Rocco's roller coaster rides on
by Jeff Babineau, Golfweek.com
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Final round:
- Rosenberg: Norman's legacy grows
- Berlin: Open winners and sinners
- Photos: British Open final round
- Leaderboard: Final Open standings
Third round:
- Tait: Norman 18 holes from history
- Berlin: Norman proves them wrong
- Photos: Windy Moving Day at Birkdale
Second round:
- Rude: Norman, Duval turn back time
- Babineau: Rocco's wild ride continues
- Photos: All the best from Round 2
First round:
Like a 12-year-old child, he doesn't yet want to step off. Why would he?
Here at the British Open, a tournament he did not get into until the 11th hour, Mediate is right in the thick once again. A solid second-round effort that contained only two poorly struck shots in a thick, heavy breeze produced a 3-over 73 before it was time for lunch. By day's end, the whims and winds of seaside golf shuffled him all the way to fifth place.
Mediate, whose career has been interrupted on many occasions by a balky, creaky back, just laughs at the prospects of being here in contention once again. That was the dream when he left the U.S. Open: to get right back there, into the fray, and get a healthy swig of major contention sooner than later. At 45, sooner seems his best option.
Some have had their fill of Birkdale after two rugged days. Mediate can't get enough.
"I love it," he said, standing on 2-over 142 after two days, three shots behind leader K.J. Choi. "How can you not? And I hear it's going to get worse. Lovely."
He laughed. Mediate hasn't shaved in a couple of days, and said he plans to continue his scraggly appearance. The salt and pepper colors of his fledgling beard belie the reality of time: if the four-time PGA Tour winner ever wants to capture a major, he might want to get it done sometime soon. Mediate joked that his new unkempt look is exactly what Birkdale would see if it ever looked in the mirror: tough and rugged.
Then again, one of the men near the top of the leaderboard heading into the weekend is 53 years old; as the axiom goes, the golf ball does not know the age of the person who strikes it. Going toe-to-toe with Tiger in a Monday playoff that stretched to 19 holes at the U.S. Open was something that got the adrenaline jumping, and Mediate would love nothing more than a weekend tussle at Birkdale with the Shark himself, Greg Norman.
"Why not?" he said. "That would be absolutely outstanding. It would make for some good theater. But I have some work to do to get him. We'll see."
Mediate is enjoying a sudden rocket boost in his career thanks to the timely work of two people: instructor Jimmy Ballard, a master of bad backs and the golf swing, and physical therapist Cindi Hilfman, who is a master of the body and has been pivotal in helping him with his ailing back. Any time Mediate feels healthy and gets to a place where par carries great value, like at Birkdale, where winds that have gusted upwards of 25 mph the last two days and could reach gale-force levels on Saturday, he likes his chances. Certainly his mind is in a good, comfortable place.
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Even if looking back at Torrey Pines leaves him a tad dizzy.
"I still don't even know what the hell happened," he said. "I haven't sat down and thought about it yet. I can't believe that that was me who was the other guy. I really can't believe it. Hard to believe. It was the coolest moment. I'd like to have another one of those soon."
Mediate's recent run — sparked by a tie for sixth at Memorial, where he garnered a sponsor exemption — has moved him closer to one of his biggest season goals: Making his first Ryder Cup team. He and U.S. Open captain Paul Azinger are old, old friends — they planned to dine together Friday night in Southport — and don't think Mediate's old pal hasn't been watching closely.
"I know if his body had not been such a painful body, if it wouldn't have been hurting him, I think Rocco would have had a double-digit win career," Azinger said Friday afternoon at Birkdale before climbing into the tower at 18 for the TNT telecast. "He's not scared of anything. He has the perfect attitude that can handle extreme conditions, and he hits the ball on the sweet spot all the time. I play with him a lot, and he always hits the ball solidly.
"He's one guy who, if he doesn't make the team, I would consider picking."
Mediate made a lot of great swings on Friday, and two poor ones. One swing nearly cost him quite dearly. He tried hitting 3-wood into the difficult par-4 11th hole and sprayed his ball wildly to the right, into a tree, the ball dropping down into a thicket, prompting a wild search. He'd have to declare an unplayable lie and accept penalty of a stroke, but the simple fact the ball was even found Mediate considered "ridiculous."
"Very fortunate," he said.
He dropped, actually had a play, and ended up making a double-bogey 6, which didn't kill him. After making bogey to slip to 4 over for the round at 17, he answered by ripping an 8-iron to a foot at the closing hole. The gallery that filled the huge grandstands at 18, the one Mediate says cheers deeper than any other in golf, went bonkers for a man who has gained the admiration of many for his stand-up showing at the U.S. Open.
Woods, the conqueror, left Mediate a warm, lifting voicemail at the recent AT&T National. Even Norman, a part-time player who has many interests outside the game, made sure to approach Mediate on the putting green earlier this week to congratulate him on what he'd done.
"Rocco," he said, "the best thing to happen to the game of golf was what you did at the U.S. Open."
Wow. Pretty heady stuff. Mediate gets a chuckle when he reminds people that he actually didn't win the U.S. Open, that someone else did.
"Maybe here I can do one better," he said.
As he often says, why not? If nothing else, it should make for another fun ride.
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