Tag: rocco mediate

Rocco Mediate, who still gets asked about 2008 U.S. Open, says ‘every major should be an 18-hole playoff’

The famous showdown against Tiger Woods 16 years ago remains a topic of conversation.

PHOENIX — The over-under on the number of questions that Rocco Mediate gets asked in any media scrum before the 2008 U.S. Open comes up is probably four.

Yes, 16 years later and the showdown against Tiger Woods remains a topic of conversation. Good thing Mediate still likes to entertain the subject.

At Phoenix Country Club during a media day on Monday to preview the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Mediate, 61, was asked if that Open experience is as memorable as his 12 wins (six on PGA Tour, six on PGA Tour Champions). He didn’t hesitate.

“Oh, gosh yea. It is,” he said before adding, “the most memorable win was the Fry’s two years after. If the Open was the last thing, OK, it was awesome.

“But I won again after that and that really made me happy, you know, that I won another tournament, which was cool. But no, the Open, I have no … you know if I had three-putted from three feet to lose, it probably wouldn’t be OK to talk about it but that didn’t happen, so. When you lose something and get beat, you get beat. There’s nothing else you can really say. It was awful fun trying.

“That was the most fun I’ve ever had playing golf. For sure. Bar none. I wish I could do it again.”

Mediate and Woods ended up in an 18-hole playoff that Sunday at Torrey Pines and even that wasn’t enough to decide things. Mediate eventually succumed to Woods on the first playoff hole of sudden death.

But as soon as Mediate said “I wish I could do it again,” he quickly mentioned how there are no more 18-hole playoffs at the U.S. Open. In 2018, the USGA switched to a two-hole aggregate format, followed by sudden death.

Mediate says that’s just wrong.

2008 U.S. Open
The 2008 U.S. Open featured a memorable playoff between Rocco Mediate and Tiger Woods.

“The 18 hole playoffs are over. Which is ridiculous. Every major should be an 18-hole playoff. And if you tie, it should be 18 more. It’s a major. It’s not a normal event.”

Are you serious about that, he was asked?

“100 percent serious. 100 percent serious. ‘Oh but TV’. I don’t care about TV. I want the trophy,” he said. “Sudden death at Augusta National? What? The Masters, we’re just going to have one hole? TV? Not concerned.”

Mediate is 20th in the Schwab Cup standings, plenty good enough to make the 36-man field at the 2024 season finale.

Rocco Mediate tops Bob Estes in playoff at 2024 Constellation Furyk & Friends for first victory since 2019

“I am onto something and I am staying with it and I’m trusting it out there.”

It’s been 99 starts since Rocco Mediate’s last win on the PGA Tour Champions.

That drought is now over.

Mediate parred the par-4 18th hole on the second playoff hole while Bob Estes bogeyed it win the 2024 Constellation Furyk & Friends, Mediate’s first victory on the senior circuit since 2019.

Mediate, 61, has won a combination of 10 PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions titles in his 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and now his 60s.

Greg Chalmers came in solo third. Retief Goosen, whose 5-under 67 tied for low round of the day, finished fourth alongside five others.

Series points leader Ernie Els tied for 34th.

The PGA Tour Champions heads to the SAS Championship next week, which is the regular-season finale before the three-event Charles Schwab Cup playoffs.

New golf show ‘Rolling the Rock with Alice Cooper and Rocco Mediate’ coming to SiriusXM

The duo say it’ll be a “unique conversation at the junction of entertainment and golf.”

Rock legend Alice Cooper and six-time PGA Tour winner Rocco Mediate have announced a new golf show on SiriusXM. Right out of the box, it has a pretty great name: “Rolling the Rock with Alice Cooper and Rocco Mediate.”

The duo plan to center their content around “a unique conversation at the junction of entertainment and golf.” The show starts July 2 exclusively on the SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio channel.

Mediate is best known for his Torrey Pines playoff duel against Tiger Woods at the 2008 U.S. Open.

