June 16, 2008
SAN DIEGO - Rocco Mediate is enjoying this dream and he doesn't really want to wake up anytime soon, which is why he doesn't mind playing 18 extra holes today against the world's best player for the 108th U.S. Open championship.
"I've never had more fun and more insanity," Mediate said late yesterday. "It's just amazing."
Most might have some trepidation and maybe a little fear about playing Tiger Woods one-on-one to decide a major championship. But the man with the bad back and the broad smile doesn't mind being the David versus Goliath in this latest golf drama.
Mediate, who came to Torrey Pines ranked 158th in the world, saw his chance to win his first major postponed when Woods drained a 12-foot putt for birdie on the 72nd hole yesterday to tie him at 1-under-par for the tournament. Bringing everyone back for more fun and insanity today.
Though victory would have been sweet, you get the feeling Mediate is sincere about relishing the chance to match skills with Woods, whose round of 2-over-par 73 yesterday was hardly his best effort. But one clutch putt offers him a chance to capture his 14th major championship.
For Mediate, who has five career PGA Tour wins and is 2-0 in playoffs, it's a chance to fulfill a yearning to play a high-stakes match with the game's best.
"Sometimes you've got to be careful what you wish for I guess," Mediate said. "I can't wait to go see what I've got against the man. It's heads up and we'll see how it goes. It will be exciting. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of heat on me because I know that I'm playing the best player in the world.
"I'll be nervous as a cat like I always am when I play," he said. "And once I get to the first tee I'll try to hit the fairway and go on."
The U.S. Open championship is at stake, but Mediate has nothing to lose. He's 45 years old and lucky to still be playing golf after dealing with a bad back since the early '90s.
A year ago, he was playing cards and drinking Scotch with his friends at his golf club in Greensburg, Pa., having failed to qualify for the U.S. Open at Oakmont. What Torrey Pines is to Phil Mickelson, Oakmont is to Mediate. He laughed while playing cards with his buddies that day, but he would have rather been playing Oakmont.
"I remember telling a few people that I'll never go back to one of these qualifiers. I'm too old," Mediate recalled.
It was a vow he's glad he didn't keep. He qualified this year and now he's in a playoff with Woods.
"To go against the best player in the world and have a chance to beat him, there's nothing else you can ask for, period," he said. "Of course, I'm going to try to win. He wants to kill me. I want to kill him. That's just how it is. But it's going to be a very entertaining day."
You get the feeling Mediate, who shot consistent rounds of 69-71-72-71 has gotten everything out of his game, while Woods (72-68-70-73) left plenty in the bag yesterday. His 2-over-par 73 was absent of the fireworks Woods created on Friday and Saturday. If Woods dodged a bullet yesterday, Mediate may have missed his opportunity.
Mediate sometimes sounds as if he questions how much he has left.
"I'll pick it all up and put the bag together I hope," he said. "We'll see."
He might be tired. He might be the underdog. But Mediate will show up for the noon Eastern tee-time pitting the man with the bad back against the man with the bad knee for 18 more holes of fun and insanity.
