For the way he has played at the Masters Tournament in recent years, Chris DiMarco has been compared to a bulldog several times.

Stephen Ames took a little time off after winning The Players Championship. (Special)

Not an easy thing for a Florida Gator to take.

"Just the name (bothers me)," DiMarco said Monday. "Not actually what it means. It's just the name."

The comparison is drawn because of the tenacity DiMarco has shown in past Masters and in other showcase tournaments, such as the Presidents Cup. He doesn't hit the ball very far but has found himself nipping at the heels of the eventual Masters winner the past two years.

DiMarco, who lost the green jacket to Tiger Woods last year on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff, dealt with a Southeastern Conference rival of a different breed Monday. He played a nine-hole practice round Monday with former Louisiana State golfer David Toms.

DiMarco and Toms competed against each other in college in the late 1980s and said they enjoyed seeing their alma maters reach the Final Four of the men's NCAA Tournament this season.

They said they were pulling for the other's school to win and advance to Monday night's national championship, but only DiMarco's Gators won Saturday.

Chris DiMarco has come on strong in his past two Masters appearances. (Special)

"I was rooting for (LSU), too," DiMarco said. "I was hoping to see an all-SEC championship."

DiMarco said he planned to watch the game on a 50-inch plasma television at the house he's staying in this week.

Toms said he wasn't sure he would make it.

"If I can stay awake," said Toms, who is from Monroe, La. "These East Coast starting times are tough.

"I'm pulling for (Florida) tonight. They're an SEC team, and they're a heck of a team."

ELKINGTON WITHDRAWS: Steve Elkington withdrew from the tournament, likely the result of a pulled groin muscle.

It's the same injury that forced him to withdraw from The Players Championship before it started two weeks ago.

Elkington had qualified for just his second Masters invitation since the 2000 event by finishing in the top four and ties at the PGA Championship last year.

The 43-year-old Australian last competed at the Masters in 2003, missing the cut.

He has two top-10 finishes at Augusta, both coming more than a decade ago.

AARON OUT: Tommy Aaron, the 1973 Masters champion, informed club officials Sunday that he would not be playing this year.

Aaron, 69, is a native Georgian. He became the oldest player to make the cut when, at age 63, he made it in 2000.

AMES RUSTY: Players Championship winner Stephen Ames took a "long" six days' vacation after winning the PGA Tour's richest event by six strokes March 26. He had planned on being off longer, but the win got him an invitation to the Masters.

"I haven't done anything for six days, so I'm trying to find my swing again, in a sense," Ames said. "But my confidence is very good, and I'm looking forward to playing this week.

"(A win like that) tells you something, it tells you that you're capable of doing something. I was just in a different world."

Ames, originally from Trinidad and Tobago but now a resident of Canada, said he was "quite happy" for the week off.

"It was a long week, too, with the kids," he joked. "This is my rest."

DALY MEMORIES: John Daly said he remembers hitting driver and lob wedge on No. 11 in the mid-1990s, and fearing that his tee shot could go into the water that fronts the green.

Asked about the new version of the 505-yard par 4, in which the tee was moved back 30 to 35 yards, Daly said, "In the next 10 years, that tee box will be on Washington Street."