Cooper took up golf close to 50 years ago on his road to alcohol addition recovery. He frequently boasts about playing six times a week, even during his rock tours. He even gave his 2007 autobiography the title “Alice Cooper, Golf Monster.”

The two are frequent partners on the golf course, as well.

Rocco Mediate
Rocco Mediate speaks during his SiriusXM PGA Tour radio show.

“Rocco asked me to do this show with him, talking about rock and golf, and it could not be a more perfect fit,” said Cooper in a statement released by SiriusXM. “We’ve known each other a long time. We’ve played in many tournaments together. He’s a frustrated rocker and I’m a frustrated golfer. It’s a match made on the fairway to heaven. It’s an anything-goes show that is all improv. We have no idea what we’re going to talk about until we start talking. We’re quite literally just ‘rolling the rock.'”

In addition to this new show, Mediate has his own show called “The Rocco Hour” on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio.

Cooper hosts a “Nights with Alice Cooper” on Phoenix rock station KDKB.

Harrison Frazar wins first PGA Tour Champions event; Rocco Mediate plays his way into next round

The 2023 Dominion Energy Charity Classic produced a first-time winner on the PGA Tour Champions.

The sudden-death playoff at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic on Sunday produced a first-time winner on the PGA Tour Champions. The tournament also saw four golfers play their way into the next round.

Richard Green and Harrison Frazar finished tied at 11 under after 54 holes at the Country Club of Virginia in the first of three Charles Schwab Cup playoff events to force a playoff.

Green has three professional wins on the DP World Tour. Frazar’s lone win came in 2011 in the Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational, an event that featured golfers from the PGA Tour, LPGA, Champions and the then-Nationwide Tour.

A left-hander from Australia, Green shot rounds of 67-69-69 and reached the clubhouse first. He then played the waiting game. Frazar went 65-71-69, missing an eagle try on the par-5 18th that would’ve won it outright. He made the ensuing birdie putt from about three feet to force the extra golf.

In the playoff, Frazar drained an 10-footer for birdie on the 18th hole, pumping his fist in celebration.

“It’s been a long time, long time coming,” an emotional Frazar said after his victory. “You think your career’s over and, you know, through faith and through friends and through people who believe in you, you know, you decide to pick it up again because you feel like there’s a void. And the void is this: The void is competing, the void is missing that win. It’s the nerves, it’s all the stuff. It’s scary, but it’s fun. You can never replace it. So yeah, it’s emotional. You just don’t know if you’re ever going to get there again, and when you do, it feels good.”

Frazar was 33rd and jumped to 13th in the points race among the 72 who made the postseason. Green was 24th and improved 10 spots to 14th. Both golfers, however, are too far back to win the season-long title. Steve Stricker, who skipped the Dominion, has a commanding lead in the points, so much so that only five others have a mathematical chance at catching him for the season title: Steven Alker, Bernhard Langer, Stephen Ames, David Toms and Ernie Els.

Els had the best finish Sunday among that group, tying for seventh. Ames tied for 20th, Alker and Langer tied for 25th and Toms tied for 35th.

Who’s in, who’s out?

Only the top 54 advance to the TimberTech Championship in two weeks.

Shane Bertsch (56 to 50), John Huston (55 to 52), Rocco Mediate (59 to 53) and Charli Wi (57 to 54) played their win in but the season is now over for Matt Gogel (51 to 55), David Branshaw (52 to 57), Woody Austin (54 to 58),  Kirk Triplett (53 to 59).

Other notables not advancing: Fred Couples, who was 63rd in the points and chose to skip the Dominion, slipped to 64th; David Duval, who rallied in the regular-season finale to get the 71st spot, climbed to No. 66 but it wasn’t enough to advance; Jim Furyk, who started the week in the 72nd and final position, shot a first-round 76 before withdrawing due to injury.

What’s next?

There’s a week off on the circuit before the 54-hole TimberTech Championship, Nov. 3-5, at the Old Course at Broken Sound Club in Boca Raton, Florida.

