Chris DiMarco had some time to kill Friday before his 11:51 a.m. tee time, so he plugged in the PlayStation and entertained his 5-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter.

``When I saw that,'' said his brother Mitch, ``I knew it was a good indication that he was pretty loose.''

This isn't exactly behavior you would expect from a Masters rookie, let alone one who would begin the day with a one-stroke lead.

The assumption Friday morning was that DiMarco would slip from his spot atop the leaderboard as quickly as he reached it. But the presumed patsy stood pat by firing a 3-under-par 69 to push his two-round total to 10-under.

``You can pinch me if you want,'' said DiMarco, a former Florida Gators star who will begin today's third round with a two-stroke lead. ``It feels like a dream.''

DiMarco wore green Thursday and red Friday, and the choice of attire on both days was appropriate. The Gator in red stayed in the red on the leaderboard, announcing that he's not going anywhere any time soon.

``You always wonder if you've got it in you,'' said DiMarco, who is 6-for-6 on sand saves for the tournament. ``I've obviously proved a lot to myself.''

His proof has been on the greens at the Masters. DiMarco needed only 26 putts Friday and 25 in Thursday's round of 7-under 65. Friday, he drained a 30-footer on the par-3 12th to move to 9-under par.

He also scrambled nicely down the stretch. On the 17th, DiMarco saved par after his approach sailed into the front left bunker. His drive on the 18th found another bunker, and his second shot landed in the left rough, halfway to the green.

But DiMarco recovered, chipping to within 5 feet to save par again.

``He's played the course in the last two days like a real veteran,'' said Sandy Lyle, the 1988 Masters champion who was paired with DiMarco the past two days. ``He knows his way around, and he's got an extremely good short game, which is keeping the flow going very well.''

DiMarco appears unaffected by his instant fame. Though many golfers in such a position might go to extreme lengths to avoid pressure, DiMarco seems to embrace it. He has gone home and watched his highlights on SportsCenter the past two nights, and he picks up the paper each morning with little trepidation.

``There are nine people in the house with me,'' he said. ``If I don't read the paper, they're going to tell me anyway.''

DiMarco wasn't completely unshakable Friday. He hooked his drive off the first tee, leading to a bogey that dropped him to 6-under.

``The most nervous he has been on the whole golf course was when he teed off on one Thursday and on one today,'' his brother said.

But DiMarco regrouped on the next hole, leaving his second shot within 3 feet of the hole on the 575-yard par 5. He tapped in for birdie, then improved to 8-under on the next hole by draining a 20-foot putt.

``Once I hit my drive on two, which was a really good one down the left side, that settled me down a lot,'' he said. ``And to make birdie there, I was like, OK, we're not going in the wrong direction. We're going in the right direction.

``From that point on, I never thought about anything negative for the rest of the day.''