DiMarco the nearly man ahead of Pinehurst

It is Tiger Woods on whom most eyes will be focused when the US Open gets under way at Pinehurst tomorrow.

But it could so easily have been a 36-year-old American who has not won a tournament since 2002 and who has won only three of nearly 300 US Tour events he has played since turning professional 15 years ago.

Last August Chris DiMarco was in a play-off for the US PGA. This April he was in a play-off for the Masters.

In other words, in the last two majors nobody has beaten him over 72 holes but because Vijay Singh won the three-hole shoot-out at Whistling Straits and Woods won the sudden death at Augusta, DiMarco remains a nearly man.

Being paired with Woods – and Britain’s Luke Donald – in the first two rounds this week gives him another chance to grab the limelight.

“Obviously the positives from the PGA and Masters are that I basically tied for the win,” said the Orlando-based golfer.

“I just lost in a play-off. I am putting myself in position and it is just a matter of getting one more shot.

“I was pretty excited when I found out I was playing with Tiger. It’s pretty flattering because everybody knows the USGA (United States Golf Association) doesn’t pick the names out of a hat.

“They put the pairings together. From what I understood they put people who can play with Tiger in situations like that.

“It’s good. It’s obviously better playing with him than it is in front of him or behind him. He’s great. I mean, who doesn’t want to play with him? It’s awesome.

“A couple of days after the Masters it was tough. I relived that chip a lot in my head.”

The chip he was referring to was not the one Woods holed at the 16th, but the one he lipped out on the last.

“I told my manager about three weeks ago that if we get any more calls for interviews about the Masters we are done. That’s gone. It’s over.

“I have a lot of good memories from there, but let’s move on. We have got other tournaments we have to play.

“I do draw from it, though. When I am in a situation where I can be completely nervous I can look back and say: ‘I did it there. Calm down. You’re fine. If you can do it there you can do it anywhere.’

“For us it’s confidence. As long as you can get any kind of confidence out of that and store it away it’s good. If you are not playing well it’s hard to have that confidence.

“There is such a fine line out here. And that’s what Tiger does so well. He treats every hole like the 72nd hole of a tournament.”

On Monday Woods replaced Singh as world number one again.

He is now going not only for the second leg of a first-ever Grand Slam – all four majors in one season as opposed to the “Tiger Slam” he achieved by adding the 2001 Masters to the last three of 2000 – but for the 10th major of his career.

“It would be nice, but I have seen all four on my mantle and no-one else can say that,” he said.

Nobody else this week has more than three majors, but Woods is also doing battle with someone not here this week – Annika Sorenstam, who reached nine on Sunday.

Woods received a text saying “Nine-nine” from her soon afterwards and when asked if he ever emulated her he said: “If I could hit it that straight, man.

“I gave her a bunch of crap for a while because she hadn’t won as many as I had. She just kind of surpassed me on tournament victories, by, what, 20? But I always say: ‘You’re a little bit older than I am, so give me time.’

“It’s fun to give her the needle every time I get a chance because she gives it right back to me. We have a great friendship and one I certainly treasure to see what she’s doing out here.

“It’s precise golf. Her focus, her determination, her preparation over the winter months, people don’t realise how hard she works.

“We worked on our short games together. She didn’t get to this level by just hoping she could play well. She went out and worked.

“It’s been great fun to be a spectator of that.”