Chris DiMarco tried to prepare. He awoke early Saturday morning, five hours before his tee time, and girded himself for the biggest day of his golfing life.

But the 32-year-old had to experience Gator vs. Goliath to believe it. And even after he immersed himself in the adrenal circus of playing alongside Tiger Woods, DiMarco still had trouble comprehending it.

The underdog had a question for the top dog as the two walked down the 10th fairway.

DiMarco: "You have to go through this every day?"

Tiger: "Yep. How do you like it?"

DiMarco: "You can have it, partner. It's all yours."

Augusta National indeed was Woods' for the taking, but DiMarco wasn't exactly tumbling into obscurity after Saturday's even-par 72. The Masters rookie with the unconventional putting grip still is capable of taking a most unconventional path to Masters immortality.

Woods begins Sunday's final round two strokes ahead of DiMarco, a former star for the University of Florida who is tied with Mark Calcavecchia for third place.

"It was fun," said DiMarco, whose 10-under 134 entering Saturday had him atop the leaderboard and paired with Woods, who is seeking his fourth consecutive major championship.

"It was pretty neat to be out there and perform well in that type of situation."

On Thursday and Friday, DiMarco was comforted by the sight of an encouraging fist-pump from his brother, Mitch, or confident nod from his father, Rich.

The folks were nowhere to be found Saturday, engulfed in the frenzy of Tigermania.

"I couldn't see anybody from my family," he said.

DiMarco was understandably distracted, but not to the point of derailment. He held up well in Tiger's tracks on the front nine, recovering from a bogey on the second hole with birdies on the third and seventh.

While Woods was going from 9-under at the turn to 12-under at the 15th, DiMarco showed signs of cracking with a bogey at 15 but answered with a birdie on the par-3 16th.

"Sixteen was awesome," he said. "That's what has been great. Every time I've made a bogey this week, I've come back with a birdie other than 18 today."

Though DiMarco didn't allow himself to crumble under the gravity of the moment, he did pause a few times to reflect on Woods' talent and potential.

"That's why he's so good. He doesn't look like he does anything, and he shoots a 68."

DiMarco's point was underscored in Woods' summary of his round.

"I really didn't do anything great," Woods said. "I just plodded my way along."

DiMarco would like to plod more often.

"Somebody is going to have to shoot 65 to beat him," he said.