Christian Dean DiMarco (born August 23, 1968) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. DiMarco has won eight tournaments as a pro, including three

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

events.

Early life

Born in

Huntington, New York Huntington is one of ten Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States. The town's population was 204,127 at the time of the 2020 census, making it the 11 ...

, DiMarco moved to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

with his family at age seven.Bill Ernst,
Chris DiMarco: Seminole County's champion
," ''Seminole Magazine'' (Undated 2004). Retrieved July 16, 2011. He attended Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs, where he played for the Patriots golf team and began dating his future wife at the age of 17. DiMarco was raised in a sports-oriented family; both of his older brothers were athletes, and his father played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for St. John's University. DiMarco's nephew Patrick DiMarco is a professional football player.

Amateur career

DiMarco accepted an athletic scholarship to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in Gainesville, where he played for coach Lynn Blevins and coach Buddy Alexander's Gator golf teams from 1987 to 1990.
Florida Men's Golf 2011 Media Supplement
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 28, 34, 35, 41 (2010). Retrieved July 11, 2011. He shot a three-round score of 209 to win the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) individual title in 1989, while leading the Gators to an SEC team championship. He also was a seven-time medalist, a first-team All-SEC selection in 1989 and 1990, the SEC Player of the Year in 1990, and an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

in 1988, 1989 and 1990.

Professional career

DiMarco turned professional in 1990, won the

Canadian Tour PGA Tour Canada, commonly referred to as the Canadian Tour, was a men's professional golf tour headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The United States–based PGA Tour took over operation of the tour on November 1, 2012, at which time it was renamed ...

's Order of Merit as its money leader in 1992, and finished ninth on the second-tier Nike Tour in 1993 to earn his PGA Tour card for

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

.Laury Livsey,
DiMarco reaches out with Tee Up for Life event
," PGATour.com (November 2, 2009). Retrieved July 16, 2011. However, he was not always able to maintain his place on the PGA Tour, and he won his first professional tournament on the Nike Tour at the 1997 Nike Ozarks Open. As he moved into his 30s, he continued to improve, capturing his first trophy on the PGA Tour at the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

SEI Pennsylvania Classic.Joe Logan,
Skipped practices making perfect
" ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' (September 11, 2002). Retrieved July 16, 2011. His second PGA Tour victory was the 2001 Buick Challenge, where he sank a birdie on the 18th hole to tie leader

David Duval David Robert Duval (born November 9, 1971) is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 Golfer who competed on the PGA Tour and currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. Duval won 13 PGA Tour tournaments between 1997 and 2001; inc ...

, and then won on the first hole of a sudden death playoff. He won his third PGA Tour event at the 2002

Phoenix Open The Phoenix Open (branded as the WM Phoenix Open for sponsorship reasons) is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held in early February at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. The tournament was originally the Ariz ...

, which featured an infamous moment—as DiMarco was addressing a pressure putt at TPC Scottsdale's 16th hole, one of the fans yelled "Noonan!" (a reference from the movie ''

Caddyshack ''Caddyshack'' is a 1980 American sports comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, written by Brian Doyle-Murray, Ramis and Douglas Kenney, and starring Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight (his final film role), Michael O'Keefe and Bill ...

'').Clifton Brown,
Golf; An Unflappable DiMarco Turns Around a Brief Retreat
" ''The New York Times'' (January 28, 2002). Retrieved July 16, 2011. DiMarco maintained his concentration and sank the putt, then pointed at the fan and demanded that a tournament official eject him. By 2004, he had finished in the top twenty on the PGA Tour money list for five straight seasons, and had tied for second in the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

, losing the title to

Vijay Singh Vijay Singh ( ; born 22 February 1963) is a Fijians, Fijian professional golfer. In 1982, Singh turned professional and played on the local Asia Golf Circuit. However, his early career met with controversy, as he was accused of numerous rules ...

in a three-way playoff. In 2005, DiMarco lost a sudden-death playoff with

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

to finish second in

The Masters The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major golf championships, men's major championships in Professional golf tours, professional golf. Schedul ...

.Damon Hack,
DiMarco Comes Close in Another Major
" ''The New York Times'' (April 29, 2005). Retrieved July 16, 2011. The final round pairing of Woods and DiMarco featured a famous chip from Woods which took an incredibly long time to drop into the hole for a birdie on the par three 16th, and stretch his lead to two. The Masters result moved DiMarco into the top ten of the

Official World Golf Rankings The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling ...

. DiMarco finished as the runner-up in a major for the third time at the 2006 Open Championship at

Hoylake Hoylake () is a coast, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the north west of the Wirral Peninsula, near West Kirby and where the River Dee, Wales, River Dee meets the Irish Sea. At the 2021 United K ...