From there, the top 36 move on to the 72-hole, no-cut, season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Nov. 9-12, at Phoenix Country Club.

Ernie Els, Boo Weekley, other pros swing like Jim Furyk, explain why it works

Jim Furyk rode his unique swing to 17 PGA Tour wins and $71 million in career earnings.

He’s long had one of the more unusual swings in pro golf.

But players are rare to knock it because Jim Furyk made his unique approach to ballstriking work, his 17 PGA Tour wins and $71 million in career earnings are all the evidence you need.

This week, the three-time PGA Tour Champions winner is hosting his Furyk & Friends event on the senior circuit in Jacksonville, Florida. In advance of the event, some of his fellow pros talked about his swing, tried their best to recreate it and ultimately they all had nothing but praise for him.

“Just because it didn’t look like everything else doesn’t mean it doesn’t work,” said Rocco Mediate, who stressed Furyk was consistently getting the club in the right spot at impact.

The smooth-hitting Ernie Els tried to mimic Furyk’s signature move but the Big Easy’s swing is so buttery, he couldn’t quite contort himself enough to pull it off.

The funniest explanation, though, came through the thick Southern drawl of Boo Weekley.

83rd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship: Fields Ranch yields plenty of red numbers in debut

Padraig Harrington carded a bogey-free 8-under 64 to pace the field.

FRISCO, Texas — The PGA of America welcomed the golf world into its new home as Fields Ranch East Course at PGA Frisco plays host to the 83rd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.

While the state-of-the-art office space that serves as the new home of the PGA of America has been occupied since 2022, the Senior PGA serves as the christening of the Fields Ranch East course, a Gil Hanse design that has impressed plenty of pros as they have tried to meander their way through his strategic bunkering and subtle but taxing green complexes.

While Fields Ranch isn’t an easy test, two aces were recorded in the first-ever tournament round at the course.

Yet another PGA Professional made history in Thursday’s opening round as Dave McNabb lays claim to the first hole-in-one at Fields Ranch. Similar to Michael Block’s iconic shot at Oak Hill, McNabb never saw it go in the hole.

“I saw one bounce and I sort of picked my tee up,” McNabb told pool reporters. “My caddie, Donny (Wessner), says, ‘It went in!’ Good stuff.”

While McNabb’s ace on the 165-yard 8th will forever be known as the first in course history, former Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin made an ace of his own on No. 4.

Out of his 15 career aces, the one at Fields Ranch ranks up there with the 1 he had at No. 16 in the 1992 Masters. Coincidentally, Pavin’s playing partner, Kenny Perry, was witness to both.

“Kenny is my good luck charm apparently,” Pavin chuckled.

Aside from the two aces, plenty of red numbers dot the leaderboard.

As a second shot golf course, Fields Ranch plays into the hands of ball strikers. As one of the best ball strikers on the PGA Tour Champions, Padraig Harrington carded a bogey-free 8-under 64 to pace the field.

A key part to scoring at Fields Ranch? The wind.

“Because every hole nearly has a hazard down one side of it, the wind direct has a big effect on this course, it really, really does,” Harrington said.

“In some ways the reason it was an easy 64 is because when you’re playing with somebody like Rocco there’s always a bit of chat and there’s always a bit of fun going on, so you’re quite relaxed. And that really does make a difference to how you feel about your shots and things like that. So it’s something as professionals we always need to keep reminding ourselves.”

Rocco Mediate shared the same sentiment.

“Going around here in the pro-am you’re not seeing low, you don’t see ’em because then — but then when the things change, the golf course is perfect. Wind wasn’t that bad today. I don’t think it’s going to be that bad. You give these guys some different irons into some of these greens they’re going to tear the grass off it. That’s how it’s always been.”

With wind typically a factor this time of year in North Texas, Fields Ranch offers a fair test whether the wind is ripping or not. Luckily for the players this week, the winds should stay at or around 10 miles per hour for the rest of the tournament.

