Rocco Mediate
Residence: Port Vedra Beach, Florida
DOB: 19/12/1962
Rocco was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He attended Florida Southern College and turned professional in 1985.
His professional career has been plagued by back trouble. Early on, he compensated for this by using a long broom-handled 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 - this was also his first victory on the PGA Tour.
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 and lost five years of 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.
His victory is 200 came the same way as his first - with a birdie on the final hole at the Buick Open. It was the first time he had led the Buick Open since it began on the Thursday. Rocco birdied two of final three holes for one-stroke victory over 54-hole leader Chris Perry
At the 2006 Masters, Mediate was in contention to win his first Major Championship until he took a septuplet-bogey ten on the par three 12th hole.
His best finish in a major championship came at the 2008 US Open where he lost in a play-off to a one legged Tiger. However he put up a valiant fight. The US Open goes to a 5th round if there is a tie - but even this could not separate them. Tiger finally won on the 91st hole of the tournament. It was only the third time a U.S. Open playoff had gone to sudden death.
Rocco is enjoying a average start to the 2009 season. He is not missing many cuts but at the same time is not setting the course alight. His best finish is a tie for 22nd at the Quail Hollow Championship.
Rocco Mediate Club History
Below is a selection of clubs used by Rocco Mediate throughout his career
Rocco Mediate Tournament History
2008 The PGA Championship |
7-10 August - PGA Championship - Oakland Hills. Padraig Harrington secured his 3rd Major Championship in 13 months at the 90th PGA Championship. With an incredible 8-under mark over the final 36 holes thanks to matching 4-under-par 66’s, Harrington posted a 3-under, 277, total for a 2 stroke victory ahead of Sergio Garcia and Ben Curtis. It was the Irishman's 2nd major win in just 3 weeks. Interestingly, it seemed as though Harrington was ready to throw in the towel after a 4-over 74 in the 2nd round put him at +5 for the tournament. |
In Rocco Mediate's bag...A trio of rounds of par or just over were looking to secure Rocco a solid finish in the final Major of the season. However things went badly wrong in the final round. Rocco limped over the finish line with a final round of 85 and plummeted down the leader board to a lowly 72nd place. This is the second time that we have caught up with Rocco this year. He is still keeping the heads off of his Driver and fairway woods that help s us out. It has only been a couple of months since The Open and as a result Rocco has not change his equipment. He was still using his Callaway FT-5 driver and a Callaway FT-i Squareway fairway wood. His Callaway X Hybrid and Callaway X-20 Tour irons were also still present. And on the greens - yes the Odyssey White Hot Sabretooth.
(CLICK ON IMAGES TO SEE FULL SIZE VERSION). |
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2008 The Open Championship |
17-20 July - The Open Championship - Royal Birkdale. The 137th Open Championship was successfully defended by Padraig Harrington. He shot -4 on the back 9 on the Sunday to pull away from Ian Poulter and overnight leader Greg Norman. The Open this year was without one notable absentee as World #1 Tiger Woods was recovering from knee surgery. Greg Norman became the oldest golfer ever to hold at least a share of the 54-hole lead when he led by 2 strokes on +2. Due to extremely high winds, no one managed to play under par for the round, and it was first time since 1986 when the 54-hole leader was not under par. Despite a wrist injury that almost forced him to withdraw prior to the tournament Harrington pulled away from the field with a tremendous back 9 and became only the fifth golfer to retain the Open Championship in the last 50 years. |
In Rocco Mediate's bag...With only a handful of players managing to break par on the opening day Rocco’s 69 put him in with a great chance of glory at The Open Championship. As the conditions worsened Rocco’s experience came in to play as he held it together better than some of his other professionals. Rounds of 76 over the weekend saw him secure a top-20 finish. Finally a pro that takes the head covers off his woods. Not really sure why he does this but is does help us out a great deal. From this we have been able to identify that he was using a Callaway FT-5 driver and a Callaway FT-i Squareway fairway wood. He was also using a Callaway X Hybrid. On the zoom we can just make out that he was using a set of Callaway X-20 Tour irons. The only club with a head cover is Rocco’s putter - and from the distinctive shape we can tell that it was an Odyssey White Hot Sabretooth.
(CLICK ON IMAGES TO SEE FULL SIZE VERSION). |
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