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By Dave Shedloski
PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- A player knows best when his game is sound, even when the scorecard is screaming with numbers he'd like to forget.

Chris DiMarco is seeking his first top-10 of 2007. (Wireimage)

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• Video:  DiMarco's post-round interview

For Chris DiMarco, the 2007 season has thus far been muted by the deafening alarms of inconsistency and uncertainty.

So his making a bit of beautiful noise Thursday in the opening round of THE PLAYERS might have been something of a surprise to observers, but DiMarco knew he was tuning up for something pleasing to his senses.

DiMarco shot a 4-under-par 68 in blustery conditions for his third best score ever atTPC Sawgrass' Stadium Course, and he finds himself just one off the pace Phil Mickelson and Rory Sabbatini have established.

"It was a good solid round that I've been looking for all year," said DiMarco, 38, who has yet to finish in the top 10 this season and has slipped to 42nd in the world rankings. "I've been close all year, and I've really been striking it well recently.

"I've felt things really coming together in the last week. I just haven't been scoring and today I was in control and hit a lot of quality shots."

He did do that. DiMarco hit 13 greens, 10 fairways and needed just 28 putts in a round of six birdies and just two bogeys. While he hit a number of solid shots, the putter was the club that most pleased him.

"I made some good 6-7 footers for par and that was the key," DiMarco said. "That's what's been missing. I made some good, key momentum putts to keep the round going. If I made a bogey, I usually came right back with a birdie, and that's what you've got to do around here to keep the momentum going.

"I just tried to stay in rhythm all day, and that helped when I had a couple of bad shots. Instead of worrying about it, I just stayed within myself and grinded out the round. With the wind and all it was definitely my best round of the year."

Experience on a friendly track often helps turn a guy's fortunes around. DiMarco, interestingly, can't say that about the TPC Sawgrass. He's missed the cut in his two previous starts and had broken 70 just twice in 24 previous rounds.

"I don't think I've ever finished better than 43rd here, so I like the changes," DiMarco said.

Chris DiMarco needed only 28 putts in Round 1. (WireImage)

For the record, DiMarco's best finish here is a tie for 21st in 2003.

"I think what it gives you," DiMarco said about the revamped PLAYERS Stadium Course, "Is it gives you now an opportunity to hit greens if you miss fairways that you normally wouldn't hit.

"I think the guy who stays patient and doesn't try to do too much...I know when I did miss a fairway I just aimed for middle of greens or I tried to put it somewhere where I could have a chip and a putt to make par, because pars are good around here."

The firmer track also lets DiMarco, a short hitter relative to most of his peers (he ranks 148th in average driving distance at 276.2 yards), to use clubs other than his driver off the tee.

"It's more playable for me because I can actually hit shots again out there," he said.

Just as important is the bit of renovation that he's undergone beneath the surface.

Last year, DiMarco missed THE PLAYERS after injuring his ribs in a ski accident. Lately, a bad left shoulder has troubled him.

"I haven't played with injuries too much in my career and the last year has been pretty much injury-riddled for me," he said.

The problem in his shoulder is due to arthritis in the joint, some bone spurs and tendonitis in the rotator cuff -- a triple whammy.

A couple of cortisone shots have proven an effective amelioration for pain in the short term, but he plans to have arthroscopic surgery in the off-season, once he gets past the FedExCup season and the Presidents Cup, which is a high priority for him after sinking the winning put for the U.S. in the 2005 edition.

For now, he just has to put up with a clicking sound his shoulder makes on every swing. "It doesn't hurt anymore, but there's a popping sound at the top of my swing," he admitted.

Not the kind of sound any golfer wants to hear, but for now it beats the sound of disgust and frustration.

"I'm feeling like I'm back," DiMarco said. "I really feel like I'm over that hump. I've gotten a good round in today, got a lot of rhythm out there. I really felt like I belonged where I was up there, and that's basically what I haven't been believing. Belief in yourself is a big thing out here, and my confidence is pretty high right now.

"I've felt the last two weeks my game is coming around. I haven't shot good scores, but it's been close; as a player, you can tell."