Chris Off DiMarc as Petrovic Takes PGA Tour’s Zurich

Chris DiMarco, leader after two and one-half and three rounds at the Zurich Classic and playing in his first event since losing The Masters to Tiger Woods in a playoff, fell to an even par 72 with an incoming 39 – including a three putt from 20 feet at the last hole, to fall one shot short of a three-way playoff and two shots short of an outright victory.

Tim Petrovic didn’t exactly finish strong either. His outward 32 put him in a good position, but he barely held on while coming home in even-par 36. Two birdies – on 10 and 18 – were offset by two bogeys on 15 and 17. His birdie on 18 to get to -13 came with James Driscoll and Chris DiMarco standing in the fairway at the finishing par 5, both at -13.

James Driscoll, second-place finisher at the 2000 U.S. Amateur, shot -2 (70) to get to -13 and into the playoff, but three-putted from sixty feet to hand the easy two-putt par and victory to Petrovic at the tricky eighteenth green. The eighteenth, a 605-yard par 5, played over par on Sunday.

On a day when the leaders were falling back (DiMarco led by two, -15 to -13, at one point), few players made a charge. Woody Austin fired a final-round 67 nab a T5. And, of course, Tim Petrovic’s 68 and par in the playoff netted him the eventual victory. Several others charged in the wrong direction, like Tim Clark with his +5 77 and eventual T21.

This victory marks the first in Tim Petrovic’s PGA Tour career since turning professional in 1998. His previous bests included T2s at the 2002 FedEx St. Jude Classic and the 2003 84 Lumber Classic of Pennsylvania. Prior to becoming a PGA Tour player, Petrovic passed the years and paid the bills as a pizza and newspaper delivery man.

DiMarco has six runner-up finishes since winning the 2002 Phoenix Open (now the FBR Open) for his third PGA Tour victory. He lost playoffs in the last two majors to the top player in the world – the 2004 PGA Championship to Vijay Singh and the Masters to Woods. Singh, the 2004 winner at English Turn, closed with a 72 to tie for 21st at -5 (283).

Pos  Player               Tot    R1    R2    R3    R4    Tot
1*   Tim Petrovic         -13    72    69    66    68    275
2    James Driscoll       -13    68    71    66    70    275
T3   Lucas Glover         -12    69    68    70    69    276
T3   Chris DiMarco        -12    65    71    68    72    276
T5   Woody Austin          -9    71    70    71    67    279
T5   J.J. Henry            -9    67    67    74    71    279
T5   Bo Van Pelt           -9    73    70    66    70    279
T5   Arjun Atwal           -9    65    68    73    73    279
T9   D.J. Trahan           -8    72    72    67    69    280
T9   Richard S. Johnson    -8    70    68    72    70    280
T9   Chris M. Anderson     -8    70    70    69    71    280
T9   Padraig Harrington    -8    68    71    70    71    280
T9   Daniel Chopra         -8    71    70    68    71    280
* Won on the first playoff hole (18), 5 to 6.

Photo Credit: © AP.