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For Bethpage’s U.S. Open Fans, Rocco’s A Rock Star

Rocco Mediate (right) took the playoff loss in stride, finding time to share a laugh with Tiger Woods during the competition. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)

By Stuart Hall

When the 2009 U.S. Open kicks into gear at Bethpage State Park’s Black Course, there will be the usual cast of major favorites — the likes of Woods, Mickelson, Harrington, Cabrera, Furyk, and toss in maybe a Stricker, Casey or Perry. Oh, and don’t forget Rocco Mediate.

Count on Mediate, 46, being feted like a rock star by the boisterous New York fans. Though Mediate has won millions in a journeyman career that’s stretched nearly 25 years, he exudes a likable, blue-collar aura that will serve him well at a venue where the average Joe is willing to sleep in his car in order to grab a tee time.

Fifty-one weeks ago at Torrey Pines’ South Course just north of San Diego, Mediate, the son of a barber from Greensburg, Pa., who considers Rocky Balboa a hero, held his own among the heavyweights. He then went toe-to-toe with Tiger Woods in an 18-hole playoff on Monday that was extended to 19 holes before concluding with Woods embracing his third U.S. Open trophy, and Mediate the valiant runner-up.

June 16, 2008, became one of those days where golf fans, even people with just a passing curiosity, would later say, “I remember I was … ” Fill in your own blanks: in the office following on the Internet, sitting in an airport bar waiting for a flight, parked on the couch in the family room.

“The reason that day became what it was is because people had been waiting to see something like that happen in golf,” said Mediate. “Were they expecting the 158th-ranked player in the world to beat the best player in the world? Of course not.”

Especially after 10 holes when Woods was even par and three strokes ahead of Mediate.

“I told Matt [Achatz, Mediate’s caddie], ‘I am not missing another shot the rest of this day, and I can still beat this guy,’” Mediate recalled. “That's when people went, ‘Holy [bleep], this guy might beat him,’ and that's when they started clicking the damn thing on and putting on the Internet. I think that's what was so cool because everyone thought it was over. Everyone. I knew on that type of golf course, it's not over.”

Which explains why four holes later both players were tied at one over par, why Mediate took a one-stroke lead on the 15th and why Woods needed to birdie the par-5 18th hole to extend the drama before winning his 14th major with a par.

To many, Mediate epitomized the underdog, all the kids and old hackers who daydream of beating the world’s best, possibly the greatest ever. And Mediate, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour whose previous best finish in 41 major starts was fourth at the 2001 U.S. Open at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, inspired with an unbending resolve to not back down.

“I just I never quit,” said Mediate. “I've been beaten down a few times and came back, and I got what I wanted. I got a chance to beat the best player in the world and I came up just a touch short. But I think I had him a little scared once, which was great. He just said, ‘Great fight,’ to me, and that makes it a little better.”

Adding to the rich texture of Mediate’s Open tale is his unlikely qualifying for the event. Just a scant two weeks before the 2008 U.S. Open, Mediate’s psyche was chipped.

Injury and inconsistent results had coupled to creep into his mindset and create a bit of self-doubt. And with a 36-hole U.S. Open sectional qualifier scheduled for the Monday following the PGA Tour’s stop at the daunting Memorial Tournament in Ohio, prospects of playing in his favorite major were not positive.

Sixteen starts into the 2008 PGA Tour season, Mediate, who failed to qualify for the 2007 U.S. Open, had missed eight cuts and finished no better than a tie for 36th.

Mediate, who wears a smile as well as George Clooney wears a tux, credited physical therapist Cindi Hilfman, whom he met in 2007 through a friend in Los Angeles, for a physical — and mental — turnaround. Not only did Hilfman identify the real root of his long-time nagging back problems, but she remained positive at times when he questioned himself.

“At the beginning of [2008], I came out, and I was expecting to do well and ready to do well, and it just was not good,” he said. “I wasn't making a score at all. I couldn't do anything. And I remember she says to me, ‘Well, let's try to make some cuts first. Let's go back to the beginning.’

“’I can't do that. I've been out here 23 years. I should be able to win.’”

Hilfman then added the caveat.

"’Well, you haven't made any cuts. So how are you expecting to do that?’"

After the stern talking to in April, Mediate did manage to cobble together a string of finishes, and arrived in Dublin, Ohio, hoping to change his fortunes. Muirfield Village is considered one of the PGA Tour’s most difficult courses, so that fit perfectly with Mediate’s M.O.

He made the cut, experienced a hiccup with a third-round 74, but finished with a 69 that earned a tie for sixth place. Moreover, he had strung together four solid rounds. The next day, at the U.S. Open sectional qualifier in Columbus, Mediate finished at 4-under 139 to get into an 11-player playoff for the final seven spots. He birdied the first playoff hole and was bound for San Diego.

“I just bought what she said and told myself, ‘I'll go back to basics.’ Once I got in contention at Memorial, I finished off the tournament the last four or five holes,” he said.

Mediate’s confidence grew with each round at the U.S. Open. A first-round 69 was followed by a 71, which was followed by a 72, Mediate fully realizing that a score around or below par would have him contending. He also kept reiterating a desire to be paired with Woods, prompting both media and fans to ask, “Are you kidding? What are you thinking?”

Despite his happy-go-lucky persona, Mediate, who once qualified for the main event in the World Series of Poker, enjoys a good fight at the highest level. So he was no cocky newcomer popping off at the mouth. He knew exactly what he was getting into.

“Why do you think I wanted to be there? It's going to test your physical and mental ability, and then you get to play the best player in the world on one of the hardest courses in the world for the national Open,” he said. “Seriously, there's nothing better you could ask for as a player.”

Mediate didn’t get his wish in the final round, going out in the penultimate group with Geoff Ogilvy while Woods and Lee Westwood went off last. That only made Monday’s playoff more palpable.

“I truthfully woke up in the morning and I remember telling Cindi, ‘I can beat this guy today. I can beat this guy today on this golf course,’” said Mediate. “I didn't let the moment get me. And that's why Tiger's so great, he never lets a moment get him.

“If I get in the hunt in the next 10 majors, and win one of them or something, it's going to be unbelievable, but I don't think it will be as intense as that day was for me.”

Having nearly a year to reflect, Mediate said the sting of losing healed quickly because he took the world’s best player to the brink, but admitted the pain would have been worse had it been someone other than Woods.

As for playing the tortuous game of “what if?” Mediate admitted to thinking of a shot or hole that might have made a difference, but he does not dwell.

“I don't know that it would have changed me more as a player,” said Mediate, “but as for having the most thing I most covet in my sport, which is the U.S. Open trophy, that would have been pretty cool.

“I don't think it would have changed me in regards to how the fans view me. I mean, the fans certainly couldn't be any more supportive. It's insane. It's great. I've had a blast.”

Only an encore — and a win, preferably over Woods — at Bethpage could be better.

Stuart Hall is a freelance writer whose work has appeared previously on usopen.com.

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