DiMarco forges on

HOYLAKE, England – Chris DiMarco has struggled for most of the season, especially after injuring his ribs and lower back in a ski accident in March. But it all paled in comparison to the sudden death of his mother, Norma, after a heart attack on July 4.

DiMarco is still grieving over the loss of the woman who drove him to junior tournaments as a youngster and was his greatest fan. But DiMarco also said he never considered not playing here because “she would be absolutely (ticked) off if I didn’t play. It would bother her.”

Since his rib injury, DiMarco has missed the cut in seven of his past 12 events, including the Masters, U.S. Open and last week at the John Deere Classic. Sore ribs and a sore lower back also led to some bad swing habits, and he’s also been changing putters almost every week.

“This week and last week I just went back to what I did and stopped thinking so much,” he said. “Just hit the ball where you’re supposed to hit it and putt it where you’re supposed to putt it. This week the scoring is back.”

That was obvious Friday, when he shot 65, his lowest score of the year and in seven British Open appearances. He sank back-to-back 20-footers for birdies on his first two holes, and had six more, including a 25-footer at the 161-yard 15th and a 10-footer at the 560-yard 18th to get within three of Woods.

“Anything can happen in 36 holes,” he said. “I’m going to have to put another low round out there. It’s accessible. You can go out there and do it.”

Duval makes the grade

David Duval, the No. 1 player in the world in 1999, has been in a four-year, injury-induced swoon. But he made his second straight cut in a major this year with his second straight round of 70 at Royal Liverpool. Duval tied for 16th at the U.S. Open, the first time he’d made a cut in a major since 2002.

“I’m playing really well,” Duval said. “I don’t know if I’ve played well enough to be 12 under, but I’ve played well enough to be 8, 9 or 10 under. All I need to do is make a couple of putts and put up some good scores … I can assure you, nobody hit the ball better all day. You can’t control the ball better than I did today.”

Duval said part of his recent resurgence involves cutting back on what had been a rigorous workout regime he began when he was at the top of his game. “Two and a half years ago, I was in Japan playing, and my back, everything was hurting,” he said. “I just felt I had to stop working out at the time. I have not gotten back to the intensity levels that I may have had, but I can do some.”

Not a good omen

Tom Lehman had plenty of reasons to be disgusted at Royal Liverpool.

He celebrated the 10-year anniversary of his British Open victory by taking triple bogey on the seventh hole to tumble out of contention. Needing a birdie on the par-5 18th hole to make the cut, he took a bogey and was headed home.

Worse yet was the performance of his potential Ryder Cup team.

Of the Americans between Nos. 6 and 18 in the Ryder Cup standings, Vaughn Taylor was the only one who made the cut.

Par not good enough

Even par wasn’t enough to keep playing at Royal Liverpool.

Birdies by Vaughn Taylor, then Andrew Marshall, pushed the cut to 1-under 143, the lowest for any major championship since the 1990 British Open, when the cut was 1-under 143 at St. Andrews.

Among those missing the cut were Vijay Singh, who started bogey-double bogey on his way to a 76. It was the first time the big Fijian has played only two rounds in a major since the ‘02 British Open at Muirfield.

It also was a major disappointment for Padraig Harrington and David Howell, two Europeans expected to contend this week. Harrington shot 75-74 and Howell, who is No. 10 in the world ranking, shot 76 to miss the cut by six shots.

Senior moments

Tom Watson and Fred Funk competed against each other two weeks ago in the U.S. Senior Open. Now they get to play the weekend at the British Open.

Watson, a five-time British Open champion and the oldest player in the field at 56, was 4 under for the tournament until he stumbled at the end, taking bogey on the 16th and a double bogey on the 17th. Even so, he shot a 70 and goes into the weekend at 2-under 142, the third straight year he has made the cut in the British Open.

Funk, who made his Champions Tour debut at the U.S. Senior Open, showed great fight at the end of a tough day. He opened with a triple bogey, and a double bogey on the 12th left him at 5 over for the round. But he birdied three of his last four holes for a 74 to make the cut on the number.