Rocco Anthony Mediate (born December 17, 1962) is an American professional golfer who has won six times on the PGA Tour and five times on the PGA Tour Champions. In the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines South Course, he finished runner-up after losing the first sudden-death hole after an 18-hole playoff to Tiger Woods. In 2016, Mediate won the Senior PGA Championship, one of the five senior majors.
Early life Mediate was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. According to the Golf Channel, he is the son of a barber and has Italian ancestral heritage. Mediate attended Hempfield Area High School.
Amateur career 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.
Professional 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. Bio of Mediate, Gaylord Sports
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.
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 has been featured in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Ranking 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.
Mediate earned his first win since 2002 at the 2010 Frys.com Open by beating Bo Van Pelt and Alex Prugh by one shot. 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.
Mediate has PGA Tour career earnings of over $16 million.
Mediate joined the Champions Tour for 2013 after turning 50 and his exemption for his 2010 PGA Tour win ended. He won in his debut at the Allianz Championship, the 16th Champions Tour player to do so. After shooting a 61 in the second round, he claimed victory by two strokes over Bernhard Langer and Tom Pernice Jr. with a birdie at the last hole. He won his second Champions Tour tournament that September, at the Shaw Charity Classic. Mediate finished seven strokes ahead of runner-up, Tom Byrum.
In May 2016, Mediate won his first senior major championship at the Senior PGA Championship, with a three-stroke victory over the defending champion Colin Montgomerie. His winning total of 265 (−19) broke the previous record by three and was the first wire-to-wire victory at the event since Jack Nicklaus in 1991. His victory was sealed when he holed out from a greenside bunker on the 71st hole of regulation play for birdie.
On September 22, 2019, Mediate won the Sanford International on the PGA Tour Champions in South Dakota.
Personal life Mediate is a distant cousin of Puerto Rico Islanders soccer player Domenic Mediate.
Professional wins (14) PGA Tour wins (6) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Mar 4, 1991Doral-Ryder Open−12 (66-70-68-72=276)Playoff Curtis Strange2Apr 25, 1993KMart Greater Greensboro Open−7 (74-67-71-69=281)Playoff Steve Elkington3Jan 31, 1999Phoenix Open−11 (69-67-66-71=273)2 strokes Justin Leonard4Aug 13, 2000Buick Open−20 (68-64-70-66=268)1 stroke Chris Perry5Apr 28, 2002Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic (2)−16 (68-67-66-71=272)3 strokes Mark Calcavecchia6Oct 17, 2010Frys.com Open−15 (64-65-67-73=269)1 stroke Alex Prugh, Bo Van Pelt
PGA Tour playoff record (2–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult11991Doral-Ryder Open Curtis StrangeWon with birdie on first extra hole21993KMart Greater Greensboro Open Steve ElkingtonWon with birdie on fourth extra hole32008 U.S. Open Tiger WoodsLost to par on first extra hole after 18-hole playoff;Woods: E (71),Mediate: E (71)
Other wins (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Nov 21, 1999Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational−6 (70-76-68-68=282)1 stroke Annika Sörenstam2Nov 24, 2002Franklin Templeton Shootout(with Lee Janzen)−31 (65-60-60=185)1 stroke David Gossett and Matt Kuchar, John Huston and Jeff Maggert3Jun 24, 2003CVS Charity Classic(with Jeff Sluman)−22 (63-57=120)1 stroke Billy Andrade and Brad Faxon
Other playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult12008CVS Caremark Charity Classic(with Brandt Snedeker) Billy Andrade and Davis Love III, Paul Goydos and Tim Herron, Camilo Villegas and Bubba WatsonVillegas/Watson won by 1 stroke in three-hole aggregate playoff
PGA Tour Champions wins (5) LegendSenior major championships (1)Other PGA Tour Champions (4) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Feb 10, 2013 Allianz Championship−17 (67-61-71=199)2 strokes Bernhard Langer, Tom Pernice Jr.2Sep 1, 2013Shaw Charity Classic−22 (63-64-64-191)7 strokes Tom Byrum3May 29, 2016 Senior PGA Championship−19 (62-66-71-66=265)3 strokes Colin Montgomerie4Sep 22, 2019 Sanford International−9 (69-68-64=201)2 strokes Ken Duke, Bob Estes, Colin Montgomerie5Oct 6, 2024 Constellation Furyk and Friends−12 (67-66-71=204)Playoff Bob Estes
PGA Tour Champions playoff record (1–0) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12024Constellation Furyk and Friends Bob EstesWon with par on second extra hole
Results in major championships Tournament198419851986198719881989Masters TournamentU.S. OpenCUTThe Open ChampionshipPGA ChampionshipT31
Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999Masters TournamentT22T37T27U.S. OpenCUTT44T25WDT34The Open ChampionshipCUTT45T39T18CUTPGA ChampionshipT69T16T40T68T36CUTT49
Tournament2000200120022003200420052006200720082009Masters TournamentT52T15T36T33CUTT36T49U.S. OpenT324T37CUTT6CUT2T47The Open ChampionshipT52WDT47T19PGA ChampionshipWDT666T18CUTWD72 Tournament2010201120122013201420152016Masters TournamentU.S. OpenCUTThe Open ChampionshipPGA ChampionshipWDCUT
CUT = missed the half-way cut WD = Withdrew "T" = tied
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 2 10 9U.S. Open 0 1 0 2 3 4 15 9The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 6PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 1 3 17 11Totals 0 1 0 2 4 11 51 35 Most consecutive cuts made – 8 (1991 PGA – 1993 PGA) Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (four times)
Results in The Players Championship Tournament198719881989The Players ChampionshipT50CUTT11 Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999The Players ChampionshipT11T15CUTT6T55T4CUTT57CUT Tournament2000200120022003200420052006200720082009The Players ChampionshipCUTT653T45T58T44T54T60 Tournament20102011The Players ChampionshipT54
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships Tournament1999200020012002200320042005200620072008Match PlayR64R64R32R32R64ChampionshipNT1T24InvitationalWDT15T16T52
1Cancelled due to 9/11
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play WD = Withdrew "T" = tied NT = No Tournament
Senior major championships
Wins (1) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up 2016 Senior PGA Championship 2 shot lead −19 (62-66-71-66=265) 3 strokes Colin Montgomerie
Results timeline Results not in chronological order Tournament 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 20222023202420252026Senior PGA ChampionshipT20WDT261CUTT64T12NTT23WDT63WDThe Tradition35T6T38T42T8T12NTT40T65WDT24U.S. Senior OpenT3T26T20CUTCUTT14T47NTT52T18CUTT12CUTSenior Players ChampionshipT22T22T2678T60T20T63T67T7T17T32T21T5774Senior British Open ChampionshipT18T40NT
CUT = missed the halfway cut WD = withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
U.S. national team appearances Professional UBS Cup: 2003 (tie) Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing PGA Tour): 2000 (winners), 2008
See also 1985 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates 1986 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
References
External links