It’s not always about whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.
PGA TOUR veteran Rocco Mediate demonstrated that sentiment during the epic playoff at this year’s U.S. Open. Mediate -- in a bid to become the oldest U.S. Open champion at age 45, went toe-to-toe in a playoff with Tiger Woods -- finally getting squeezed out when Woods completed his third career Grand Slam with a par on the 91st hole.
“It was by far the most fun, and the most I’ve gotten out of anything I’ve ever done in golf was that Monday with Tiger, even though I lost,” Mediate shared during an interview with PGA TOUR Senior Director Laura Hill.
And, while he doesn’t brag about the loss, he knows that “someone has got to lose. If I would have lost by eight, it wouldn’t have been so cool, I’d have let myself down. But I didn’t. Losing is losing, but in that case it was a battle of all battles, and I’ll never forget it,” Mediate said in the interview with Hill.
One month later, Mediate again demonstrated his remarkable grit with great comeback play during the British Open Championship. On Opening Day, Mediate bounced back from three bogeys on the opening six holes to hold his place atop the leaderboard. He finished among the top 20 – one of his best finishes this year.
“I don’t feel like anything can scare me anymore,” Mediate said. “You’re going to be nervous and everything like that, but I feel like I can do it if I need to,” said Mediate, who ranks 46th in Career Earnings on the PGA TOUR.
Considered one of the best putters in golf, Mediate became the first player to win on the PGA TOUR using a long putter with his win during the Doral-Ryder Open in 1991.
But it’s not just Mediate’s performance that demonstrates he’s a man of true grit. As a professional golfer with multiple PGA TOUR wins, and featured in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Rankings, Mediate has overcome physical challenges as well.
Early on in Mediate’s career, he suffered a ruptured disk, and has battled chronic pain in his back and hips. He used the long putter to compensate for his back, but finally underwent surgery in 1994. He returned to the TOUR in 1996 playing under a medical extension. Since then, he has gone on to win three more PGA TOUR events (five total). Earlier this year, he tied for 6th during the Memorial Tournament finishing with a 3-under 69.
While his back and hip pain continue to pose challenges, Mediate won’t let that slow him down. On the 11th hole in a recent tournament, he walked off the green, lay down in the rough on his side, while his physical therapist held his spine steady so he could get his muscles and hip joints back into a comfortable spot.
A family man and father of three, Mediate is also a man of many talents. He served as an on-course reporter for The Golf Channel’s 2007 PGA Tour coverage, finished 600th out of 5,619 players in his first appearance at the 2005 World Series of Poker's Main Event, and has proven day-in-and-day-out that he has the true grit of a world champion golfer.