84 LUMBER CLASSIC OF PENNSYLVANIA

September 17, 2003

Rocco Mediate

DAVE SENKO: Rocco, thanks for joining us. Maybe just get you go started, obviously how special it is to come back here to western Pennsylvania and play.

ROCCO MEDIATE: It's always nice to be home. I enjoy playing at, a lost guys don't enjoy playing, they say it's harder. I don't get it. It's a golf course had holes and fairways on it so it's really no big deal. I like to see a lot of people that I know, anyway. It's never really bothered me. I played a couple of good tournaments -- it doesn't bother me. I enjoy it. My dad gets to me play, my mom, her knees are getting better. She's going to have a hard time walking this place; I don't know what she's going to do it. It's fun being around family and friends.

DAVE SENKO: Maybe just talk about your year, you are 31 on the Money List now, with a final push to get in the Top-30, maybe just a quick synopsis.

ROCCO MEDIATE: I started off pretty good and I felt off a little bit. I took some time off with my wife and my boys. Felt like my boys were needing me a little bit and getting older and I thought I would spend more time with them over summer. When I did play over the summer, I really wasn't playing that well and I didn't finish that well. That's what happened, it wasn't like I lost it, I just fell into a bad spot. They wanted me home . I felt like I could come back out when they started school which was two weeks ago and play more. If I can't finish off here like I want -- inaudible -- I have my opportunity to get into the TOUR Championship, which is my main goal, or Atlanta, either one, which will take care of it either way. It's working so far.

Q. How many more on your schedule?

ROCCO MEDIATE: I've got Atlanta, Vegas, Greensboro -- yeah, five.

Q. (Inaudible.)

ROCCO MEDIATE: Yeah, it was good. I'm starting to play better and better and it all came together that week. I putted good and I drove it good, I managed it; I did everything good. I wasn't really close to winning. Everybody else around me was concerned about: Why are you playing -- how come you're playing, like crap ? Well, because I was. There's really no excuses. I just was playing like crap. It won't last forever. I knew that but everyone else was all panicking. And Rick and I started working a lot harder, Rick Smith. When you're injured, your body does amazing things to compensate. And before you know it, when you play a little bit hurt, you can't move and whatever, it starts to bleed into your overall emotions and that's what happened with me a little bit.

It's just a natural thing. We all have aches and pains out here and I'm getting -- I'm 40 now. So I have more aches and pains. With back surgery, you have more aches and pains. It's just a matter of dealing with it, which I've done. Sometimes I can't play.

Q. When people say why aren't you playing --

ROCCO MEDIATE: It's just they.

Q. Who are they?

ROCCO MEDIATE: They are everywhere. I heard Ian Baker-Finch a couple of weeks ago -- I got the tape of Boston. I like to see what I was look like and what I felt like. When you're in competition playing good, I always look at the tape to see what's going on. Finchy says: "If Rocco gets $2 million, he quits." That's bullshit. That is total bullshit. I have a schedule. If I would have won Boston, I'd be playing in two weeks -- I would. I don't care what's going on. I don't buy that crap. If I can't go home for two weeks come back and prepare, I'm not a professional, it's that simple. I don't know where this crap came from that. I'm going to sacrifice time with my children so I could make more money; how stupid is that, or so I could win a tournament. That's stupid to me. That's dumb. I would never do it. If I have to make a choice between this and them, done. I'll quit tomorrow if I have to make a choice and I won't even care.

That's why I'm trying to make a point by my schedule, doing it my way. If I can get in the Top-30 and play in 22 events, that's pretty good for a 40-year-old and that's my plan. If I don't, I don't.

They said my World Ranking at the beginning of the year -- after Greensboro -- I was like 13th, I believe, that was last year, after Pebble Beach it was like 15th or so. So I'm 15th, which a pretty good for a guy who doesn't play much. I felt off. Like I said, played really lousy when I did play, finished 40th or something. That's fine. Missed two cuts this year. World Ranking dropped. Well, you know what, it's supposed to drop off. I'm playing bad and I'm at home. It's going to go up? I mean, what, am I going to get better because I'm not there? It used to work that way, actually. You used take a month off and move up ten spots. It doesn't work that way anymore.

So I got exactly what I deserved. And my whole thought was: If I can get back out there and play good, my World Ranking should go back up and it went up to 20th. I wasn't expecting so quick -- inaudible -- but struggling playing good, decent. Boston I played good. So it takes longer. If I win last week, I go to Top 15. So I've done it so far.

Q. A lot of guys this year have been 40 years old , and Vijay --

ROCCO MEDIATE: You can't know what these guys do. I think it makes a big difference. I'm seeing that in myself now, playing with Kuehne a lot, some of the guys who outdrive you. It doesn't matter. If he's hitting a 9-iron and a 7-iron, I can compete. I don't have to hit any further than I do. I don't hit it that far. I don't hit it short, but I don't hit it far. I'm kind of in the middle somewhere. Experience-wise I wouldn't mind -- I don't care if I'm a 3-iron. I want it in the fairway, because I can hurt you from the fairway. We all can hurt you from the fairway. But from the rough, I can't hurt anybody. I cannot.