;

beating him by two strokes.Damon Hack,
Count Woods Among the Admirers of DiMarco
" ''The New York Times'' (August 3, 2006). Retrieved July 16, 2011. DiMarco achieved his four-round score of 70-65-69-68 (272, −16) less than three weeks after the death of his mother. Arguably, DiMarco enjoyed his most consistent success from 2002 to 2006, when he was ranked in the top ten of the world rankings for 61 weeks, going as high as number six in the world in 2005. DiMarco was also a member of the U.S. national team in the 2003 and 2005

Presidents Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world except Europe as that continent competes against the United States in a similar but ...

, and the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

competitions in 2004 and 2006. DiMarco sank a putt to beat

Stuart Appleby Stuart Appleby (born 1 May 1971) is an Australian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He was a nine-time winner on the PGA Tour. Early life Appleby was born in Cohuna, Victoria, and grew up on a nearby dairy farm. He be ...

and clinch the 2005 Presidents Cup. In

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, he disclosed that he was suffering from a chronic shoulder injury, and underwent

arthroscopic surgery Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgery, surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted in ...

on his left shoulder later that year. DiMarco undergoes surgery on left shoulder
" ESPN.com (September 12, 2007). Retrieved July 16, 2011. Notwithstanding the injury, DiMarco still finished among the top 25 in six tournaments and earned more than $950,000 in fewer than nine months in 2007. DiMarco has not played a full PGA Tour schedule since

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. He is a frequent contributor to ''Morning Drive'' on

Golf Channel Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply "Golf" or "NBC Golf") is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently ba ...

Personal life

DiMarco has known his wife Amy (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Curtis) since the seventh grade, when both attended Rock Lake Middle School in Longwood. Later, both were students at Lake Brantley High School, and attended their high school prom together. They have three children—two daughters and a son. His son, Cristian DiMarco, was a member of the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

golf team, after transferring from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. Cristian turned professional in 2018. DiMarco hosts his own annual charity golf tournament at his local course, Heathrow Country Club in

Heathrow, Florida Heathrow is a census-designated place and an unincorporated suburban community in Seminole County, Florida, United States. Heathrow is on the I-4 Corridor in Central Florida, 19 miles northeast of Orlando and 38 miles southwest of Daytona Bea ...

. Norma DiMarco Tee Up for Life Charity Golf Tournament Raises More than $330,000
" GolfOrlandoFlorida.com (November 13, 2009). Retrieved July 16, 2011. The "Norma DiMarco Tee Up For Life Golf Tournament" is named in honor of his mother. It raises funds for R.O.C.K (Reaching Out to Cancer Kids), and features celebrities and amateurs. As part of his personal participation in the event, DiMarco plays the 12th hole with every foursome in the tournament.

Awards and honors

DiMarco was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2002.Nine Former Gators Named to UF Hall of Fame
," GatorZone.com (April 5, 2002). Retrieved July 21, 2011.

Amateur wins

*1988 Monroe Invitational,

Western Amateur The Western Amateur is a leading annual golf tournament in the United States for male amateur golfers. It is organized by the Western Golf Association. The Western Amateur features an international field of top-ranked amateur golfers. It was firs ...

Professional wins (8)

PGA Tour wins (3)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

European Tour wins (1)

European Tour playoff record (0–2)

Nike Tour wins (1)

''*Note: The 1997 Nike Ozarks Open was shortened to 54 holes due to weather.'' Nike Tour playoff record (0–1)

Canadian Tour wins (1)

Other wins (2)

Other playoff record (1–0)

Results in major championships

WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied for place

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 9 (2000 PGA – 2002 PGA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

¹Cancelled due to

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
NT = No Tournament

Results in senior major championships

''Results not in chronological order'' "T" indicates a tie for a place
CUT = missed the halfway cut
NT = no tournament due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

U.S. national team appearances

Professional *

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

(tie),

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

(winners) *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

* Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing PGA Tour): 2007

References

External links

* * * *
Tee Up For Life Golf Tournament
– Official webpage for DiMarco's annual charity tournament.
Golf Channel
– Chris DiMarco {{DEFAULTSORT:DiMarco, Chris American male golfers Florida Gators men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from New York (state) Golfers from Orlando, Florida American people of Italian descent Lake Brantley High School alumni Sportspeople from Huntington, New York People from Heathrow, Florida Sportspeople from Altamonte Springs, Florida 1968 births Living people Presidents Cup competitors for the United States 20th-century American sportsmen