he led for the first two days of the Masters before Tiger Woods surged ahead. In the final round, DiMarco went four under par to force a sudden-death playoff. Ultimately, Woods won the Green Jacket, but DiMarco earned the loudest ovation.

Family and the Future

In contrast to his dramatic play, DiMarco’s lifestyle is low key. An early morning at home in Florida is likely to find the golfer driving his three kids to school before heading off to practice. DiMarco’s love for children is reflected in his annual “R.O.C.K.” (Reach Out for Cancer Kids) golf tournament. “We’ve raised more than $1.5 million over five years,” DiMarco says, crediting the support of local volunteers. “I hope that the tournament will still be around thirty years from now. No matter how my career is doing, I want it to be a mainstay.”

Regardless of where DiMarco’s career may be in thirty years, his current goals are threefold: to play on the Ryder Cup (or President’s Cup) team; to earn entry in the Mercedes Championship by winning a PGA tournament; and to claim a spot in the PGA Tour Championship. “If you do those three things, you’ve had a very successful year,” DiMarco states. “Winning a major would be the icing on the cake.”

When DiMarco does win a major, one of the key factors is sure to be his persistence. “Sometimes you have it and sometimes you don’t. When I’m not shooting well but still manage to turn a 78 into a 70 – those are some of my most rewarding days,” he comments.

In addition to the advantage of his mindset, DiMarco’s putting has evolved to be among the best in the PGA: in 2005 his putting average ranked in the Tour’s top ten, and some insiders contend that under pressure, he’s flat-out th best on the green. Although his grip, “the claw,” is unorthodox, its results are undeniable (as when DiMarco sank that fifteen-footer to clinch the 2005 President’s Cup). At a friend’s suggestion, the Floridian initially experimented with the claw over a decade ago; but in a sport that’s five hundred years old, change is suspect. “At first, whenever I picked up my putter I could hear people whispering,” DiMarco acknowledges. “Now, there are ten or twelve guys putting this way.”

Given that he is currently featured in two games, Golden Tee and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06, a lot of people are going to be able to putt like DiMarco, if only virtually. But no one wants a major victory more than the athlete himself. “In the 2005 Masters, Tiger and I beat the field by seven shots – it was basically me and him,” DiMarco notes. “I feel like I play good enough to win, and that makes me work even harder.”