Rocco Mediate

{{Infobox golfer

| name = Rocco Mediate

| image = Rocco Mediate 2017.jpg

| imagesize = 200px

| caption = Mediate in 2017

| fullname = Rocco Anthony Mediate

| nickname =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1962|12|17}}

| birth_place = Greensburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = {{height|ft=6|in=1}}

| weight = {{convert|190|lb|kg st|abbr=on}}

| nationality = {{USA}}

| residence = Naples, Florida, U.S.

| spouse = Jessica Mediate

| partner =

| children = 4

| college = Florida Southern College

| yearpro = 1985

| tour = PGA Tour Champions

| extour = PGA Tour

| prowins = 14

| pgawins = 6

| eurowins =

| japwins =

| asiawins =

| sunwins =

| auswins =

| nwidewins =

| chalwins =

| champwins = 5

| seneurowins =

| otherwins = 3

| majorwins =

| masters = T15: 2001

| usopen = 2nd: 2008

| open = T18: 1996

| pga = 6th: 2002

| wghofid =

| wghofyear =

| award1 = Champions Tour
Rookie of the Year

| year1 = 2013

| award2 =

| year2 =

| awardssection =

}}

Rocco Anthony Mediate (born December 17, 1962) is an American professional golfer who has won six times on the PGA Tour and three 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. They helped lead Florida Southern to the 1985 Division II national team championship.

Professional career

File:Rocco mediate 2016.jpg

Mediate turned professional in 1985. His golfing career has been marred by back trouble. Early on, he compensated by using a long putter.{{cite web |url=http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=10977 |title=Transcript of Rocco Mediate news conference - Buick Open |date=August 11, 2000 |access-date=October 28, 2013}} 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.[http://www.gaylordsports.com/golf_bio.aspx?id=47&tour=P Bio of Mediate], Gaylord Sports {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228100648/http://www.gaylordsports.com/golf_bio.aspx?id=47&tour=P |date=December 28, 2007 }}

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.{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/golf/news/story?id=5697370 |title=Rocco Mediate wins Frys.com Open |work=ESPN |agency=Associated Press |date=October 17, 2010 |access-date=October 28, 2013}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.pgatour.com/news/2010/10/17/rd4-notebook.html |title=Frys.com - Round 4 notebook |publisher=PGA Tour |date=October 17, 2010 |access-date=October 28, 2013}}

Mediate has PGA Tour career earnings of over $16 million.{{cite web |url=http://www.pgatour.com/players/player.01797.rocco-mediate.html/performance-stats/#uber |title=Rocco Mediate – Performance Stats |publisher=PGA Tour |access-date=October 28, 2013}}

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.{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/8934392/rocco-mediate-wins-champions-tour-allianz-championship |title=Rocco Mediate 16th winner in debut |date=February 10, 2013 |agency=Associated Press |work=ESPN |access-date=February 11, 2013}} 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.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.bunkered.co.uk/golf-news/colin-montgomerie-i-did-nothing-wrong |title=Colin Montgomerie: 'I did nothing wrong' |date=May 30, 2016 |magazine=bunkered |first=Martin |last=Inglis}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.pgatour.com/champions/daily-wrapup/2016/05/29/rocco-mediate-wins-senior-pga-championship.html |title=Mediate closes strong, wins Senior PGA Championship |publisher=Champions Tour |date=May 29, 2016 |access-date=May 30, 2016}}

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.{{cite web |url=http://baylorbears.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/mediate_carmine00.html |title=Baylor Bears Player Bio – Carmine Mediate |access-date=October 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071130184314/http://baylorbears.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/mediate_carmine00.html |archive-date=November 30, 2007}}

Professional wins (14)

=PGA Tour wins (6)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.!!Date!!Tournament!!Winning score!!Margin of
victory!!Runner(s)-up

align=center|1

|align=right|Mar 4, 1991

|Doral-Ryder Open

|−12 (66-70-68-72=276)

|Playoff

|{{flagicon|USA}} Curtis Strange

align=center|2

|align=right|Apr 25, 1993

|KMart Greater Greensboro Open

|−7 (74-67-71-69=281)

|Playoff

|{{flagicon|AUS}} Steve Elkington

align=center|3

|align=right|Jan 31, 1999

|Phoenix Open

|−11 (69-67-66-71=273)

|2 strokes

|{{flagicon|USA}} Justin Leonard

align=center|4

|align=right|Aug 13, 2000

|Buick Open

|−20 (68-64-70-66=268)

|1 stroke

|{{flagicon|USA}} Chris Perry

align=center|5

|align=right|Apr 28, 2002

|Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic (2)

|−16 (68-67-66-71=272)

|3 strokes

|{{flagicon|USA}} Mark Calcavecchia

align=center|6

|align=right|Oct 17, 2010

|Frys.com Open

|−15 (64-65-67-73=269)

|1 stroke

|{{flagicon|USA}} Alex Prugh, {{flagicon|USA}} Bo Van Pelt

PGA Tour playoff record (2–1)

