Chris DiMarco had a satellite truck parked outside his house and a long list of television and radio interviews to do, the kind of treatment usually afforded a Masters champion.

DiMarco only was the runner-up.

The guy with the green jacket — Tiger Woods — was on the other side of town in Orlando, Fla., meeting VIPs from Accenture, one of his sponsors, for a Monday outing planned long before he won his fourth Masters.

Rarely does second place draw so much attention.

“I went out and shot 68 around here on Sunday, which is a very good round. And 12 under is usually good enough to win,” DiMarco said after his playoff loss. “I just was playing against Tiger Woods.”

That’s what made this runner-up finish so compelling. That’s why the loudest cheers were for DiMarco along the back nine at Augusta National, and even during the closing ceremony, when Woods paid tribute to “one heck of a competitor out there.”

It was almost an afterthought during the final round that DiMarco had been here before — not just in the final group at the Masters, but in a playoff at a major.

Seven months ago at Whistling Straits, he missed an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole of the PGA Championship, then lost the tournament in a three-way playoff to Vijay Singh.

He was the model of grit and determination at the Masters.

DiMarco shot 41 on the back nine Sunday morning to finish his third round, turning a four-shot lead into a three-shot deficit to a player who had never lost the lead in the final round of a major.

No one gave him a chance.

It was a two-man race from the start, and DiMarco never backed down. Despite giving up 80 yards at times off the tee, DiMarco was inside Woods for birdie on all but five holes. He was aggressive, fearless. He tried to make birdies on his last two holes and left himself 6 feet for par, then made both those to force a playoff.

This was quite a change from last year at Augusta National, when he was tied for the lead with Phil Mickelson going into the last round and shot 76 to quickly take himself out of contention.

“I don’t think I was ready to win,” DiMarco said. “This year, I was ready to win. I really felt like I could win it. And coming out the way I did, I will be ready to win next year.”

Next year?

What about the next major? There already is some thought that DiMarco should move to the top of the list as the “best player to have never won a major,” but only because his final round still is fresh.

DiMarco has only won three times in his 10 years on the PGA Tour, none against particularly strong fields. There’s a reason for that.

He had at least joined some exclusive company Sunday, even if it’s not the kind he wants to keep.

Not since Tom Watson at the 1978 PGA Championship and 1979 Masters has someone lost back-to-back major championships in a playoff. Craig Wood is the only other player with that distinction, having lost in 38 holes in the finals of the 1934 PGA Championship, then in a 36-hole playoff to Gene Sarazen at the 1935 Masters.