Q. Inaudible?

ROCCO MEDIATE: I found in Boston -- not that I had a chance, but up there where you want to be, where every shot seems to be more. I feel very comfortable there. I just haven't got there enough. I think we all have that. Some guys don't feel comfortable there. I know when I first started, I did not feel comfortable there whatsoever. I was afraid I was going to screw up, and now I don't really care because I worked so hard that I'm not going to be playing good. So if you mess up, you're going to mess up.

Q. So don't worry about that stuff ?

ROCCO MEDIATE: It usually happens. I'm like, why not take a chance to win, instead of worrying about, you're trying to hold your position. Coming in to the 16th hole, back left pin on the par 3 -- hit it 40 feet right of the hole -- inaudible. You never know what he would have done if he birdied the last three. When you're playing that good, you've got to go, whether you mess up or you don't. I would rather mess up than go playing safe.

Q. Are you using the long putter?

ROCCO MEDIATE: I have been since May. I had a moment of insanity, I guess you would say. I played pretty good with it for a while, but my back just doesn't like it. I shot a couple good scores. I felt really good at Kapalua and at Pebble, especially Pebble. But it just wasn't -- I didn't think it would work. Yeah, I didn't think it would work.

Q. Inaudible?

ROCCO MEDIATE: Like I said, Rick and I have worked -- we've gone back to the basics, the way I always did and we all have our own motion, our own keys, whatever you want to call them. I'm not a technical person by any means. We just go back to what works. I've done the same thing for all these years and it works. We've worked really hard over the last six months to get me back to where I was. I'm getting there.

I'm doing a lot better. "The club in front of me" is a term I'm sick and tired of hearing, but it's in front of me. I know that I can hit the shot now. We are human beings. It would be a good thing to be coming down the stretch here on this golf course on some of these holes to see if you've got it, because it will show you if you have it very quickly, and it will also show you if you don't.

Q. (Inaudible.)

ROCCO MEDIATE: I just wasn't able to move very well. I had a period from like March through June that I just wasn't feeling that good, my body. Our limit comes from turning. We just worked that back -- now I'm moving good and I've had some consistent hitting weeks, very consistent driving and irons. It didn't show so much in the driver because it's a bigger club, you're just on the tee. I drove it really good out here. It showed up in the irons because it sits on the ground and there's not got to be motion. The motion is coming back. I feel a lot of good shots.

Q. (Inaudible.)

ROCCO MEDIATE: No idea. You don't know. I mean, hey, if -- very simple, written on the greens, that would be fine. These greens are evil. If you put them in spots, you're not going to make -- certain holes you can't make birdies, certain pin placements. This golf course would may a lot more fun firm, I think, but you can't do anything about it. It's raining and it's going to rain more.

Speed, there's a lot of undulation, a lot of stuff in these greens where it's a driver's golf course. There's a couple really good driving -- for the most part you are looking at 40, 50 yards wide.

Q. You have played here before?

ROCCO MEDIATE: Years ago. One day in a Pro-Am. That was a while ago. It's changed.

Q. When was that?

ROCCO MEDIATE: I don't remember. I think the golf course, it will play well. It just depends on what we get with this hurricane. It doesn't look real good. But if that happens, we won't be playing golf over the weekend, I can tell you that, 60-mile-an-hour wind.

Q. Talk about the par 5s.

ROCCO MEDIATE: I don't know if anybody can reach 11. John can't even reach it -- well, if it was downwind, him and Hank could reach it.

5, I can't -- probably not. I probably can't reach 5. 16 is shorter. I'm not carrying it to the top -- inaudible.

If we get rain here, we are toast. The greens are soft. I was surprised because every other green is going to be very soft. Who knows what the score -- I know if you miss the fairways, you are pretty much in big trouble. The rough is very hot.

Q. Shot 16-under -- inaudible?

ROCCO MEDIATE: I seem to get beat by really, really low scores. It's all right.

Q. Inaudible?

ROCCO MEDIATE: I really do love it, yeah. He played great and he deserved it. He played a great tournament. Sometimes that's just not good enough. Somebody is always going crazy out there.

Q. You've always been a guy that's had success on the hard courses -- why now?

ROCCO MEDIATE: I've learned to putt a little bit, putt it better, pitch it better and that's changed me the last four or five years, I guess.

You all remember back when Ken Green won the Buick Open at Flint in '86 or '87 and he shot 20-under. And I remember saying to somebody, "How the hell did he shoot 20-under?" Because the golf course back then was hard. The golf course, it played long then, but everybody is getting longer and stronger and all of the equipment. It's interesting to see how things have changed.

Scores have not gone down that much. Club scores have but winning scores have not. It just means that there's more better players, more better players. They are more better.

With the exception of two or three greens that are fairly flat, you just really can't shoot at it. It will be an interesting finish.

End of FastScripts.