Hey Chris, do you ever give up?

Updated: April 14, 2005, 6:43 PM ET

By Jason Sobel | ESPN.com

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AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The thing about David and Goliath stories is, well, David doesn't always win.

And nice guys don't necessarily finish last. Sometimes they come in second.

AP Photo/Elise AmendolaEven in defeat, DiMarco always had a smile on his face.

You see, clichés don't always hold true. But you've probably figured that out on your own, Chris DiMarco.

After all, you held the lead at the Masters Tournament for three days, had it ripped away byTiger Woods, valiantly came back to force a playoff and then, finally, lost.

Your reaction?

"That was about as much fun as I've had in a day," you said after the round. "I was throwing up on myself all day, but it was about as much fun as I've ever had."

Whoa! Wait a second! Let's review: Chris, you just lost The Masters, your latest, closest chance at winning your first major. It comes on the heels of losing in a playoff at the PGA Championship and one year after playing in the final group here at Augusta National.

And what do you have to show for it? Nada. Zilch. Bupkis.

So, seriously, how do you feel?

"I feel very good. You know, obviously it was a good show for everybody, I think."

No tears? No excuses? No crawling into a fetal position on the 18th green, quivering, calling for Mommy?

We'd forgive it if you just pack it in. Toss the clubs in the dumpster, hop in the courtesy car, head down Magnolia Lane and get on with the rest of your life.

Is it even worth the trouble anymore? It can't be fun, opening with two rounds of 67 and closing with a 68, yet still losing to a guy who was duck-hooking drives and putting balls into Rae's Creek just a few days ago.

Just ask the Buffalo Bills. Losing stinks, but coming in second place is even worse, especially the way you do it.

"I would let it hurt if I gave it away, but I didn't. I really didn't"

We can't figure you out, Chris. Are you Bob May, the last guy to take Woods to a playoff in a major championship, who's probably selling range balls at some pro shop these days?

Or are you Phil Mickelson, the guy you helped escape his own major funk a year ago? The guy who came so close, so often.

We think the latter, but if that's the case, you've got a long way to go, buddy. It took Phil 47 majors before he finally claimed a championship. You've only played in 21.

Not sure about you, but we don't think we can handle this kind of heartache for another six-and-a-half years before you finally win one.

It would be one thing if you simply rolled over and watched Woods' coronation toward another major title. You were down three entering the final round, then down three at the turn on Sunday afternoon. You could have just made a few pars, kept it respectable, hugged your wife and three kids after the round and that would have been that.

But, no, you kept plugging away, made a few birdies, never gave up, because -- wait, this can't be right -- you thought you could win?

"This year I was ready to win, to tell you the truth," you said. "I really felt like I could win it. And coming out the way I did, I will be ready to win next year. I certainly will feel like I can, for sure."

Wow, Chris. You might never give up.

At least, we hope not.

Jason Sobel is ESPN.com's golf editor. He can be reached at Jason.Sobel@espn3.com

Tiger dedicates Masters win to ill father

Updated: April 14, 2005, 4:28 PM ET

By Gene Wojciechowski | ESPN The Magazine

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AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Yes, this one was for Lefty, the supposed new people's choice. It was for Vijay, the late, great world No. 1. It was for Johnny Miller, who said Tiger Woods' best days were in the past tense.

AP Photo/Curtis ComptonThe Masters was Tiger's first major win as a married man, but it was another member of his family to whom he dedicated the victory.

It was for Butch Harmon, Woods's discarded instructor. For every talking head and writing hack who kept a running count of El Tigre's major winless streak. For anybody and everybody who forgot that red and green still go together.

But these were the critics, the doubters. When Woods grinded his way to his fourth Masters championship in the long shadows of an early Sunday evening, his immediate thoughts focused not on the non-believers, but on an old man sitting in an Augusta rental house.

"This one's for you, Pop," said a misty-eyed Woods moments before slipping on his favorite piece of golf attire -- a green Masters jacket.

Pop, of course, is Earl Woods, the former Green Beret who raised a golf prodigy. After each of Tiger's three previous victories here, father and son would embrace just off the edge of the 18th green. You didn't need a course in body language to understand the depth of their love.

This time, after Woods defeated the human sweater lint known as Chris DiMarco in a sudden-death playoff, there was no Earl waiting with arms outstretched. Diabetes and a fragile heart kept the old man in front of a TV set rather than at Augusta National.

"He's struggling," said Tiger.

So it was little surprise that Tiger mentioned his absence first during the jacket presentation at Butler Cabin, then at the formal ceremony on the course, and then during the news conference. Each time, he lost a playoff to his tear ducts.

"He wasn't there today," said Woods, revealing his emotions to the assembled patrons and tournament officials. "I can't wait to get home to see him and give him a big bear hug."

And then he pinched the bridge of his nose, trying unsucessfully to prevent a cry-fest. Fat chance -- not as the adoring crowd showered him with applause. Mothers everywhere wanted to cook him a hot bowl of chicken soup.

No one will remember Woods's victory as an artistic triumph, but they will remember it. How could you not? It had All My Children drama, a Larry Mize-r for the ages, and a one-hole playoff.

By Sunday's end the leaderboard featured four Masters champions (Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Mike Weir) and one U. S. Open winner (Retief Goosen). But only Woods and DiMarco had done a Lance Armstrong and separated themselves from the pack.

Woods trailed DiMarco by six strokes after 36 holes. He led DiMarco by three strokes after 54 holes, and again after 63 holes. Get Tiger's green jacket out of the Champions locker room and give it a quick clean and press, right?

