Rocco Mediate

Rocco Mediate
Personal information
Full name	Rocco Anthony Mediate
Born	December 17, 1962 (1962-12-17) Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 14 st)
Nationality	United States
Residence	Naples, Florida
Career
College	Florida Southern College
Turned professional	1985
Current tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	10
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	6
Best results in Major Championships
Masters Tournament	T15: 2001
U.S. Open	2nd: 2008
The Open Championship	T18: 1996
PGA Championship	6th: 2002

Rocco Anthony Mediate (born December 17, 1962) is an American professional golfer with multiple PGA Tour wins.

Early years

Mediate was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of Greensburg, Pennsylvania. According to the Golf Channel, he is the son of a barber and has Italian ancestral heritage. Mediate attended Florida Southern College and was a member of the golf team. His close friend Lee Janzen, another PGA Tour pro, also played there. They helped lead Florida Southern to the 1985 Division II national team championship.

Career

Mediate turned professional in 1985. His golfing career has been marred by back trouble. Early on, he compensated by using a long putter. In 1991 he became the first player to win on the PGA Tour using a long putter when he won the Doral-Ryder Open. He picked up another victory at the 1993 KMart Greater Greensboro Open, but he then had a long layoff due to a ruptured disk. He underwent major back surgery in 1999, but lost practically five years of his career. Back pain returned in 2004 and later nearly ended his career.

Mediate returned to the Tour in 1996 playing under a special medical extension and performed steadily. He picked up wins on the Tour in 1999, 2000 and 2002. After improving his fitness to minimize his back problems, he returned to using a conventional putter in 2003.

Mediate has been featured in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Rankings and considered to be one of the best putters in golf. At the 2006 Masters, Mediate was in contention to win the event on the final day until he took a septuple-bogey ten on the par three 12th hole. His best finish in a major championship was a second place showing at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines South Course. Tied with Tiger Woods at -1 after regular tournament play, then tied again at even par through the 18 hole playoff, Woods finally bested Mediate on the first hole (hole #7) of sudden death, the 91st hole of the tournament. It was only the third time a U.S. Open playoff had gone to sudden death. Mediate's performance gained him 111 spots in the world golf rankings, moving him from 158th to 47th place, and automatic berths in the next four majors.

Mediate earned his first win since 2002 at the 2010 Frys.com Open by beating Bo Van Pelt and Alex Prugh by one shot. The win secures Mediate's tour card for the next two years. During the tournament, Mediate holed out all four days. He started on Thursday, with a hole-in-one on the 189 yard par-3 3rd hole. On Friday, he holed out from 160 yards on the par-4 4th hole for an eagle, followed on Saturday with a hole-out from 111 yards on the par-5 15th hole, also for eagle. On Sunday, he was tied for the lead on the 17th hole when he holed from 116 yards for eagle to take a two shot lead. He parred the 18th to win the tournament. He also became the oldest wire-to-wire winner on the PGA Tour since at least 1970.

Through the end of 2010, Mediate had PGA Tour career earnings of $16,413,964.

Other activities

On October 9, 2006, it was announced that Mediate would become an on-course reporter for The Golf Channel's 2007 PGA Tour coverage.

Mediate played in the 2005 World Series of Poker's Main Event, as well as the 2001 Blem Classic of Las Vegas.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Mediate is a distant cousin of Puerto Rico Islanders soccer player Domenic Mediate. He is a member of the Calusa Pines Golf Club and resides in the Tuscany Reserve subdivision in Naples, Florida.

Professional wins (10)

PGA Tour wins (6)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Mar 4, 1991	Doral-Ryder Open	-12 (66-70-68-72=276)	Playoff	Curtis Strange
2	Apr 25, 1993	KMart Greater Greensboro Open	-7 (74-67-71-69=281)	Playoff	Steve Elkington
3	Jan 31, 1999	Phoenix Open	-11 (69-67-66-71=273)	2 strokes	Justin Leonard
4	Aug 13, 2000	Buick Open	-20 (68-64-70-66=268)	1 stroke	Chris Perry
5	Apr 28, 2002	Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic	-16 (68-67-66-71=272)	3 strokes	Mark Calcavecchia
6	Oct 17, 2010	Frys.com Open	-15 (64-65-67-73=269)	1 stroke	Alex Prugh, Bo Van Pelt

PGA Tour playoff record (2-1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	1991	Doral-Ryder Open	Curtis Strange	Won with birdie on first playoff hole
2	1993	KMart Greater Greensboro Open	Steve Elkington	Won with birdie on fourth playoff hole
3	2008	U.S. Open	Tiger Woods	Lost to par on first sudden-death hole, after 18-hole playoff was tied

Other wins (4)

• 1999 Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational
• 2000 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with Notah Begay III and Phil Mickelson)
• 2002 Franklin Templeton Shootout (with Lee Janzen)
• 2003 CVS Charity Classic (with Jeff Sluman)

Results in major championships

Tournament	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
The Masters	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T31	DNP

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
The Masters	DNP	T22	T37	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T27
U.S. Open	DNP	CUT	T44	T25	WD	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T34
The Open Championship	DNP	CUT	T45	T39	DNP	DNP	T18	DNP	DNP	CUT
PGA Championship	T69	T16	T40	T68	DNP	DNP	T36	DNP	DNP	T49

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
The Masters	T52	T15	T36	T33	CUT	DNP	T36	DNP	DNP	T49
U.S. Open	T32	4	T37	CUT	DNP	T6	CUT	DNP	2	T47
The Open Championship	T52	WD	T47	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T19	DNP
PGA Championship	WD	T66	6	T18	DNP	DNP	DNP	WD	72	DNP

Tournament	2010	2011
The Masters	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	CUT	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	WD

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = Withdrew
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Results in World Golf Championship events

Tournament	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Accenture Match Play Championship	R64	R64	DNP	R32	R32	R64	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
CA Championship	DNP	DNP	NT1	T24	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Bridgestone Invitational	DNP	WD	DNP	T15	T16	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T52

¹Cancelled due to 9/11
DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
WD = Withdrew
"T" = tied
NT = No Tournament
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Equipment

• Callaway Big Bertha Diablo Driver
• Callaway FT-i Squareway Wood (15°)
• Callaway X Hybrid (18°)
• Callaway X-22 Irons
• Callaway 52° and 56° X Forged Wedges
• Scotty Cameron 009 custom
• Callaway Tour ix Ball
• Callaway Tour Staff Bag
• Footjoy Dry Joy Shoes

See also

• List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins

External links

• Rocco Mediate at the PGA Tour official site
• Rocco Mediate at the Official World Golf Ranking official site