Rocco Mediate!

Rocco Mediate

Rocco Anthony Mediate (born December 17, 1962) is an American professional golfer.

Mediate was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He attended Florida Southern College and turned professional in 1985.

Mediate's career has been dogged by back trouble and he started using a long putter early on because of this. 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 lay off due to a ruptured disk, but 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. He worked hard to improve his fitness to minimise his back problems, and in 2003 returned to using a conventional putter. He has featured in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Rankings. 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.

On October 9, 2006, it was announced that Rocco would become an on-course reporter for The Golf Channel's 2007 PGA Tour coverage. He played in the 2005 World Series of Poker's Main Event, as well as the 2001 Blem Classic of Las Vegas. He is also a distant cousin of D.C. United footballer Domenic Mediate. Rocco held the lead for most of the 3rd round of the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines and went into the final round in the second to last pairing.