Read Online Are You Kidding Me?: The Story of Rocco Mediate's Extraordinary Battle With Tiger Woods at the US Open by John Feinstein, Rocco Mediate - Free Book Online
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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later and said, ‘Gee, I wonder if I might have made it if I had
tried,’ ” he said. “Plus, to be honest, there was nothing else I was interested in doing. I didn’t have any kind of backup
plan.”
The lack of a backup plan bothered his mom. She kept nudging him to keep going to class and graduate, and he kept telling
her not to worry, that he would be fine. He had a superb senior season, making the Division 2 All American team while becoming
the best player on Matlock’s team. “He played as well that year as anyone who has ever played for me,” Matlock said. “And
I’ve had some very good players.”
Rocco set a number of records — course records, tournament records — that year, most of which, he likes to point out, were
later broken by Janzen. But he finished the year filled with confidence and headed off to the first stage of tour qualifying
at Indiana University. For ten years, and through 1981 the tour held Q-School twice a year — once in the late spring, once
in the fall.
“Which turned out to be a good thing for me,” Rocco said. “Because I bombed out completely, didn’t even come close. I was
lucky, though, because there was another qualifier a few months later and I got another shot at it.”
Before he left for the second qualifier in October, Rocco made a deal with his mom: If he didn’t make it to the tour this
time, he would go back to school to get his degree. “Now
that
gave me incentive,” he said, laughing. “I had no intention of going back to school.”
Even so, the first stage didn’t begin much better the second time around. He had signed up for a qualifier at the University
of Georgia, in part because it was closer to Florida Southern, but also because Tom Gleaton, who had been a couple of years
ahead of him at Florida Southern, was going to play up there. The two of them decided to share a hotel room for the week.
On the first day, Rocco shot 75 and was so disgusted he was ready to go home.
Gleaton came back to the room and found him packing. “I can’t play,” Rocco told him. “I’m not good enough.”
Gleaton told him he was crazy, that one bad round wasn’t that big a deal. “You didn’t play that badly,” he told him. “You
go out tomorrow and play well — not great, just well — and you’ll be right back in this thing.”
Rocco decided to give it one more shot. Gleaton later told Matlock that he had talked Rocco into staying because he didn’t
want to pay for the hotel room — $36 a day — by himself if Rocco went home. Rocco knows there was more to it than that.
“He just wasn’t going to let me give up on myself,” he said. “After that pep talk, I stopped feeling sorry for myself.”
But whatever Gleaton’s motives, he was right — the next day went better. By the fourth and final day, Rocco was right around
the number he knew it would take to get through the qualifier. “I’m not sure why, but you always know at Q-School to within
a stroke, maybe two at most, what it’s going to take to get through,” he said. “You can tell by how tough the course is playing,
by the conditions, by how tightly the field is bunched starting the last day. I got to the back nine and figured I needed
to shoot two under par to make it.
“I made a couple birdies and came to 18, which was a par-four, figuring that worst-case scenario, if I made a par I would
play off and if I made birdie I was in for sure. I couldn’t reach the green in two and I ended up with about a 25-yard pitch
shot that had to go over a swale to the hole, which was on the back of the green.
“I was standing there with a pitching wedge in my hand, when all of a sudden I decided to hit a seven-iron. I just grabbed
it out of the bag and decided I was playing a pitch-and-run kind of shot. The ball goes up over the swale, disappears, runs
toward the cup — and goes in.
“I was thrilled. I thought, ‘Great, I’m in for sure now, no
tried,’ ” he said. “Plus, to be honest, there was nothing else I was interested in doing. I didn’t have any kind of backup
plan.”
The lack of a backup plan bothered his mom. She kept nudging him to keep going to class and graduate, and he kept telling
her not to worry, that he would be fine. He had a superb senior season, making the Division 2 All American team while becoming
the best player on Matlock’s team. “He played as well that year as anyone who has ever played for me,” Matlock said. “And
I’ve had some very good players.”
Rocco set a number of records — course records, tournament records — that year, most of which, he likes to point out, were
later broken by Janzen. But he finished the year filled with confidence and headed off to the first stage of tour qualifying
at Indiana University. For ten years, and through 1981 the tour held Q-School twice a year — once in the late spring, once
in the fall.
“Which turned out to be a good thing for me,” Rocco said. “Because I bombed out completely, didn’t even come close. I was
lucky, though, because there was another qualifier a few months later and I got another shot at it.”
Before he left for the second qualifier in October, Rocco made a deal with his mom: If he didn’t make it to the tour this
time, he would go back to school to get his degree. “Now
that
gave me incentive,” he said, laughing. “I had no intention of going back to school.”
Even so, the first stage didn’t begin much better the second time around. He had signed up for a qualifier at the University
of Georgia, in part because it was closer to Florida Southern, but also because Tom Gleaton, who had been a couple of years
ahead of him at Florida Southern, was going to play up there. The two of them decided to share a hotel room for the week.
On the first day, Rocco shot 75 and was so disgusted he was ready to go home.
Gleaton came back to the room and found him packing. “I can’t play,” Rocco told him. “I’m not good enough.”
Gleaton told him he was crazy, that one bad round wasn’t that big a deal. “You didn’t play that badly,” he told him. “You
go out tomorrow and play well — not great, just well — and you’ll be right back in this thing.”
Rocco decided to give it one more shot. Gleaton later told Matlock that he had talked Rocco into staying because he didn’t
want to pay for the hotel room — $36 a day — by himself if Rocco went home. Rocco knows there was more to it than that.
“He just wasn’t going to let me give up on myself,” he said. “After that pep talk, I stopped feeling sorry for myself.”
But whatever Gleaton’s motives, he was right — the next day went better. By the fourth and final day, Rocco was right around
the number he knew it would take to get through the qualifier. “I’m not sure why, but you always know at Q-School to within
a stroke, maybe two at most, what it’s going to take to get through,” he said. “You can tell by how tough the course is playing,
by the conditions, by how tightly the field is bunched starting the last day. I got to the back nine and figured I needed
to shoot two under par to make it.
“I made a couple birdies and came to 18, which was a par-four, figuring that worst-case scenario, if I made a par I would
play off and if I made birdie I was in for sure. I couldn’t reach the green in two and I ended up with about a 25-yard pitch
shot that had to go over a swale to the hole, which was on the back of the green.
“I was standing there with a pitching wedge in my hand, when all of a sudden I decided to hit a seven-iron. I just grabbed
it out of the bag and decided I was playing a pitch-and-run kind of shot. The ball goes up over the swale, disappears, runs
toward the cup — and goes in.
“I was thrilled. I thought, ‘Great, I’m in for sure now, no
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