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CARNOUSTIE, Scotland -- Chris DiMarco sauntered onto the driving range at Carnoustie Golf Links with his preteen son and another young boy in tow, but that's not the part of his small entourage that fast drew the attention of Vijay Singh, who rarely misses a chance to needle his peers.
Singh, bashing balls at the adjoining practice station, quickly noticed DiMarco's bagman and announced to everybody within earshot, "Hey, the dream team is back together again."
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| DiMarco has made made 14 of 18 cuts this season. (Getty Images) |
To frame it in slightly more regional terms, they aren't Lennon and McCartney plunking away on a piano and bass guitar. But at this point, DiMarco needs to rediscover some magic, because like the British Open itself, now in its 136th incarnation, his golf is growing old.
"Something needs to change," he said.
Truthfully, a repeat of what took place 12 months ago, when he battled eventual champion Tiger Woods down the stretch to finish second, would be a wonderful reprise. Ever since, his performance has been as spotty and uneven as British dental work.
The popular American hasn't posted a top-10 finish since the British Open last year, which is a head-scratching drought for a player who, through some bad timing, has finished second at the Masters, PGA Championship and British Open, behind either Woods (twice) or Singh.
"Two pretty good guys who were basically No. 1 at the time," he said.
Being second banana sounds pretty good right about now, because it's been months since the Florida-based veteran has sniffed a Sunday where every shot mattered. Depending on how his results are interpreted, his finishes in 2007 can be described as either spectacular or dismal. He's been making plenty of cuts in PGA Tour play, which is something of a miracle based on his statistics, but something's clearly missing.
In fact, if the season ended today, he would be eligible for precisely zero major championships in 2008. DiMarco, once ranked as high as sixth in the world, has fallen to No. 58 and is limping along at No. 108 on the money list.
"All it takes is a couple of good tournaments and you're right back up there," he said hopefully.
He might need two for The Show, so to speak. Since he is not otherwise exempt for 2008, he needs to finish in the top 125 in earnings to retain his card. Perhaps DiMarco's game will defrost once again in the U.K., since finding any ice in this region is nigh on impossible (just ask anybody who orders a soft drink).
Last year, he entered the British Open on a skid of another sort as a result of an injury he sustained in the spring of 2006 while snow skiing. He fell on the slopes and a bottle of schnapps he had in his backpack injured his ribcage.
