Few golfers could go toe-to-toe with Tiger Woods when he was in his Noughties pomp – but one man who had him on the ropes on more than one occasion was the indomitable Chris DiMarco.
There have been many great major duels over the years, from Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson’s iconic denouement in The 106th Open to Nick Faldo reeling in Greg Norman at The Masters in 1996.
And in the mid-2000s, when Woods was setting new standards of golfing brilliance, he found himself a sparring partner of his own in the shape of the native New Yorker.
DiMarco said: “Tiger Woods never intimidated me. I was never scared of him.
“I knew he was better than me. I think people have this false exaggeration that they’re as good as Tiger. But when he was playing his best golf there was nobody as good as Tiger. Physically he had shots I could not hit. His focus level was ridiculous. But on any given day could I beat him? Absolutely.
“People like me, Bob May, Rocco Mediate, we were always the underdog. The pressure was more on Tiger because he was supposed to win.
“Playing in the big tournaments against Tiger Woods; that’s what you want to do. You want to prove you can handle it when everything is on the line, on the biggest days at the biggest venues, and I got to do that a few times so I’m pretty lucky.”
DiMarco and Woods first tangled at Augusta in 2005 with the latter eventually winning a sudden-death play-off to collect his fourth Green Jacket.
Then came an emotional reunion at the 135th Open at Royal Liverpool the following year.
Woods’s father Earl died of a heart attack in May 2006 while DiMarco lost his beloved mother Norma, also to a heart attack, on 4 July. The tragedies pushed the Ryder Cup team-mates closer together, even if it was a bond neither would have wanted.
DiMarco said: “I guess I played with a lot of peace that week. Obviously there was so much going on.
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