Rocco pleased with his Rocky-like performance
And Rocco Mediate certainly didn't. In fact, the part of his anatomy that was most evident Monday during his 18-hole playoff with Tiger Woods to decide the 108th U.S. Open was his heart.
He may not have won the match -- Woods closed him out on the first hole of sudden death and the 91st the two had played at Torrey Pines this week -- but Mediate walked away with legions of fans and proved something very important to himself.
"I can handle this heat," he said firmly. "I've won golf tournaments, but not this stuff. I can handle this heat. And especially against him with everybody in the world all looking in and everything everyone is expecting me to get my ass handed to me and I didn't.
"And I almost got it done. I almost got it done."
The 45-year-old PGA TOUR veteran refused to give up Monday, even after he fell behind by three strokes when he made bogey at the 10th hole. And he forced the game's No. 1 player to birdie No. 18 for the second time in two days to extend the match.
"I threw everything I had, the kitchen sink, everything right at him," Mediate said, shaking his head. "I was three down through 10. It could have been over pretty quick."
Woods couldn't get up and down from the greenside bunker at the 11th hole, though, and Mediate seized his opportunity. In a remarkable stretch against the man bidding to capture his 14th major championship, Mediate won four of the next five holes.
The clock struck midnight for Cinderfella, though, when he failed to birdie the 18th hole for the second straight day. Woods evened the match with his two-putt birdie there and completed his third career Grand Slam with a par on the 91st hole.
Still, Mediate couldn't be too disappointed.
"I got what I wanted," Mediate said. "I had a chance to beat the best player in the world. I think I had him a little scared. (After the match was over), he said 'good fight' to me."
Indeed. What started out as the ultimate mismatch -- Mediate had gone 138 starts without a win while Woods had 41 victories in his -- turned into golf's version of one of those ultimate fighting matches that have taken over reality TV.
"It's like a prize fight, no one even expected me to be that long or survive and he had to birdie the last again to tie me," Mediate said. "Again. And he did it. It's amazing."
Woods called it an "unbelievable gutsy performance." He said Mediate, the fast-talking, self-deprecating, always-smiling man from Pennsylvania, reminds him of Lee Trevino in the way he can enjoy the competition.
"Rocco ... was loose all day," Woods said. "Just talking and enjoying it and smiling and having a great time with it. But when it comes down to it, when it's time to hit the shot, he goes into his own little world. People don't realize that.
"After he does hit the shot he comes out and goes, blah, blah, blah, having a good time. But right before each shot he gets into his own little zone. And it's pretty cool to see."
The fans embraced the underdog, too, chanting "Let's go, Roc-co" as he played the back nine with the lead. He played the part of Everyman to the hilt, and that's one of the reasons why Jay Leno wants Mediate to be a guest on the Tonight Show on Tuesday.
At the start of the 2007 season, Mediate was wearing headphones and carrying a microphone, working as an on-course reporter for GOLF CHANNEL. Once he got the clubs working again, he went on to win more than $1 million.
He wasn't able to qualify for the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh, not far from Mediate's hometown in Greensburg, though. After his second-place finish Monday, though, he's headed to Bethpage Black next year. The Masters, too.
Mediate could be eligible for other elite events, too, after vaulting 111 spots to 47th in the Official World Golf Ranking with his performance at Torrey Pines. He also moved from 127th to 48th in the FedExCup race. Before he ponders the possibilities, though, he wants to savor his gritty performance.
"I didn't want it to be a walk in the park," Mediate said. "It could have been. I'm a little bit tired today, I'm a little old. He's got me by 14 years. He's got me by a thousand yards off the tee. And I kept hanging in there, hanging in there, hanging in there."
Ever the gentleman, Mediate said it was an "honor" to play with Woods. He was disappointed when the two weren't paired together on Sunday, but once he got his wish, Mediate responded with what may have been the best golf of his career.
"Truthfully, yeah, I'm disappointed a little that I didn't beat him," he said. "Just disappointed. Not upset. But I'm obviously a little beat up right now.
"But the only thing I take from this is I gave him the best that I had and it wasn't quite good enough, but it almost was. ... Obviously I know he wanted to win, but I think he enjoyed the crap out of this competition, and I certainly did.
"And I know that I still can do this stuff and I want to try that again sometime, somewhere."
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