DiMarco races toward wire in bid to save this season -- and next

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Midway through the thought, Chris DiMarco had to reload, re-tee and recant.

DiMarco, a former Ryder Cupper who for the second consecutive year is battling to keep his PGA Tour card, was talking about his favorite tournaments when he realized the lunacy of what he'd said given his unenviable status on the money list.

As he stood outside the scoring center Friday at the tour's tournament at Disney World, located 30 minutes from his home and played on the same courses where he once caddied for his father in the pro-am as a kid, DiMarco compared playing at the hometown venue to the four Grand Slam events.

"I love coming here, and this is one of my favorite tournaments on tour, other than the majors," he said, pausing. "But I didn't play any majors this year, so I guess this is my major."

It represents a major threshold as it relates to his career, no doubt about it.

DiMarco, still trying to recapture the form that once launched him to No. 6 in the world ranking and put him in playoffs with Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh at major championships, is playing his best golf in months after a second-round 68 on Thursday moved him four shots behind leader Justin Leonard after the morning wave at the Children's Miracle Network Classic.

Did we say best performance in months? More like the season, if not in years, plural.

He doesn't have a top 10 in '09 and stands at No. 138 on the money list, a surprising position for those who haven't noticed his gradual slide over the past four years. Last season, he skidded to 146th in earnings and had to burn a one-time exemption for being in the top 25 in career tour earnings. He's skipping Qualifying School, so his exemption status for next year could be greatly reduced without a massive rally.

DiMarco, who always has walked with more than a trace of a swagger, hardly seems perturbed by his predicament. In fact, last week at his charity benefit in nearby Heathrow, he made a brash prediction to friends because he felt his game was mercifully starting to turn the corner:

"I'm know I'm going to finish in the top five."

Nice call so far, Kreskin.

After two rounds, he's on his way to his first top five finish in 27 months if he can hold his position through the weekend. His prescience wasn't without good reason.

"He's hitting the ball better than I have seen him hit it in three years," his caddie, Ryan Rue, said after the round.

Said another longtime friend, tour caddie Donn Donatello: "I don't think I have ever seen him swing it as good as this."

Chris DiMarco has fallen from No. 6 in the world to No. 138th on the PGA Tour money list. (Getty Images)

They've all been waiting two largely lean years for some evidence that DiMarco was back on the right path. That's how long it has been since he had arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder, which threw him out of whack in a variety of ways.

"When I did it, I thought it was going to be three to four and I could swing, and it was three months before I could put on deodorant," he said.

Fittingly, his game has mostly stunk since, compared with what we had come to expect. Worse, while DiMarco was never the best ball-striker, he usually knew where his mis-hits were headed -- his swing produced slow drifting shots to the right. After the surgery, careening hooks entered the equation, and his career trajectory became just as unpredictable.

Yet his putter probably hurt him most after a half-dozen years as one of the steadiest players on the greens. But he has seemingly rectified that malady this week, thanks to the unlikeliest of sources.

While playing with his two daughters in the annual Parent/Child Tournament at Disney on Wednesday, DiMarco's son, Cristian, noticed that his alignment with the putter was way off.

Cristian is all of 13.

"He knows his stuff," Dad said.

If the tournament proper turns out like the results Chris had in the Parent/Child, he'll be golden for 2010. Amanda and Abigale teamed with Dad to finish second in their age divisions. Hopefully, those aren't the only trophies the DiMarcos will be hauling up Interstate 4 to their home.

It's hard to make a clear prediction because the top-125 number is fluid, but DiMarco can almost certainly lock up his card for by finishing solo 10th, which would earn him $126,900. David Duval, who missed the cut, sits at No. 125 in earnings with $623,824, $112,599 ahead of DiMarco.

"Today felt like one of my old rounds," he said. "Not the greatest, but I hit enough good shots and hit enough good putts to turn a 71 into a 68 -- instead of the other way around."

On the subject of around, it would be a symmetrical Sunday if he's able to revive his career at Disney. After all, more than a decade ago, during a rain delay at a mini-tour event at Disney World, he received a putting tip from a fellow player that totally changed his career trajectory -- DiMarco adopted the now widely used claw putting grip and soon was playing at the highest levels against the big boys.

As it stands, he has recorded 10 straight rounds in the 60s, so he'd logically be the one guy on the Disney property who's probably praying for the season to continue past this week's finale. Not the case. With 29 starts, it's been a long year.

"I'll do a little Cole Hamels and say I'm ready for it to end," he laughed.

Depending on how it plays out, it might actually represent a new beginni