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponent!!Result

style="background:#D0F0C0;"

|align=center|1

|1991

|Doral-Ryder Open

|{{flagicon|USA}} Curtis Strange

|Won with birdie on first extra hole

style="background:#D0F0C0;"

|align=center|2

|1993

|KMart Greater Greensboro Open

|{{flagicon|AUS}} Steve Elkington

|Won with birdie on fourth extra hole

style="background:#F2C1D1;"

|align=center|3

|2008

|U.S. Open

|{{flagicon|USA}} Tiger Woods

|Lost to par on first extra hole after 18-hole playoff;
Woods: E (71),
Mediate: E (71)

=Other wins (3)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.

!Date

!Tournament

!Winning score

!Margin of
victory

!Runner(s)-up

align=center|1

|align=right|Nov 21, 1999

|Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational

|−6 (70-76-68-68=282)

|1 stroke

|{{flagicon|SWE}} Annika Sörenstam

align=center|2

|align=right|Nov 24, 2002

|Franklin Templeton Shootout
(with {{flagicon|USA}} Lee Janzen)

|−31 (65-60-60=185)

|1 stroke

|{{flagicon|USA}} David Gossett and {{flagicon|USA}} Matt Kuchar,
{{flagicon|USA}} John Huston and {{flagicon|USA}} Jeff Maggert

align=center|3

|align=right|Jun 24, 2003

|CVS Charity Classic
(with {{flagicon|USA}} Jeff Sluman)

|−22 (63-57=120)

|1 stroke

|{{flagicon|USA}} Billy Andrade and {{flagicon|USA}} Brad Faxon

Other playoff record (0–1)

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponents!!Result

style="background:#F2C1D1;"

|align=center|1

|2008

|CVS Caremark Charity Classic
(with {{flagicon|USA}} Brandt Snedeker)

|{{flagicon|USA}} Billy Andrade and {{flagicon|USA}} Davis Love III,
{{flagicon|USA}} Paul Goydos and {{flagicon|USA}} Tim Herron,
{{flagicon|COL}} Camilo Villegas and {{flagicon|USA}} Bubba Watson

|Villegas/Watson won by 1 stroke in three-hole aggregate playoff

=PGA Tour Champions wins (5)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

! Legend

style="background:#e5d1cb;"

|Senior major championships (1)

Other PGA Tour Champions (4)

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.

!Date

!Tournament

!Winning score

!Margin of
victory

!Runner(s)-up

align=center|1

|align=right|Feb 10, 2013

|Allianz Championship

|−17 (67-61-71=199)

|2 strokes

|{{flagicon|DEU}} Bernhard Langer, {{flagicon|USA}} Tom Pernice Jr.

align=center|2

|align=right|Sep 1, 2013

|Shaw Charity Classic

|−22 (63-64-64-191)

|7 strokes

|{{flagicon|USA}} Tom Byrum

style="background:#e5d1cb;"

|align=center|3

|align=right|May 29, 2016

|Senior PGA Championship

|−19 (62-66-71-66=265)

|3 strokes

|{{flagicon|SCO}} Colin Montgomerie

align=center|4

|align=right|Sep 22, 2019

|Sanford International

|−9 (69-68-64=201)

|2 strokes

|{{flagicon|USA}} Ken Duke, {{flagicon|USA}} Bob Estes,
{{flagicon|SCO}} Colin Montgomerie

align=center|5

|align=right|Oct 6, 2024

|Constellation Furyk & Friends

|−12 (67-66-71=204)

|Playoff

|{{flagicon|USA}} Bob Estes

PGA Tour Champions playoff record (1–0)

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponent!!Result

style="background:#D0F0C0;"

|align=center|1

|2024

|Constellation Furyk & Friends

|{{flagicon|USA}} Bob Estes

|Won with par on second extra hole

Results in major championships

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!1984

!1985

!1986

!1987

!1988

!1989

align=left|Masters Tournament

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|U.S. Open

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|The Open Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|PGA Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T31

