Chris Dimarco leads as rain cuts short play

Chris DiMarco found himself in the same position he was in entering the final day of the Masters, sitting atop at the leaderboard halfway through the suspended third round of the Zurich Classic on Saturday.

DiMarco, who overcame a bad Sunday morning performance in the Masters to take Tiger Woods to a playoff, was 4-under through 10 holes in the third round and 12-under overall when play was suspended because of darkness. James Driscoll was 11-under through 11 holes, and second-round leader Arjun Atwal was 10-under through 10 holes.

"Like I said at Augusta, those last nine holes that I played Sunday morning, I did not hit a bad shot,'' said DiMarco, who lost to Woods on the first extra hole at Augusta National. "But everything that could possibly go wrong, you know, a couple of bad lies, I didn't make some putts that I had been making, and it led to a bad number.

"That can happen. That's golf. I'm going to really stay on the ball tomorrow, and I'm really going to try to hit. Like I said, my goals have changed a little bit, as far as the golf course for me. I'm slowing myself down, and I am not hitting shots until I'm ready to hit them.''

On Saturday, DiMarco teed off five hours late, but wasted no time getting to work.

DiMarco, who started the day at 8-under, opened the round with a birdie, and added three more on the front nine to take the lead.

"I played nice and got off to a great start, birdieing the first hole and then made a great birdie on four and birdied seven and eight back-to-back,'' DiMarco said. "Being 4-under right now, I'm very happy.''

The start of play was delayed for five hours because of thunderstorms rolling through the area. The leaders were to start play at 11:27 a.m., but did not tee off until 4:47 p.m.

DiMarco said he stayed at his hotel until just before play began again, so the delay did not bother him.

"It was better that I wasn't out here,'' DiMarco said. "If you're out here it's a lot tougher, sitting around, sitting around, sitting around. I was at a place I could relax.''

The players got in five hours on the course before play was suspended because of darkness. Sixty-nine of the 84 players were unable to finish.

"I'm very happy that we got 10 holes in today,'' DiMarco said. "That saves my legs a lot tomorrow, so 26 holes is fine.''

DiMarco, playing in his first tournament since the Masters, is looking to his first win since the 2002 Phoenix Open.

Driscoll, a rookie on the tour, was 6-under for 11 holes Saturday.

"Everything has been falling right into place,'' Driscoll said. "I've been birdieing all the par 5s, keeping it in play and making some 15-footers. I couldn't be happier.''

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