With the wind remaining calm, we’ll get a preview of just how low players can go at the home of the PGA of America. With 25 more championships scheduled through 2034, it will be interesting to see the pace set this week.

Fields Ranch has allowed players to take advantage of well executed shots but has also gotten the better of players who weren’t committed to every single shot. PGA Professional, Bob Sowards, was one of a handful of players thrown off of his game plan.

“Oh, it was very frustrating,” Sowards told reporters following his first round 1-under 71. 

Three under at the turn, Sowards lost all progress with a double bogey-bogey start on the back nine.

“I got pretty angry out there. I told KB, I got to be the dumbest guy on this whole property. Because if you’re going to make a game plan you might as well follow it. I chose not to and paid the price. So, oh, well. At least I still shot under par and gives me a chance going forward.”

Through round one, over 30 players are in red figures with over a dozen more at even par. Ideal weather and fast and firm playing conditions could result in one of the lowest scoring senior majors in recent history.

Defending champion Steven Alker shot a 2-under 70 and is tied for 18th after 18 holes.

Photos: Bridgestone Senior Players Championship at Firestone CC

Players appear to be enjoying themselves at the fourth and penultimate senior major of the season. 

Steve Stricker held the trophy over his head at the 2021 Bridgestone Senior Players Championship and is one of the 80 in the field for the 2022 event at Firestone Country Club.

Stricker is defending his championship in the last Senior Players Championship with Bridgestone as the main sponsor. The 2023 tournament will be sponsored by Kaulig Companies.

Stricker led wire-to-wire in winning the 2021 tournament and endured a life-threatening illness in the months that followed.

Who will win the final Bridgestone Senior Players Championship? It’s up for grabs, but players appear to be enjoying themselves at the fourth and penultimate senior major of the season.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

‘Just go play:’ Rocco Mediate’s wife helps him conquer physical failures

Rocco Mediate listens to wife’s advice to succeed in Bridgestone Senior Players Championship at Firestone Country Club.

Rocco Mediate is in search of the perfect swing on each shot.

Every golfer is.

Mediate has had his share through the years on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour, but in recent years he has experienced what he calls “physical failures in the golf swing.”

Recent conversations with his wife have helped Mediate, 59, overcome a few shortcomings and increase his confidence.

“I’m getting a little better,” Mediate said Thursday after carding a 2-under-par 68 in the first round of the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship on the South Course at Firestone Country Club.

“I had some issues, I call them physical failures in the golf swing. I had a few things I messed with. But, you know, actually Jess, my wife’s kind of like, you know, you’ve been doing this for now 37 years now on tour, maybe you want to trust your muscle memory? Do you always have to keep screwing around with stuff?

Senior Players Championship
Rocco Mediate reads the green on the 5th hole during the first round of the Bridgestone Senior Players Tournament at Firestone Country Club on Thursday. (Jeff Lange/Akron Beacon Journal)

“And it’s true, coming from someone who doesn’t play, she doesn’t play, she just watches. She’s like just go play. And I think that’s what I’m trying to do more. My attitude was like this is terrible, how am I going to get around with this? I think all of us go through it and it’s not really that bad. It’s just a matter of trusting — I call it trusting your shape. My shape does this. If I can’t trust it, no matter what’s over there, I’ve got issues. I’ve been trusting it more.”

Mediate finished Thursday’s first round four shots behind first-round leader Alex Cejka, who shot a 6-under-par 64 with six birdies.

Cejka started on No. 10 and made a birdie on Nos. 10, 12, 15 and 16 on the back nine. He then dropped in birdie putts on Nos. 7 and 9 on the front nine. 

David Toms posted a 66 to sit in second place, and Jerry Kelly and Ernie Els are tied for third at 3-under-par.

Mediate’s 68 tied him with Miguel Angel Jiménez, Tim Petrovic, Steven Alker, Shane Bertsch, Bob Estes, Cameron Beckman and Tom Gillis for fifth at 2-under-par.