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!1990

!1991

!1992

!1993

!1994

!1995

!1996

!1997

!1998

!1999

align=left|Masters Tournament

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T22

|T37

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T27

align=left|U.S. Open

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

|T44

|T25

|WD

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T34

align=left|The Open Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

|T45

|T39

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T18

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

align=left|PGA Championship

|T69

|T16

|T40

|T68

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T36

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

|T49

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!2000

!2001

!2002

!2003

!2004

!2005

!2006

!2007

!2008

!2009

align=left|Masters Tournament

|T52

|T15

|T36

|T33

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T36

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T49

align=left|U.S. Open

|T32

|style="background:yellow;"|4

|T37

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:yellow;"|T6

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:yellow;"|2

|T47

align=left|The Open Championship

|T52

|WD

|T47

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T19

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|PGA Championship

|WD

|T66

|style="background:yellow;"|6

|T18

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|WD

|72

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!2010

!2011

!2012

!2013

!2014

!2015

!2016

align=left|Masters Tournament

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|U.S. Open

|CUT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|The Open Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|PGA Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|WD

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

CUT = missed the half-way cut

WD = Withdrew

"T" = tied

=Summary=

Totals	0	1	0	2	4	11	51	35
class=wikitable style=text-align:center !Tournament !! Wins !! 2nd !! 3rd !! Top-5 !! Top-10 !! Top-25 !! Events !! Cuts made
align=left\|Masters Tournament	0	0	0	0	0	2	10	9
align=left\|U.S. Open	0	1	0	2	3	4	15	9
align=left\|The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	0	2	9	6
align=left\|PGA Championship	0	0	0	0	1	3	17	11

Most consecutive cuts made – 8 (1991 PGA – 1993 PGA)
Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (four times)

Results in The Players Championship

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!1987

!1988

!1989

align=left|The Players Championship

|T50

|CUT

|T11

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!1990

!1991

!1992

!1993

!1994

!1995

!1996

!1997

!1998

!1999

align=left|The Players Championship

|T11

|T15

|CUT

|style="background:yellow;"|T6

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T55

|style="background:yellow;"|T4

|CUT

|T57

|CUT

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!2000

!2001

!2002

!2003

!2004

!2005

!2006

!2007

!2008

!2009

align=left|The Players Championship

|CUT

|T65

|style="background:yellow;"|3

|T45

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T58

|T44

|T54

|T60

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!2010

!2011

align=left|The Players Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T54

CUT = missed the halfway cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

!Tournament!!1999!!2000!!2001!!2002!!2003!!2004!!2005!!2006!!2007!!2008

align="left"|Match Play

|R64

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|R32

|R64

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align="left"|Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|NT¹

|T24

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align="left"|Invitational

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|WD

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T15

|T16

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T52

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)=

class="wikitable"

!Year!!Championship!!54 holes!!Winning score!!Margin!!Runner-up

style="background:thistle;"

| 2016

Senior PGA Championship

2 shot lead

−19 (62-66-71-66=265)

3 strokes

{{flagicon|SCO}} Colin Montgomerie

=Results timeline=

Results not in chronological order before 2022.

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament !! 2013 !! 2014 !! 2015 !! 2016 !! 2017 !! 2018 !! 2019 !! 2020 !! 2021 !! 2022!!2023!!2024

align=left|The Tradition

|35

|style="background:yellow;"|T6

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T38

|T42

|style="background:yellow;"|T8

|T12

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T40

|T65

|WD

align=left|Senior PGA Championship

|T20

|WD

|T26

|style="background:lime;"|1

|CUT

|T64

|T12

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NT

|T23

|WD

|T63

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|U.S. Senior Open

|style="background:yellow;"|T3

|T26

|T20

|CUT

|T14

|T47

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NT

|T52

|T18

|CUT

|T12

align=left|Senior Players Championship

|T22

|T26

|78

|T60

|T20

|T63

|T67

|style="background:yellow;"|T7

|T17

|T32

|T21

align=left|Senior British Open Championship

|T18

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T40

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|NT

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

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

References

External links

{{PGATour player|01797}}
{{OWGR|627}}

Category:American male golfers

Category:Florida Southern Moccasins men's golfers

Category:PGA Tour golfers

Category:PGA Tour Champions golfers

Category:Winners of senior major golf championships

Category:Golfers from Pennsylvania

Category:Golfers from Florida

Category:American people of Italian descent

Category:Sportspeople from Greensburg, Pennsylvania

Category:Sportspeople from Naples, Florida

Category:1962 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century American sportsmen

Rocco Mediate

Early life

Amateur career

Professional career

Personal life

Professional wins (14)

=PGA Tour wins (6)=

=Other wins (3)=

=PGA Tour Champions wins (5)=

Results in major championships

=Summary=

Results in The Players Championship

Results in World Golf Championships

Senior major championships

=Wins (1)=

=Results timeline=

U.S. national team appearances

See also

References

External links