DiMarco's Pain in the Neck

One of the best stretches of Chris DiMarco's career has run into an unexpected setback.

A neck injury that he suspects began while he watched TV from an awkward angle during Masters week might force DiMarco to withdraw before the first round of the Wachovia Championship. He skipped the Pro-Am on Wednesday and planned to get treatment throughout the day and again Thursday morning.

X-rays came back negative for any bone or nerve damage, so DiMarco will just have to wait until it heals. If the pain doesn't go away, he won't play.

"If I don't feel like I can give it 100 percent and compete at my best level, I'm not going to go out there and do it," DiMarco said. "There's too many tournaments left in the year, and I'm swinging really good at the ball right now. The last thing I want to do is go out there with any kind of pain while I'm swinging because it's going to create a bad move to compensate for that pain."

He's fifth on the money list with more than $1.8 million, and he already has two second-place finishes, including that playoff loss to Tiger Woods at the Masters. After taking two weeks off following the disappointment at Augusta, DiMarco returned last week in New Orleans, where a three-putt bogey on the 72nd hole left him one shot short of another playoff.

Still, he tied for third and pocketed $319,000.

"I'm certainly disappointed I didn't win," DiMarco said. "That's the only thing I'm disappointed in. I'm not disappointed in the way I played."

Now he just hopes he has another chance this week.

"I'm not going to take the place of somebody who's 100 percent healthy that can go out and play if I don't feel like I can compete here," DiMarco said.

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