Here are eleven things you didn't know about the 2008 US Open runner-up.
11 Things You Didn’t Know About Rocco Mediate
American Rocco Mediate may be best remembered for battling Tiger Woods at the 2008 US Open, but he actually had a very long PGA Tour career before that too.
So to make sure his career is not just remembered for losing to Tiger at Torrey Pines, here are 10 things you didn’t already know about him.
11 Things You Didn’t Know About Rocco Mediate
1. Rocco was born on December 17th 1962. We believe he is the son of a barber and has Italian ancestral heritage.
2. Mediate grew up in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, just miles from Arnold Palmer’s home in nearby Latrobe. He also played with Palmer for the first time when he was 19, at Latrobe Country Club.
3. His full name is Rocco Anthony Mediate.
4. Mediate attended Florida Southern College and whilst there he competed on the golf team. We believe he played alongside fellow PGA Tour pro Lee Janzen on the team and they helped the college win the 1985 NCAA Division II Men”s Golf Championship.
5. Started using a long putter to save his back and became the first player to win on the PGA Tour using a long putter when he won the 1991 Doral-Ryder Open. He beat Curtis Strange in a playoff and it was his 1st PGA Tour title.
6. Mediate had six PGA Tour titles during his career. The first and last came just over 19 years apart. His latest was the 2010 Fry.com Open.
Winning his 2nd PGA Tour title at the 1993 Kmart Greater Greensboro Open (Getty Images)
7. His wife is called Jessica and they married in 2014.
8. Finished 600th out of 5,619 players in his first appearance at the 2005 World Series of Poker’s Main Event. He began playing poker in 2004.
9. Mediate has had four PGA Champions Tour wins, including the 2016 Senior PGA Championship.
Competing on the Champions Tour (Getty Images)
10. Over the last few years Mediate has got himself in good shape to compete on the Champions Tour. One particular piece of equipment he uses a lot is the VersaClimber, which engages both the arms and the legs in a climbing motion.
11. Mediate has also acknowledged his struggles with alcohol in the past. On October 23rd, 2017 he decided to give it up for good and he gave an honest interview with the Golf Channel about his struggles.
“I couldn’t tell you, since last October, years before that, a day I went without having a drink,” Mediate said. “I knew at the time that eventually it was going to get me.”
“The year of 2017 was a pretty a-ha moment,” Mediate continued. “In ’17, everything was just so bad. My golf game was just horrible. I felt like crap. It just wasn’t the right thing. I call myself a habitual alcoholic, because it was. And I was lucky, because if it’s dependent, or if it’s chemical, or if it’s hereditary — which I have no alcoholism in my family that I even know of, ever — then I got issues.”
“I was hoping I didn’t need to have it. I didn’t need alcohol. I just wanted it. I enjoyed it, simple as that. [After quitting drinking] I had a small headache for about four hours. That was the end. Done. Since then, I haven’t even sniffed, looked, wanted, or … There have been triggers. Pain. But it never triggered me enough.”
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