The ever-popular Rocco Mediate — a frequent Seattle visitor — will bring his game, and his sense of humor, with him to TPC Snoqualmie Ridge in August for his first Boeing Classic.
By Tony Dear
Don’t you just love Rocco Mediate? He’s a successful professional golfer and certainly knows how good he is and has been for 30 years. But, he talks about himself much the same as you or I would in the 19th hole, following a casual round with friends.
“If any of the players ever try to get inside my head, they’re wasting their time,” he says, laughing. “There’s nothing there.”
Then, there’s this: “I recently saw a picture of myself with my eyes closed at impact. I had no idea I did that. I’m not techy at all; don’t really understand all that stuff. My understanding of the golf swing has certainly improved in recent years, but really I’m all about tempo — used to practice blindfolded, in fact. If my tempo’s on, I know I’m good.”
Mediate, who won six times on the regular PGA Tour, turned 50 last December. In August, he will play in his first Boeing Classic at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge. He can’t wait.
“I absolutely love playing up there,” says Mediate, who was born in Greensburg, Pa., and shares a Minneapolis condo with his fiancée, Jessica Somers. “My ex-wife lives in Bellevue with my three boys —Rocco, Nicco, and Marco — so I get up there quite a bit.”
In the Seattle area, Mediate has played at Sahalee, where he missed the cut at the 1998 PGA Championship and finished tied for 15th at the 2002 WGC NEC Invitational, and also at TPC, where he estimates he has played about 15 times in the last three years.
“I go up to practice there when I visit the boys,” he says. “It’s an awesome course, and I love the staff there.”
Boeing Classic Tournament Director Michelle DeLancy says Mediate will be an exciting addition to a field that is always one of the best on the Champions Tour: “We are looking forward to having Rocco Mediate in the field at the Boeing Classic for the first time in August. He enjoys the course — if you like him on Facebook, you can see he’s even posted a photo of himself on the first tee. He brings with him an excitement from the fans that we haven’t seen with some of the other Champions Tour rookies in recent years. Rocco will definitely be one to watch.”
Like everyone else that has played at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge, Mediate says the views are incredible, and singles out the 14th as his favorite hole.
“Whether I’ll go for the green or not all depends on where I stand in the tournament,” he says. “On Friday, you probably take a 4-iron off the tee and wedge it on. But if you’re one or two back on Sunday afternoon, you’ve got to take it on. I’ve hit the green from the tournament tee several times. It’s not that difficult if there’s no wind. But it’s really tough if it’s playing downwind, because the ball can fly the green and end up somewhere nasty. Then it’s hard to make a par.”
Whatever he makes at 14, and wherever he finishes in the tournament, it’s certain that Mediate will make it fun for the galleries watching him — while having a good time himself, of course. Mediate had established himself on the PGA Tour by the mid-1990s, but it was when he faced down Tiger Woods in a 19-hole playoff at the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines outside San Diego (a playoff Tiger would eventually win) — smiling the entire time, in stark contrast to Tiger’s trademark intensity — that he became a fan favorite.
It’s a story he never tires of telling.
“I woke up on the morning of the playoff knowing I could beat him,” Mediate remembers now. “I thought I was better than everybody, including him, from tee to green that week. But Tiger is so good on and around the greens, he usually makes a score however he’s hitting it. I certainly wasn’t afraid of him, though.”
Mediate adores and respects golf, its traditions, and its champions a great deal. But, he’s not the game’s over-bearing, blazer-wearing spokesperson. He plays social golf with Rage Against the Machine and Rush blaring out of the iPhone in his pocket. He’s definitely more Al Czervik than Judge Smails.
And he loves his new life on the Champions Tour.
“Oh yeah, I’m having a blast,” he confirms. “Every week, I get to play with some of the best players that ever played the game. It’s stupid cool.”
He loves it so much, in fact, that he decided earlier this year to pass up any opportunities he might have to tee it up with the youngsters on the regular tour, in favor of playing in more Champions Tour tournaments. Mediate says he’s enjoyed every round he’s played on the Champions Tour thus far, and gets on well with all his fellow seniors.
“They are all such great players and fun to be around,” he says. “My absolute favorite person to play with is probably Bernhard Langer. Not only is he a fantastic golfer, he’s such a classy guy. Everything he does, he does as well as he possibly can — and graciously, too. Trevino’s another. We don’t see enough of him out here.”
As much as he’s enjoying playing with his old and new buddies, Mediate insists it’s not all fun and games, and he confirms what we’ve been hearing for several years now – that the competition on the Champions Tour is no less intense than it is among the flatter bellies.
“Oh my goodness,” he chuckles. “It wasn’t all that long ago when guys who had been club pros could earn a good retirement by playing the Senior Tour. You can’t get on the Champions Tour nowadays. We’re talking about some of the best players in the history of the game still playing as well, if not better, than they ever have.”
This is no exhibition tour, adds Mediate, and the courses are anything but easy.
“It’s not driver/wedge out here,” he says. “Some of the courses we play are old-style and relatively short, but most are over 7,000 yards. And you’ve got to make it happen quickly in these three-day events. If you’re not three, four, or five-under par on Friday, you can forget about winning.
“My buddies at home tell me they should try for the Champions Tour,” he adds. “I ask them, if I have to give them 10 shots, who on Earth they think they are going to beat on the Champions Tour?”