Rocco Mediate

Took up golf while in high school after years of playing baseball. His game did not come together until he was in college when PGA Tour Champions member Jim Ferree helped get him started. Florida Southern coach Charlie Matlock then became the main influence for Mediate. He started using the long putter to save his back and became the first player to win on the PGA Tour with a long putter in the 1991 Doral-Ryder Open. He missed most of 1994 season with a ruptured disc, which was surgically repaired in July 1994.
In 2008, he came close to becoming the oldest U.S. Open champion at age 45 before losing to Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines in a memorable playoff. Mediate finished regulation at 1-under-par 283 and held the clubhouse lead as Woods and Lee Westwood, both one stroke back, played the par-5 18th hole. Woods made a birdie to force an 18-hole playoff. In the Monday playoff, Mediate made three consecutive back-nine birdies to take a one-stroke lead over Woods to the last hole. Woods made a birdie to tie and force sudden death as both players shot even-par 71s. Woods parred the par-4 seventh hole, the first sudden-death hole, as Mediate made a bogey after driving into a fairway bunker and missing a 20-foot par putt.
His career totals on the PGA Tour are 646 starts, with six wins, 10 runner-ups, and six third-place finishes. He had 64 top 10s and made 412 cuts with earnings of $16.8 million.
2013 Notes: Became the 16th player in history to win his first PGA Tour Champions event when he was a two-stroke winner over Tom Pernice Jr. and Bernhard Langer in the 2013 Allianz Championship. He led after 36 holes by three following a career-best and tournament-record 11-under-par 61. He then held off a final-round charge by Pernice and Langer. He was tied with Pernice heading to No. 17 but took the lead for good when Pernice made a bogey on the second-to-last hole. He added a birdie at No. 18 to finish with a 54-hole total of 17-under-par 199, matching the tournament mark set in 2010 by Langer and John Cook. Coincidentally, his first PGA Tour win came in South Florida at the 1991 Doral-Ryder Open. He added a second title during the latter part of the summer in Canada when he blitzed the field in the inaugural Shaw Charity Classic in Calgary. He played in 23 events and finished with two wins, one 3rd, and seven top 10s. Finished the year 10th on the money list with $1,341,098 in earnings.
2014 Notes: Narrowly missed a berth in the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship, finishing 31st in single-season earnings. He was among the top 30 through the first eight months of the season but slipped outside after the Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach in late September and could never regain a spot. His best finish of the year was 5th at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, the first event of the season. He married Jessica Somers the day after the tournament at Hualalai. He made three starts on the PGA Tour, missing the cut at the Frys.com Open and the Wyndham Championship. He also withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open after one round.
2015 Notes: Was 3rd at the Greater Gwinnett Championship after rounds of 68-67 at TPC Sugarloaf. He was three shots back after 36 holes before heavy rain canceled the final round. Got his season off to an excellent start at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. He was the 18-hole leader and shared the 36-hole lead with eventual winner Miguel Angel Jimenez. Saw his chances slip away in a four-hole stretch Sunday, with bogeys on Nos. 8, 9, and 11, and eventually finished 4th. He was 34th on the money list and 40th in the Schwab rankings.
2016 Notes: Ended a nearly three-year victory drought when he went wire-to-wire to win the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores in Michigan. Tied the tournament record for best opening-round and overall 18-hole score (9-under-par 62), and then shattered records for a best 36-hole score (14-under-par 128) and best 54-hole total (14-under-par 199). His 72-hole score of 19-under-par 265 surpassed the previous mark of 268 by Sam Snead in 1973. He became the first player to go wire-to-wire in the event since Jack Nicklaus in 1991. The win ended a 55-event victory drought on the Champions Tour. He followed his victory in Michigan with a T-6th at the Principal Charity Classic the following week in Iowa. He had a T-6th at the PowerShares QQQ. In 21 starts, he had three top-10s and was 27th on the money list and 23rd on the Schwab Ranking.
2017 Notes: He started his year with a T-8th finish at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. He did not register another top-10 in 17 additional starts, finishing 65th on the money list.
2018 Notes: Played in 23 PGA Tour Champions events with seven top-10 finishes. He got off to a hot start after finishing 23rd at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai and was 6th in his next start at the Boca Raton Championship. The next event was T-10th at the Chubb Classic, T-5th at the Cologuard Classic, and T-6th at Toshiba Classic. He returned to the top-ten train with a T-8th at the Regions Tradition. He was T-5th at the Ally Challenge, shooting 66 in the final round, and T-9th at the Sanford International. He had a 35th-place finish in the Charles Schwab Cup. His four consecutive top-10s in February-March tied the longest streak of his career.
2019 Notes: Played in 24 PGA Tour Champions events with three top-ten finishes. He was 27th in the final Schwab rankings. At the Mitsubishi Electric Classic, he played in Sunday's final group for the first time since the 2016 Invesco QQQ Championship. He carded a final-round 72 and finished T-10th. T-7th with partner Lee Janzen at the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf. Birdied the last two holes and won the Sanford International when Ken Duke double-bogeyed the 18th hole. He started the day three shots off the lead and T-9th, and the win was his first since the 2016 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, a span of 71 starts without a victory.
2020 & 2021 Notes: Played in 31 PGA Tour Champions events with four top-tens and finished 43rd in the Charles Schwab Cup. Carded rounds of 64-66-69 at the 2020 Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National and finished T-5th, eight shots back of winner Phil Mickelson. In 2021 was T-6th at the Principal Charity Classic, three shots back of winner Stephen Ames. Was T-7th at the Bridgestone Senior Players and T-6th at the Ascension Charity Classic, three shots back of the David Toms/Dicky Pride playoff. Finished the season T-41st at the TimberTech Championship.
2022 Notes: Played in 24 PGA Tour Champions events with three top-ten finishes. In the Schwab ranking was 31st and 31st on the money list with earnings of $673,438. Was T-8th at the Hoag Classic and Dominion Energy Charity. Finished 4th at the SAS Championship, nine shots back of winner Fred Couples. In the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship was T-15th.
2023 Notes: Played in 21 PGA Tour Champions events with one top-ten finishes. In the Schwab ranking was 54th and 55th on the money list with earnings of $351,188.
Best finish T-10th at The Galleri Classic. He finished T-44th in his season-ending TimberTech Championship.
2024 Notes: Finished T-8th at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, shooting bookend 67s. Was runner-up at the Chubb Classic, three shots behind champion Stephen Ames. Led by three shots after a first-round 63 before closing with 71 in the weather-shortened 36-hole event.