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 Page A
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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problem.’ I signed my card and found out that by chipping in I’d
gotten into a playoff! If I’d gotten up and down, I’d have been out. It was three guys for two spots. I birdied the first
hole and made it. If I had known I had to hole the pitch on 18, no way would I have come close.”
In those days there were only two stages of Q-School. (These days there are four.) The finals that year were at Greenlefe
Country Club, which wasn’t too far down the road from Lakeland.
“I’d played the course like a million times,” Rocco said, under-stating things as always. “I knew it blind. Needless to say,
I went in there with a lot of confidence. I was convinced I was destined to make it to the tour after what had happened at
Georgia. I played very solid golf right from the start.”
The finals are six rounds — 108 grinding holes of golf. After five days and 90 holes, Rocco was tied for 28th place. Fifty
players would get tour cards, so he was in a good position. Even so, there was reason to be nervous. The margin between 28th
place and 51st place was four shots, and stories about players skying to a high number in the final round were (and are) a
major part of Q-School lore. Like anyone on the eve of the biggest day of his life, Rocco struggled to sleep.
“I remember having a dream,” he said. “On the first hole, I hit a driver down the middle and hit six-iron for my second shot
— and it went in. I actually woke up with a smile on my face, thinking I was going to be okay.”
He felt even better when he walked onto the first tee and saw Lee Janzen and Marco Dawson standing there. They had been playing
in a tournament in Jacksonville over the weekend and had made a last-minute decision to drive to Greenlefe instead of back
to Lakeland to watch their two ex-teammates (Gleaton was also in good position) try to make the tour.
“We’d gotten up early to drive back to school,” Janzen remembered. “We were about halfway back, when all of a sudden it seemed
the car wanted to head to Greenlefe. We decided we could miss a day of class to go out there and show some support for Rocc
and Tom.”
Rocco hit a perfect drive on the first hole and had a six-iron left from the middle of the fairway. “I hit it to two feet,”
he said. “For a second I thought it was going to go in. That would have been too weird.”
He was delighted to start with a birdie and played steadily all day. The only unnerving moment came at the 16th, a long, narrow
par-three with out-of-bounds left of the green. Dave Rummels, one of the other players in the group who was also comfortably
inside the qualifying number at that moment, hit a three-iron off the tee, hooked it, and watched it hop out of bounds.
As soon as he saw Rummels’s ball bounce past the white stakes, Rocco turned to his caddy and said, “Give me a five-iron.”
“But you can’t possibly reach the green with a five-iron.”
“I know that. Give me the f —— five iron.”
For all intents and purposes, he laid up to a par-three. “I hit it short of the bunkers, away from any trouble,” he said.
“I would have been happy to make bogey. The one thing I didn’t want to do was hit it OB and make six or something. I ended
up pitching it close and making par.”
Standing on the 18th tee, Rocco knew all he really had to do was finish the hole and he would get his card. “I was shaking,”
he said, laughing at the memory. “I mean, that hole has about the widest fairway in golf and I wasn’t sure I could hit it.
Once I got the ball on the green I relaxed a little, because at that point I think I could have six-putted and still made
it. When I holed out, the relief was unbelievable. I was on the tour — and I didn’t have to go back to college.”
At that moment, he didn’t need a backup plan.
4
Back to the Drawing Board
T HOSE WHO HAVE PLAYED for a long time on the PGA Tour will tell you that there are few experiences in
gotten into a playoff! If I’d gotten up and down, I’d have been out. It was three guys for two spots. I birdied the first
hole and made it. If I had known I had to hole the pitch on 18, no way would I have come close.”
In those days there were only two stages of Q-School. (These days there are four.) The finals that year were at Greenlefe
Country Club, which wasn’t too far down the road from Lakeland.
“I’d played the course like a million times,” Rocco said, under-stating things as always. “I knew it blind. Needless to say,
I went in there with a lot of confidence. I was convinced I was destined to make it to the tour after what had happened at
Georgia. I played very solid golf right from the start.”
The finals are six rounds — 108 grinding holes of golf. After five days and 90 holes, Rocco was tied for 28th place. Fifty
players would get tour cards, so he was in a good position. Even so, there was reason to be nervous. The margin between 28th
place and 51st place was four shots, and stories about players skying to a high number in the final round were (and are) a
major part of Q-School lore. Like anyone on the eve of the biggest day of his life, Rocco struggled to sleep.
“I remember having a dream,” he said. “On the first hole, I hit a driver down the middle and hit six-iron for my second shot
— and it went in. I actually woke up with a smile on my face, thinking I was going to be okay.”
He felt even better when he walked onto the first tee and saw Lee Janzen and Marco Dawson standing there. They had been playing
in a tournament in Jacksonville over the weekend and had made a last-minute decision to drive to Greenlefe instead of back
to Lakeland to watch their two ex-teammates (Gleaton was also in good position) try to make the tour.
“We’d gotten up early to drive back to school,” Janzen remembered. “We were about halfway back, when all of a sudden it seemed
the car wanted to head to Greenlefe. We decided we could miss a day of class to go out there and show some support for Rocc
and Tom.”
Rocco hit a perfect drive on the first hole and had a six-iron left from the middle of the fairway. “I hit it to two feet,”
he said. “For a second I thought it was going to go in. That would have been too weird.”
He was delighted to start with a birdie and played steadily all day. The only unnerving moment came at the 16th, a long, narrow
par-three with out-of-bounds left of the green. Dave Rummels, one of the other players in the group who was also comfortably
inside the qualifying number at that moment, hit a three-iron off the tee, hooked it, and watched it hop out of bounds.
As soon as he saw Rummels’s ball bounce past the white stakes, Rocco turned to his caddy and said, “Give me a five-iron.”
“But you can’t possibly reach the green with a five-iron.”
“I know that. Give me the f —— five iron.”
For all intents and purposes, he laid up to a par-three. “I hit it short of the bunkers, away from any trouble,” he said.
“I would have been happy to make bogey. The one thing I didn’t want to do was hit it OB and make six or something. I ended
up pitching it close and making par.”
Standing on the 18th tee, Rocco knew all he really had to do was finish the hole and he would get his card. “I was shaking,”
he said, laughing at the memory. “I mean, that hole has about the widest fairway in golf and I wasn’t sure I could hit it.
Once I got the ball on the green I relaxed a little, because at that point I think I could have six-putted and still made
it. When I holed out, the relief was unbelievable. I was on the tour — and I didn’t have to go back to college.”
At that moment, he didn’t need a backup plan.
4
Back to the Drawing Board
T HOSE WHO HAVE PLAYED for a long time on the PGA Tour will tell you that there are few experiences in
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