KITCHENAID SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 24, 2022

Rocco Mediate

Press Conference

Harbor Shores

JOHN DEVER: Welcome to the 2022 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship here in Benton Harbor, and we're with our 2016 champion, Rocco Mediate. Welcome, and thanks for spending some time with us.

ROCCO MEDIATE: Glad to be back.

JOHN DEVER: Biggest win of your career you described at the time. I imagine that's probably still the case. Hard to believe it's been six years. What do you remember from that day?

ROCCO MEDIATE: I remember all the -- coming back, you remember all the shoots and the feelings and the weather. You remember everything. I remember playing with Monty for three days. First day with Monty -- you just remember all of it. It's pretty cool.

But it's a great spot. It's a bear. We have another name for it; we won't call it that live. It's just a relentless golf course. But if you put it in the right place, you've seen over a few times, you can make scores here, but the wind gets up and it's just relentless. It's a good hard golf course.

Q. Is there one moment or one shot from that week that jumps out above the rest? I have one in mind but I'm curious what yours is.

ROCCO MEDIATE: Yeah, for sure I'd say -- well, a couple. The 17th hole -- the 71st hole, the bunker shot that happened to go in. I was just honestly trying to make 3.

And then the funny thing is it was the second shot on 18 that I remember a lot. I was just telling my caddie today about it. I hit it right, of course, because the fairway must not be big enough to go left over there with a three-shot lead. Can't. Went in that bunker over there. That bunker is not there anymore, by the way. I noticed that there's something missing. Something was missing over there on 18.

Anyway, so I'm in the bunker, I only had like 150 to the front, and the pin was back 30 or whatever it was to that back right pin. I remember Martin said, he goes, what are you going to hit. I said, I'm going to hit a 5-iron. He goes, what? I said no, I'm just chipping it down along the ground up there to the left because I'm three ahead, but Monty just hit it to six, eight feet. So I've got -- I'm going to chip it down, run it on the front of the green hopefully, if not I'm going to make a 4 or 5 and we're done here, because I'm not putting it in the air, because the only mistake I could have made was short right, done.

That was a cool shot because it came off. We ended up like 15 feet on the green and I somehow two-putted but I didn't need to.

I remember that one, but 17 was kind of huge.

Q. We watched Justin Thomas roll in a 65-footer at 11 and then all of a sudden he's in the hunt on Sunday. I remember you holing out a couple shots when you won in California, holed out from the fairway, you make the bunker shots here. Is it kind of funny on the weeks you win how fate kind of picks a golfer?

ROCCO MEDIATE: Oh, there's no question, Frys was especially that way besides here. But Frys, I holed a shot every day. I made a hole-in-one the first day, 7-iron the second day, a wedge the third day and a wedge the fourth day. One of the wedges was the 71st hole. And I still had five feet, two inches to win. Still. After all that happened.

But here I was fortunate because Monty and I had a pretty good battle the last day, but I got ahead and I kept making some putts for par. I made a good putt, a birdie putt on top of his. He just missed the eagle on 15. I don't know how that putt didn't go in, it was such a good putt. And then I made that to stay two up. Then par, then boom, 17 happened.

The only I could lose is if I did what I almost did on 18. If that would have went in the water, I still could have made a 5, but really, there's all that room over there -- so yeah, you're right. I think sometimes you're just destined, it just happened.

This week, coming in here in '16, there was no -- I wasn't really playing that good, and boom. There was nothing going on. We just figured it out and made a lot of putts.

But you have to. I remember playing with Monty and playing a practice round that year at LA, and we're on 18 tee waiting, and I can't believe I won that thing. I just made every single putt. It was ridiculous.

He goes, oh, yeah, let me think, every tournament I've won I've got up in front of the people and went, boy, I didn't putt for s--- this week. I made no putts this week at all. Of course you made all of them. Of course you did. If you look back, he made them all, and that week for sure.

Then Paulie walking over there had to tie me. That was ridiculous. Yeah, yeah, yeah, keep walking.

I'm watching the putt on the last hole going, all right, I'm going to still have the record by one. No, he makes it. Of course he did.

But yeah, you're right, it's just one of those weeks it happens. The great players, it happens to them all the time.

Q. We were talking before you came in about what your caddie should or shouldn't do on the situation that happened at the PGA on 18 when you have a one-shot lead.

ROCCO MEDIATE: Yeah, certain guys are different. You look at what Mito did, which was remarkable, the golf he played. The way he was driving it all week, I was in the airport coming here, but I saw him hit a tee shot on 16 that was unreal, that little area he drove on 16. I didn't see 17, but I saw the replay on 18.

But if Pete -- if that was me and Pete Bender was there, he would have broke my driver on the tee to say, if you get in a playoff you're not going to have a driver, because you're not hitting one here. Easy to say now. What if he pipes it? JT took the shot because he had to. He had to try to get a short club in, and he did everything except for make the putt. He his a good putt, but my point is he had to take the shot. Can you look back on that? You can't criticize that. It's just something that unfortunately he blocked it a touch and that was the end of that.

Yeah, a lot of guys would have -- I know Pete, he would have went, no, we're not hitting that; we're going to hit a 3-wood and take our chances.

