Chris DiMarco (Stats | Bio) knows that the crowd will be in Phil Mickelson (Stats | Bio) (Stats | Bio)'s corner today when they tee off in the final pairing at 2 p.m.

But don't think the Orlando, Fla., resident will let it get to him.

"Every time I play with Phil, it's like that,'' DiMarco said Saturday after shooting 68 to gain a share of the Masters Tournament lead with Mickelson.

"I played with him in Phoenix in the last round, and it was a little proPhil there.''

That comment drew laughter because Mickelson played collegiately at Arizona State and is wildly popular there. But it also showed DiMarco is comfortable with the spotlight that he will be under today.

"It doesn't matter. I tell you, really the truth, I'm so focused out there, I don't hear anything,'' he said. "I just need to worry about myself, not worry about what he's doing.''

DiMarco also pointed out that Mickelson, widely regarded as the best player to never win a major, will be under scrutiny as well.

"That's the thing about it, he's going to have a lot of pressure on him tomorrow, too, because he's got to try to get that monkey off there,'' DiMarco said. "It's going to be fun tomorrow.''

"Fun'' was not a word in DiMarco's vocabulary a year ago when he withdrew from the rain-plagued 2003 Masters.

After shooting 82 in the first round, he was well over par when play was called late in his second round. Rather than come back the next day to play one hole and certainly miss the cut, he opted out.

"I was playing with Brad Faxon (Stats | Bio) and he just said to me," he said, 'I wonder what the over/under is for withdrawals,' '' DiMarco said. "It never even entered my mind; what the heck. Big mistake on my part.''

DiMarco caught flak for not coming back, but said he learned a valuable lesson.

This week, DiMarco seems intent on making up for the gaffe. He shot 69 on Thursday to hang near the lead, but fell back Friday with 73.

Saturday's round was flawless. He posted birdies on Nos. 2, 4, 8 and 14 to shoot to the top of the leaderboard.

"I was able to birdie 2, made a great par putt on 3 and a great birdie on 4,'' DiMarco said. "To get those holes a couple under, I've been saying it all week, if you can get under par early out here, it doesn't necessarily - it takes away having to go for certain pins. You can still play aggressive, but you can also play very smart, because you know you don't have to birdie every hole.''

Reach John Boyette at (706) 823-3337 or john.boyette@augustachronicle.com.