“I had a reasonable Open, the week before I played OK in Madison and this was a really clean — just a couple loose ones, but we’re human, unfortunately,” Mediate said. “I don’t know where I got the idea that we never miss because I must have been thinking — I must have had a dream that I was someone else because we always miss. It’s a matter of fixing your — you know, making up for that short game. Jerry Kelly, he never misses, he never misses.”

Senior Players Championship
Rocco Mediate plays out of the bunker on the 6th hole during first round of the Bridgestone Senior Players Tournament at Firestone Country Club on Thursday. (Jeff Lange/Akron Beacon Journal)

Mediate said it is important to not overthink and overanalyze.

“Pete Bender’s one of the best of all time [caddies],” Mediate said. “He goes, ‘The only time you ever play crappy is when you think too much. No kidding.’ And he’s right, he’s right. It’s like it cuts through the crap. It’s like you’re doing this because you’re doing that. So my swing key always used to be gather and go, gather and go and that’s all I thought about today. Most of them came off where I was looking.

“You know, I didn’t think of any physical thing, just get in behind it and go, that’s it. So it worked most of the day. Hit a few bad ones. But Mr. Short Game, that’s why we do all that crap that makes up for it. It’s just Golf 101, I guess. But around here, it’s a good one. It’s just relentless. We were talking about it, it just doesn’t stop. There’s no like walk in the park if you miss a shot. It’s a nightmare if you miss in certain spots, but it is a great place. It’s cool that we’re here.”

Mediate finished tied for seventh last year at Firestone with a 4-over 284 that earned him $96,000.

“I’ve loved this course since I [first] played it,” Mediate said. “I think my first NEC was ’91 and I had a couple of 1-under rounds maybe and it was just so hard, and it still is.

“This year the rough’s not up like it was and I hit it in most of the fairways. Missed a couple, which [was] much easier to play from the short stuff. Always tell people, you know what, fairway mowers are really, really expensive and make the fairways perfect. Rough mowers are cheap, they don’t need good mowers to mow the rough. This is another one of those courses where it actually rewards you for hitting in the fairway. I think most of us love that, I know I do.

“And if you miss, too bad, deal with it. I caught a horrible two lies on 16, but it’s rough. You know, I’m like, God, I wish this was a foot more to the right. I had a hard pick. It was hard. That’s the game. We have to deal with it. I love courses like this. And like I said, I wish we played twice a month like this. Not every day because then we would all go completely bonkers, but I love the hard — and I’ve always loved Firestone, it’s hard not to like it.”

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Beaven on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

How a ride in a Cadillac on an open Michigan highway opened Rocco Mediate’s eyes to playing pro

“I never thought I’d be out here 37 years. I never learned more about playing golf than I did at the Western.”

BENTON HARBOR, Michigan — Rocco Mediate still remembers fondly the drive in his father Tony’s Cadillac down Pokagon Highway — a stretch in northwest Michigan near the Indiana border — away from Hampshire Country Club as if it was yesterday.

Nearly 39 years ago – Aug. 1, 1983, to be exact – then 20-year-old Rocco and his dad, a barber in Greensburg, Pa., were trying to get to Point O’Woods Golf & Country Club where Rocco, who had shot 74 in the morning at Hampshire, could present his invitation card for a late-afternoon practice round before the 81st Western Amateur golf championship.

Pokagon Highway, a two-lane country road, went past pig farms immediately across the street from Hampshire, and the Mediates eventually made their way to M-140 which took them north to Territorial Road where they went west through the little village of Millburg to Roslin Road and Point O’Woods, designed by the renowned late golf architect Robert Trent Jones Sr.

Mediate, who played college golf at Florida Southern, had a tight grip on the invitation card that day, and his dad’s Cadillac couldn’t get them to the Point quick enough.

“The ride was unreal,” Mediate said Monday afternoon at the Jack Nicklaus-design, Harbor Shores, where he, the 2016 champion, and 155 other senior professionals will tee off Thursday in the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.

