Fan favorite Mediate heads into Sunday with confidence and charisma
While he talked, Rocco Mediate squeezed his way into the crowd and thrust his right arm in the air, frantically waving like a first-grader who needs the teacher's OK to head to the restroom before it is too late.
"Mr. Woods. Mr. Woods," Mediate yelled, grinning mischievously as he got the attention of the game's No. 1 player and then pausing for emphasis. "Are you COMPLETELY out of your mind?"
No answer was necessary, of course. The miracle shots Mediate, playing behind Woods in the final group of the third round of the U.S. Open, had just witnessed spoke volumes.
Woods stepped off the podium on that gimpy knee of his and reached above several heads to high-five Mediate. And when the affable man from Pennsylvania took his turn in front of the microphone, he was still talking about Woods.
The 13-time major champion will start Sunday's final round at 3 under with a one-stroke lead over Lee Westwood and two ahead of Mediate, who had been in control on Saturday until a double bogey on the 15th hole.
"The stuff he does, it's unreal," said Mediate, who shot a third-round 72. "It was an amazing day. It's one of the best days I've ever had on a golf course like this. Obviously, I would have loved to finish 4 or 5 under, but so would everybody else. Play is hard."
Prior to the start of this 108th national championship, the 45-year-old Mediate had told some friends that he wanted to be playing with Woods in the final group on the final day. He came close, but he will tee off instead in the penultimate pairing with Geoff Ogilvy.
The important thing is that Mediate has a chance to do the unthinkable. So what if Woods is 13-for-13 when he owns the 54-hole lead in a major and 43 of 46 overall while Mediate has just three top-10 finishes in 43 major starts?
"It's just such a great arena, this golf tournament, and the fans are unbelievable this week," Mediate said. "Something is going on. Maybe because he was in front of us, it was just exciting all day. It was just cool to be part of that.
"It doesn't really change the way you're trying to do anything. I was just trying to hit fairways and greens. I can't worry at all about what he's up to or anybody else is up to. And it's just matter of getting it in like that. Just fairways and greens, because I have to hit them. I can't play out of that (rough) at all.
"So it's just doesn't really affect you. It's like you want to be there, you want to get right up there with him and stay there and play with him every day out there. That's what you want to do because then you know you're playing really great."
And make no mistake about it. Mediate, who has made 11 birdies, eight bogeys and that one double that robbed him of the chance to play with Woods, has played extremely well this week. Not only that, he has developed a following that would rival the game's No. 1.
Mediate thinks the fans see themselves in him. "Just a normal, everyday person who's a bit on the crazy side," he says. He smiles and carries on a running conversation with the gallery, which has responded in kind, frequently yelling "Roc-co, Roc-co."
"I had them laughing their butts off on 18 because as Tiger was standing there hitting the second shot, I said, everybody listen, because after he hits it it's going to go crazy," Mediate recalled. "And ... of course they went crazy and the same with the putt.
"You almost want to tell them, just don't bother, because you know it's going to go in, it's just what he does. I just love it. I love it. I'm fortunate to do what I do and especially in a theater like this, so I'm going to enjoy the heck out of it."
Mediate said he was nervous Saturday as he teed off in the final group, one stroke behind Stuart Appleby, whom he promptly overtook with a 12-footer for birdie on the second hole. But it was a good nervous, the kind that fuels the fire and ignites the soul.
"I knew that, first of all, the world is watching, which is really cool," Mediate said. "I love that. You've just got to keep doing what you're doing, but it's hard to do. I love that feeling. I'll feel the same way tomorrow ... afternoon."
Mediate will need to play the same way, too. He can't afford to play around in the rough like he did off the 15th fairway and beside that green. His third shot sailed over the slick putting surface and into the bunker, then he blasted out and two-putted for the double.
A bogey on the next hole when he couldn't get up-and-down from a greenside bunker dropped Mediate back to even par. Instead of surrendering, though, he rallied, sinking an 18-footer after a well-played 7-iron to get back into red numbers.
"I know what I liked, I hit my ball really, really good most of the day," Mediate said. "It was in front of me. I missed a couple of shots but I really liked the way I reacted. When I had the lead -- I was nervous, very nervous, but very comfortable. I played with the lead a lot yesterday, too.
"And today ... (I) made one little mistake, and I got ripped. That's what the Open does to you. I loved today, I couldn't be happier."
Should Mediate overtake Woods and win the U.S. Open in this, his 13th appearance, he would become the oldest champion at 45 years, 5 months and 30 days -- overtaking Hale Irwin, who won at Medinah in 1990 at the age of 45 years and 15 days. Mediate tied for fourth at Southern Hills in 2001 and shared sixth at Pinehurst in 2005.
"It's our National Open, and I just, I love the whole way it's done," he said. "I love the tightening down of the golf course every day and how difficult it can be, and it's just, I love that par means something. What's Tiger at 3-under? Par means something. And I'm what? I played my butt off this week, and I'm 1-under par."
Mediate is 138 events and several back injuries removed from his last victory, the 2002 Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic. He tied for sixth at the Memorial two weeks ago, though, and Muirfield Village was set up as closely to an Open as could be.
"It tells me that I still have what it takes to compete at a pretty high level, I guess you'd say, one of the highest levels so far," said Mediate, a five-time winner on the PGA TOUR.
"I'm ecstatic. That's the best I've played in that type of situation consistently for -- maybe ever, maybe ever, in a major event. ... And like I said, tomorrow, you never know. You might go out and shoot 66 tomorrow. I'd like to have a shot at it and see what happens."
MAJORSCHAMPIONSHIPS.COM is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network