Alternate Shot: Will DiMarco win?
Originally Published: April 9, 2005
ESPN.com/Golf Digest
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- There's a familiar name atop the leaderboard entering Sunday at Augusta National ... it's just not who we thought it would be.
Chris DiMarco has three career PGA Tour wins, was a Ryder Cupper last year and is known as a gritty competitor.
But he's not Tiger Woods.
Will DiMarco be able to hold onto his four-stroke lead over Woods and win The Masters? ESPN.com's Jason Sobel and Golf World's Ron Sirak debate whether we'll see a Gator in green in Butler Cabin.
YES
There are four reasons why you'll see Chris DiMarco slipping on a green jacket come Sunday evening:
• He's got a four-stroke lead.
• He's battle-tested in majors. • He's a momentum player. • Fate.
The first reason is fairly self-explanatory. Say what you will about playing with a lead, but common sense says to go with the guy up four shots rather than the guy down four every time. DiMarco hasn't made a bogey since his first hole on Thursday; there's no reason to think he'll start making 'em on Sunday.
OK, so DiMarco hasn't won a major. If you're rooting for him, that shouldn't bother you. We'd be a little weary if he'd never been in this position in a major championship before, but he has -- and recently. DiMarco was in the final pairing when Phil Mickelsonwon here last year (more on that later) and lost in a playoff at the PGA Championship.
Did you happen to catch DiMarco's enthusiastic fist-pumps at last year's Ryder Cup? While most of the U.S. team looked like they wanted to dig a hole in the first fairway at Oakland Hills and crawl into it, DiMarco got the crowd involved. The more noise they made, the better he played.
And now we come to the fourth and final reason. Fate. Simply put, if last year was "One Magical Sunday," as Mickelson likes to call it, well, DiMarco sure played a role in that, too, by giving Phil a read on his winning putt. Wouldn't it be fitting if Mickelson repaid his buddy by giving him a green jacket?
-- Jason Sobel
ESPN.com |
NO
There are four pretty compelling reasons why Chris DiMarco won't hang on to win the Masters:
• Augusta National is a tough place to win your first major championship.
• Tiger Woods • Phil Mickelson • Vijay Singh
It's not like DiMarco is going into the final round with Curley, Larry and Moe trying to chase him down. Among the contenders are three of the best players in the world. I like the chances that at least one of the Big Three is going to get hot early, and when that happens the collar DiMarco is wearing will become about four sizes smaller.
You just know that this tournament is going to come down to the final nine holes -- it just about always does. And when push comes to shove, experience at getting the job done is invaluable. DiMarco's hope is that the big guns play their way out of contention early.
The other thing the dude with the claw grip has going against him is that he not only has to sleep on the 54-hole lead -- he has to sleep on the 45-hole lead. DiMarco doesn't have to protect his position for 18 holes on Sunday, he has to protect it for 27 holes. That's a lot to ask of a guy without a major championship, especially when he has to look on the leaderboard and see the names Woods, Mickelson and Singh.
Part of the brilliance of the design at Augusta National is how easily strokes can be frittered away -- and how quickly they can be gained by a hot player. The beauty of the back nine -- the best back nine in all of golf -- is that it can be played in 30 or 40. There are birdie holes and there are eagle holes in that closing stretch, but there are also double-bogey holes. When someone starts to make a charge -- and someone almost certainly will -- a player trying to play defensively can find plenty of trouble to get into. Just ask Greg Norman. He went into the final 18 holes of the 1996 Masters with a six stroke lead -- and finished five strokes back. Nick Faldoshot a 67 that day while Norman staggered home in 78. That's exactly what can happen here. The winner of this tournament is not going to be the guy leading it going into the final round.
-- Ron Sirak
Golf World |
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