Q. Do you remember a time when that happened to you?

ROCCO MEDIATE: Yes, actually it was with Pete. We got on 18, the 72nd hole at Phoenix in '99. I had Tiger for two days. That's one of the times I did win a tournament with him in the last group the last two days. Did I mention he was with me the last two days? Did I mention that? And he was the No. 1 player in the world. Did I mention that, too?

Anyway, we got on 18 and I had a two-shot lead. I had him by three, and Justin Leonard just missed birdie, which would have gotten me one ahead, but he missed. So I had a two-shot lead.

I like hitting driver off that tee because it fits me. He goes, I like 4-wood, so I hit a 4-wood. Then I get it out there, I'm sitting down a little bit, middle of the fairway, perfect 4-wood. I've got like 195 to the hole. It's Phoenix, there's no air. I had 6-iron out, and he goes, I don't like 6-iron. I was just about to pull it, and he goes, whoa, he goes, "I hate this club, hit a 7." I said, I've got -- he said, "Just hit it left of the pin." And I hit it -- I hit a perfect really good shot 25 feet left of the pin about 30 feet from the hole, game's over.

He took all that out. Because if I pull a 6 or something that goes over the green, there's issues, wherever -- especially under the -- so he definitely pulls me away or tells me what he thinks, which is why he's here. That's why he's with me, thank goodness.

It's hard. Like I said, you can't go back and criticize someone. What if he hits a perfect tee shot? It's how you feel. It's how you feel.

I wouldn't have been allowed to hit driver. If I was in that -- if that was me last week, of course I could because I only hit it 260 yards, I couldn't reach the water, but those kids hit it so far, it's in play.

I thought he was marvelous. His interview was unreal. Unreal interview. You've got to show that to lots of people going, hey, I was nervous; I felt -- of course you do. A lot of guys won't say anything. You know what I mean.

Q. I know you've played here a couple times. What's your favorite part about playing here, and also what do you have to remind yourself about when you play here that's always kind of a challenge for you?

ROCCO MEDIATE: Well, it's just the way it was built and how this became, what it was before, what it is now. Now we have -- our best event is here now, when we're here. Wherever KitchenAid goes, it's ridiculous, as you know. I can't even make that up. It is. It's amazing.

But yeah, that's special because it's a special area. What was it before? It was whatever, a dump and all kinds of crazy -- now look at it. That's kind of cool what it's done for the community. That's really cool. But the golf course is just right in front of you. You have to have -- there's plenty of room to drive out here, but then she narrows because there's greens -- some greens have three, four quadrants to them, and if you miss that quadrant, you don't get to shoot a good score most of the time.

I think that's okay, because it's a major championship and you've got to have control of your ball. Here you know -- a good-looking shot a couple feet offline, best wishes.

I enjoy that in a major championship. It should be hard.

But as you see, some low scores were shot. I don't know how it all happened. Everyone went, how did you shoot that? I have no idea. But if the wind gets up and it gets a little funny, then it becomes brutal, even more brutal. But those are the two things really.

It's the iron shots are the most important. You've got to put it in the fairway obviously, but there's plenty of room to drive. Plenty.

Q. Does your game feel better than it did when you came in here in '16?

ROCCO MEDIATE: Yeah, I've been struggling a little bit. I can't admit that. I admit that I have been struggling. I started off pretty solid this year and then it's kind of gotten yucky, for lack of a better word. I'm working my butt off on myself. It's not that far off, but it always feels like you're done; you have no chance. But it's coming around slowly.

The beauty of our sport, what I like most about it, is Thursday morning I get to go see how it works against the best field on the best golf course. That's the most fun. And then you know. You can practice, hit shots, play all you want. It does nothing. When the bell rings, everything changes.

Q. What's yucky about it?

ROCCO MEDIATE: I've averaged about like 60 percent greens in regulation this year. That's pathetic. And I've driven fine. I'm averaging 74, 75 percent of fairways. So what the hell is going on? I know what it is, so I'm working on it, but it's not a big deal, it's just I don't know how it happened.

I go home for a few weeks, it's cold, I don't get to do anything, come back. Now I'm fine going home because it's warmer, but that's a challenge. But with a little one in school, we're not going anywhere. She loves it up there. It's all about her now. If I was 30, no, not living there.

It's fine, but I don't know what causes it. We never really do, because I was -- I played great in Tucson a couple rounds and really nice in Newport, and I was ready to go. Then it's been absolute garbage since, garbage. Short game and putting, money. So I'm still shooting some decent scores, but you can't rely on that all the time.

Q. A lot of the analytics that they have --

ROCCO MEDIATE: I just know what's going on. I don't need all the stuff. I know what my problem is. I mean, I know -- I don't need anything that -- they have statisticians on the regular Tour. Really? You're going to put all my stats in your computer and tell me how I'm going to play next week? What if I'm going to play like crap? I'm not interested in that. If you don't know what's causing your issues, find a new job. I know what the issues are, it's just a matter of fixing it. And they're always little teeny fixes. That's the -- I want to look at it and go, oh, my God, that's the worst thing I have ever seen. But most of the time it's like, it doesn't look that bad, yeah, but the ball is telling me different. That's how I react.

We know, I know what causes it. It's just a matter of getting out of it. Like I said, we'll find out Thursday if I'm out of it yet. Because this will expose you. There's no hiding around this joint. That's what I like about it.