The 6-foot-1 Mediate made the 36-hole cut, assuring himself a spot in the 1984 Western Amateur during which he shot 279 for three days of stroke play to qualify for the Sweet Sixteen and match play. Mediate then knocked off Niles 31-year-old Doug Fischesser, a former U.S. Amateur runner-up, 1 up in Saturday’s first round and stroke-play medalist Scott Verplank (270) on the 19th hole in the afternoon quarterfinals. On Sunday, Mediate beat Fred Wadsworth 1 up in the morning semifinals to set up an afternoon championship showdown with North Carolina Tar Heel John Inman.

The two golfers, dressed in plus fours (knickers), played an entertaining match before more than 6,000 Michiana golf fans (“a zillion fans,” he remembers) before Inman prevailed 3-and-2. Mediate, with oodles of confidence, returned to Florida Southern where he and teammate Lee Janzen, later a two-time U.S. Open champion, led the school to the NCAA Division II championship before Mediate turned pro and earned his card.

“Playing in the Western Amateur gave me hope of possibly becoming a professional,” Mediate said. “I never thought I’d be out here 37 years. I never learned more about playing tournament golf than I did at the Western.”

The popular Mediate has earned more than $22.5 million dollars as a professional and won six events on the regular Tour – the first in 1991 at Doral and the last the Frys.com Open in 2010 – before joining in 2013 the 50-and-older crowd, the PGA Tour Champions on which he has won four times, including the 2016 Senior PGA at Harbor Shores where he opened with a nine-under 62 and led from start to finish for a 19-under 265 total which was three strokes ahead of his good friend, Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie.

“It (the victory) was unexpected probably from everybody including myself,” Mediate chuckled. “It meant a lot before it is a major championship, and it felt like one. I had the lead pretty much every day, and I’m playing with Colin, who is so good and you know he’s coming at you.

“And then there were a lot of runs on Sunday,” Mediate continued. “Bernhard (Langer) made a run, everyone made a run, and I was hanging in there and made a few good putts and hit a bunch of good shots.”

Mediate likes the Nicklaus design and is surprised that his 19-under score was so low (it was matched two years later by Paul Broadhurst when the Senior PGA returned).

“This golf course is not easy,” Mediate said. “If you put it in the right spots, you can shoot scores here. This is a very quadrant, second-shot golf course. If you’re in the wrong place, ooh, boy. My short game that week was ridiculous, and I putted great. Holing that bunker shot at (the par-3) 17 iced it for me. It put me up three shots. I tried to hit it into the water (at 18), but I put it in the bunker (and won).”

The victory is easily the biggest moment of Mediate’s professional career, which has survived severe back injuries that caused him to use a long putter early (he won Doral in 1991 with one) before surgery finally allowed Mediate to putt conventionally. The highlight of Mediate’s PGA Tour career may not have been any of his victories – he battled Tiger Woods for the 2008 U.S. Open championship into a playoff that ended with Woods winning on the 19th hole in sudden death at Torrey Pines, one of the courses Woods played as a youngster.

But Rocco Mediate will tell you that his career really started almost four decades ago after he qualified at Hampshire and he and his father took a long and winding road to Point O’Woods for his first Western Amateur.

“I remember driving through Niles, all the signs,” he said. “I remember going to the Point a few years ago. It’s still awesome.”

As is Rocco Mediate.

82nd KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship

When: Thursday, May 26 through Sunday, May 29 (practice round Wednesday, May 25)

Where: Harbor Shores Golf Club, Benton Harbor (Par 71, 6,734 yards designed by Jack Nicklaus)

Defending champion: Alex Cejka, Germany

Past champions at Harbor Shores: Roger Chapman, 2012; Colin Montgomerie, 2014; Rocco Mediate, 2016; Paul Broadhurst, 2018

Information and tickets: srpgachampionship.com

TV: Golf Channel, Thursday and Friday; NBC Sports, Saturday; Golf Channel and NBC Sports Sunday.

Rocco Mediate adopts Bryson DeChambeau’s putting style, other notes from Chubb Classic

“The putting has been amazing. It’s entirely Bryson’s technique and company.”

