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.

Rocco Mediate Professional wins (9)

Rocco Mediate PGA Tour wins (5)

1993 KMart Greater Greensboro Open

1999 Phoenix Open

2000 Buick Open

2002 Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic

Rocco Mediate Other wins (4)

2000 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with Notah Begay III and Phil Mickelson)

2002 Franklin Templeton Shootout (with Lee Janzen)

2003 CVS Charity Classic (with Jeff Sluman)

Rocco Mediate Results in major championships

The Masters DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP

U.S. Open CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP

The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP

PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP T31 DNP

Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

The Masters DNP T22 T37 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T27

U.S. Open DNP CUT T44 T25 WD DNP DNP DNP DNP T34

The Open Championship DNP CUT T45 T39 DNP DNP T18 DNP DNP CUT

PGA Championship T69 T16 T40 T68 DNP DNP T36 DNP DNP T49

Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

The Masters T52 T15 T36 T33 CUT DNP T36 DNP

U.S. Open T32 4 T37 CUT DNP T6 CUT DNP

The Open Championship T52 WD T47 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP

PGA Championship WD T66 6 T18 DNP DNP DNP WD