Are You Kidding Me?: The Story of Rocco Mediate's Extraordinary Battle With Tiger Woods at the US Open by John Feinstein, Rocco Mediate
Authors: John Feinstein, Rocco Mediate
Tags: United States, History, Sports & Recreation, Golfers, Golf, 2008, U.S. Open (Golf tournament), Golfers - United States, Woods; Tiger, Mediate; Rocco
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youngster for the rest of the week.
Having a chance to win Palmer’s event meant a lot to Rocco. A month later at Greensboro, he won his second tournament, again
in a playoff. This time it took four holes and his victim was Steve Elkington, one of his good friends on tour. Rocco finally
birdied the fourth hole of the playoff to win.
By the time the tour got to Las Vegas, the last full-field tournament of 1993, Rocco had made more than $600,000 and was comfortably
qualified for the next week’s Tour Championship, which was being held at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.
Since he was one of the bigger names in the Vegas field, he was asked to participate in that week’s Merrill Lynch shootout.
The shootouts were held on Tuesdays to try to entice bigger crowds to come to the golf course on practice days. Ten players
participated over nine holes, with the high score on each hole being eliminated until two players were left to play the last
hole. Ties were broken by chip-offs or shots from a bunker — anything to entertain the crowd. They were lighthearted games,
with CBS’s Gary McCord usually playing the role of MC and a couple of players wearing microphones so they could interact with
McCord or chime in with wisecracks. Naturally, Rocco was one of the miked players.
The shootout was being staged on the back nine that day, and there were four players left — including Rocco — when they got
to the 16th hole, which is a reachable par-five over water.
“I hit a three-wood for my second shot and got it onto the green,” Rocco remembered. “I handed the club to my caddy, took
about two steps, and felt this spasm of pain like nothing else I had ever felt. It wasn’t the first time I’d had back pain,
but nothing, I mean
nothing,
like this had happened before.
“I’m not quite sure how I walked onto the green, but I remember saying to my caddy, ‘I can’t move.’ I had to quit right there,
couldn’t even think of putting. They took me straight to the fitness trailer, and the guys worked on me and gave me a lot
of Advil. It loosened up that night, and I was able to play the first three days even though it was still pretty sore.”
In those days, Vegas was a 90-hole event with the cut coming after 54 holes. Rocco somehow made the cut. But on Saturday,
playing the 12th hole, he felt the pain again. Not wanting to miss playing in San Francisco, he withdrew immediately and went
back to the trailer for more work. Again, the boys in the trailer and lots of Advil helped. He took a couple of days off and
then tried to play a practice round at Olympic the day before the Tour Championship started.
“I was out there early by myself and it felt okay for a while,” he said. “But then it went again. I was on the 15th hole,
which is a par-three, and I tried to hit a seven-iron. There’s a bunker in front of that green that’s about 120 yards from
the tee. I couldn’t reach it with my seven-iron.
“There was no one around, so I started to walk in because we weren’t that far from the clubhouse. There’s a big hill that
leads up to the 18th green, and I couldn’t get up it. I kept going down, getting up, and going down again. Finally I ended
up crawling up the hill to get to the clubhouse. I probably should have sent my caddy in to get a cart for me, but I was being
stubborn. It probably took me an hour to go the last 300 yards.”
He was determined not to withdraw. For one thing, it was a prestigious event that he had worked hard to qualify to play in.
For another, since there were no alternates, Steve Elkington, whom he was scheduled to play with on Thursday, would be left
to play alone. And for another, there was no cut in the tournament, and if he finished 72 holes, the worst he could do was
cash a check for $48,000 — which was not exactly money to be laughed off.
Rocco’s most vivid memory of the next day is Elkington. “He picked my ball up out of every
Having a chance to win Palmer’s event meant a lot to Rocco. A month later at Greensboro, he won his second tournament, again
in a playoff. This time it took four holes and his victim was Steve Elkington, one of his good friends on tour. Rocco finally
birdied the fourth hole of the playoff to win.
By the time the tour got to Las Vegas, the last full-field tournament of 1993, Rocco had made more than $600,000 and was comfortably
qualified for the next week’s Tour Championship, which was being held at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.
Since he was one of the bigger names in the Vegas field, he was asked to participate in that week’s Merrill Lynch shootout.
The shootouts were held on Tuesdays to try to entice bigger crowds to come to the golf course on practice days. Ten players
participated over nine holes, with the high score on each hole being eliminated until two players were left to play the last
hole. Ties were broken by chip-offs or shots from a bunker — anything to entertain the crowd. They were lighthearted games,
with CBS’s Gary McCord usually playing the role of MC and a couple of players wearing microphones so they could interact with
McCord or chime in with wisecracks. Naturally, Rocco was one of the miked players.
The shootout was being staged on the back nine that day, and there were four players left — including Rocco — when they got
to the 16th hole, which is a reachable par-five over water.
“I hit a three-wood for my second shot and got it onto the green,” Rocco remembered. “I handed the club to my caddy, took
about two steps, and felt this spasm of pain like nothing else I had ever felt. It wasn’t the first time I’d had back pain,
but nothing, I mean
nothing,
like this had happened before.
“I’m not quite sure how I walked onto the green, but I remember saying to my caddy, ‘I can’t move.’ I had to quit right there,
couldn’t even think of putting. They took me straight to the fitness trailer, and the guys worked on me and gave me a lot
of Advil. It loosened up that night, and I was able to play the first three days even though it was still pretty sore.”
In those days, Vegas was a 90-hole event with the cut coming after 54 holes. Rocco somehow made the cut. But on Saturday,
playing the 12th hole, he felt the pain again. Not wanting to miss playing in San Francisco, he withdrew immediately and went
back to the trailer for more work. Again, the boys in the trailer and lots of Advil helped. He took a couple of days off and
then tried to play a practice round at Olympic the day before the Tour Championship started.
“I was out there early by myself and it felt okay for a while,” he said. “But then it went again. I was on the 15th hole,
which is a par-three, and I tried to hit a seven-iron. There’s a bunker in front of that green that’s about 120 yards from
the tee. I couldn’t reach it with my seven-iron.
“There was no one around, so I started to walk in because we weren’t that far from the clubhouse. There’s a big hill that
leads up to the 18th green, and I couldn’t get up it. I kept going down, getting up, and going down again. Finally I ended
up crawling up the hill to get to the clubhouse. I probably should have sent my caddy in to get a cart for me, but I was being
stubborn. It probably took me an hour to go the last 300 yards.”
He was determined not to withdraw. For one thing, it was a prestigious event that he had worked hard to qualify to play in.
For another, since there were no alternates, Steve Elkington, whom he was scheduled to play with on Thursday, would be left
to play alone. And for another, there was no cut in the tournament, and if he finished 72 holes, the worst he could do was
cash a check for $48,000 — which was not exactly money to be laughed off.
Rocco’s most vivid memory of the next day is Elkington. “He picked my ball up out of every
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