But here's the thing: DiMarco is more clingy than a chihuahua on a pair of postal carrier's pants. DiMarco has never won a major, but he will. Yeah, his swing is right out of Popular Mechanics, but you can't question his nerve. Woods didn't.

Had DiMarco left here with his own green jacket, no one would have complained. But for so many reasons, this was more Tiger's tournament than his.

Who else could put an eagle putt in the water? Who else could spray his drives so far right and left that they nearly landed in South Carolina? Who else could drop his share of words requiring a five-second broadcast delay?

But that's what makes Woods so human. He screws up big. He recovers big.

If you haven't seen his chip on the par-3, 16th hole, you will -- about a million times. All he did was bump the ball onto the granite-hard green, and then watch as it rolled to cup's edge, hang there for a full three seconds, and drop into hole. Maybe it was the weight of the grass stain on the ball that made the difference. Maybe it was the karma of an old man sitting in a rental house.

"Under the circumstances, one of the best [shots] I've ever hit," he said later.

So what happens next? Two more screw-ups. Woods bogeys 17. Then 18. We've got a playoff.

In the pre-drought days, Woods would have left cleat marks on DiMarco. But this is the new and still evolving Tiger. He was wildly and wonderfully inconsistent ... and he still finished 12 under for the tournament, still finished seven strokes ahead of the third-place group, and still delivered clutch shots when he absolutely had to (hello, 15-foot birdie putt on the first and only playoff hole).

I like this flawed Tiger. I like that he stuck a Nike sock in the mouth of Lefty's Loonies and Johnny Miller. I like that Vijay and Tiger are playing tag with the No. 1 ranking. I like that we can quit with the, Oh-my-gosh-Tiger-hasn't-won-in-10-whole-majors.

"Ten majors is not really that long," said Woods. "Some guys go oh-for-life."

This is true. But Woods isn't some guy. He's the prodigy all grown up. He's a phenomenom. He's halfway to Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 pro majors.

But most of all, he's Earl's kid.

Gene Wojciechowski is a senior writer with ESPN The Magazine. His book "Cubs Nation: 162 Games. 162 Stories. 1 Addiction." will be released by Doubleday on April 12, but can be preordered now by clicking here.

Woods could be setting up a season for the ages

Updated: April 14, 2005, 4:27 PM ET

By Bob Harig | Special to ESPN.com

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AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tiger Woods has been here before. Coming off a hard-fought, tense, knee-knocking victory in a major championship. Being pushed to the limit by a gritty, if not as heralded, competitor. Prevailing, in some ways, despite himself.

AP Photo/Morry GashWill Woods capture a few more majors before the year is over?

Sunday's Masters victory over Chris DiMarco was eerily similar to the 1999 PGA Championship, where Woods looked in control for most of the final round but had a pesky teen namedSergio Garcia making life difficult.

DiMarco, 36, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, made the process even tougher in the final round at Augusta National, sending the tournament into a sudden-death playoff, where Woods finally prevailed after making birdie on the first playoff hole.

After the victory at Medinah in '99, Woods went on a tear. He won six of the next 10 major championships. He won 17 PGA Tour events in two years. He looked like he'd chase down Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major titles in no time.

Instead, after winning the 2002 U.S. Open, he didn't win another major until Sunday.

Looks like -- despite some shaky swings on the final two pressure-packed holes in regulation -- the changes Woods has made under the supervision of instructor Hank Haney are paying off. After all, a major victory is a major victory.

"Well, any time you make changes in your game, it's not going to be an immediate success," Woods said. "Did I probably take a step back? Yeah, probably did in '98, too, end of '97, all of '98 and the beginning of '99, almost two years where I didn't really do anything in the game of golf.

"Then again, once those changes kicked in, I had a pretty good run, won 17 times on tour," he said.

We might be headed for that kind of streak again.

Woods has maintained for the better part of a year that the changes he was making to his game were important for his future. It was obvious that he was not comfortable for much of that time, winning just once on the PGA Tour last year.

But toward the end of the season, Woods saw it come around. He won a tournament in Japan and his own Target World Challenge. They were unofficial titles, but they meant something to Woods. They meant the work was paying off.

Then he opened the season with a tie for third at the Mercedes, a victory at the Buick Invitational and later a heart-stopping win over Phil Mickelson at Doral. Although he fell off in recent weeks, the feeling was that Woods was gearing up for Augusta.

And did he ever.

After an indifferent 74 to start the tournament -- this is the first time Woods has won any stroke-play event after shooting over par in the first round -- he roared back with a 66-65 middle of the tournament that included seven straight birdies in the third round. At one point, Woods was 9-under for the third round and bearing down on the Augusta National course record.

Two consecutive bogeys ended those thoughts, but Woods still finished the third round with a three-stroke advantage heading into the final round.

It was a cushion that turned out to be necessary.

The rout that was expected did not materialize. Woods had trouble putting DiMarco away, which might be a testament to DiMarco's resolve more than Woods' deficiencies.

Yes, he needed a miracle chip shot on the 16th hole, but Woods never trailed during the final round and was only tied at the 18th green. Then he took care of business in the playoff, drilling two shots to set up the winning birdie.

Now what?

Talk will soon switch to multiple major championships and the possibility of a Grand Slam. Woods tied for third at Pinehurst in 1999, where the U.S. Open is this year. He won at St. Andrews in 2000, where the British Open is this year. He will be a huge favorite at both places.

But he'll need some time to recuperate first after a mind-numbing Sunday at Augusta.

"This is a thrill, this is why you compete and why you practice all those hours," he said. "You log in all the time to put yourself in that position and see what you've got.''

Woods had plenty. Or was it just enough?

Bob Harig covers golf for the St. Petersburg Times and is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at harig@sptimes.com.