Rocco Mediate’s body is almost as stationary as a rock when he’s putting now.

The 59-year-old is using Bryson DeChambeau’s putting style with his arms completely locked and just his shoulders moving.

In his fourth round with the style, and the first round of the Chubb Classic presented by SERVPRO on Friday, Mediate shot a 4-under-par 68 and is in contention on the Black Course at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.

“The putting has been amazing,” Mediate said. “It’s entirely Bryson’s technique and company (SIK Golf). It’s arm lock. It’s lock down. I’ve talked to him about it, and I’m happy to say that. He’s told me a lot of very cool things on how to do it.

“… The way we do the arms and everything, everything’s locked out of motion. All you have to do is move your shoulders.”

Mediate made a nice par-saving putt to close the round after missing the green on the par-5 18th and pitching the ball a few feet past the hole.

[lawrence-related id=778249309,778249112]

“I can’t be more excited about the rest of the year,” Mediate said. “I think all of us out here if we’re swinging just awful, and we all do, you still make a score. All of a sudden if you make one more putt a day that you didn’t make, and you add that up at the end of the year, it becomes astronomical.

“That’s what I should be more interested in.”

Mediate is a Calusa Pines Golf Club member, and had the director of golf Mike Balliet in his pairing Friday. Balliet, who is in on a sponsor exemption, struggled mightily, shooting a 90. Mediate told him to just relax.

“When you get in that situation you’re out of your element … that’s what we told him, ‘Calm down. Relax,” Mediate said. “It’s not what you do. Go out there and have some fun (Saturday). We had as much fun as he could. You can see it.”

Rocco Mediate (USA) walks off the green on the 18th hole during the first round of the Chubb Classic, Friday, February 18, 2022, at Tiburón Golf Club at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Florida.

Mediate is friends with Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson, enough so that Lifeson has brought him on stage during a show before. That’s what he likened Balliet being out with tour professionals.

“I’m like ‘Dude, what are you doing?’ I’m like ‘Get me outta here, no I don’t like this,'” Mediate said of Lifeson bringing him up. “Mikey’s a really good player, but he’s just out of his element.”

Some Calusa Pines members plus owner Gary Chensoff were following the group.

“It was great, a lot of the members were there,” Mediate said. “They weren’t watching me.”

Tolles still recovering

Tommy Tolles (USA) tees off on the second hole during the first round of the Chubb Classic, Friday, February 18, 2022, at Tiburón Golf Club at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Florida.

Fort Myers native Tommy Tolles played his first round in a Champions Tour event since last summer. He underwent surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee, then returned for four events, not finishing any higher than 60th.

Tolles, 55, also had shoulder surgery in 2020.

“The shoulder healed really well, the knee not so well,” Tolles said after shooting a 1-over 73.

Despite that, Tolles walked. Even though it’s possible for him to have a cart on the Champions Tour, he’d rather not.

“They can label us whatever they want, senior tour, Champions Tour, but you don’t have to act like one,” he said. “You could go out there play like a 40- or 45-year-old.

“… I  refuse to take one. If I can’t sit there and carry on a conversation with a walking scorer, my playing partners, caddies, then I don’t want to be a part of it. Walking is a fundamental part of the game. I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

Tolles said he struggled in all aspects of his game in his first competitive round since last June.

“I can’t really push off my right side through the swing,” he said. “It’s kind of more of an arm swing. I’ve lost a little distance.”

But it was everything that didn’t go well.

“I didn’t do anything right today,” he said. “You can’t be upset with making almost a handful of birdies when the wedge game wasn’t very good. Everything’s pretty dull. I drove the ball fairly well, and kept it in play for the most part.

“My short game’s extremely rusty. My iron game’s not very sharp. My wedge game was horrific.”

Tolles does have some time to get back up to speed. He is on a medical extension and has 17 events to make enough money to earn his full status back.

“Now it’s all on me,” he said.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]