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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE INSURANCE

June 2, 2011

Rocco Mediate

DUBLIN, OHIO

Q. What happened out there? What was going for you?
ROCCO MEDIATE: I don't know. I made everything. I putted as good as I've ever putted today. I read my own putts for the first time. I'm serious. I'm not blaming -- it was cool because it was just me, so it was fun. 26 years you'd figure I'd know that by now. We just decided -- Martin is a new man on the bag this week, and we've worked together before, but I had a lot of fun, and I'm happy. It was pleasing. It was fun.

Q. Did you feel this coming?
ROCCO MEDIATE: Yeah, I'm right on the edge. I've been on the edge. It's been basically putting. I've been hitting it fine. I'm healthy now. This tendon tear seems to be good now. That happened at San Jose last year the week of the tournament. That's why I'm here. It's been an amazing last seven months, but the injury was four, five, six months of it. I've played but I haven't been real good, but I'm starting to feel much better now.

Q. Do you have three rounds left in you?
ROCCO MEDIATE: I know I do. It's just a matter of getting them out. I love this golf course. It was stupid how good I putted today. It was almost stupid.

Q. You couldn't ask for better conditions.
ROCCO MEDIATE: It was perfect. The wind kicked a little now, but it was dead beautiful. The golf course is always perfect, but it was really good.

Q. Is that about what people are going to be shooting this week?
ROCCO MEDIATE: I don't even have a clue. These guys are so good, these kids are amazing, so you never know what's going to come out of them. I'm just trying to stay here.

Q. When is the last time you read putts on your own?
ROCCO MEDIATE: I don't think I've ever done it on my own. Never really believed that I could read greens that well. Martin said to me, You've always been a good greens reader, you just didn't trust it. I'm like, all right, I'll do it today. It's stupid. It sounds so stupid from someone that's been out here a quarter century.
I just told Brendan Steele, who's a fantastic kid, lovely player, this is the first time I've ever read my own putts. He said, Maybe you ought to keep doing it. It was a joke.
I never backed off, I picked my line and went. No time. I never take time anyway, but zero time, perfect. I couldn't believe it. I was in shock half the time, really, that went in.
I know the physical part of it is good. I know the actual shape of the stroke is fine, I just never really trusted what I was looking at, so good luck. It didn't work out. But striking has been fine. I didn't hit it great today. I was too excited. I couldn't keep myself -- I couldn't slow myself down.

Q. Would you call that an epiphany?
ROCCO MEDIATE: Yeah.

Q. 25 years in?
ROCCO MEDIATE: Yeah, I don't remember doing it. Martin said, You're doing it yourself today. You read good enough, do it yourself and see if you can get some confidence. Starting on the first hole I made a good putt on 10, and I really didn't miss any. You know what I mean. A lot of good two-putts around here, you have a lot of those.
This golf course, the greens are ridiculously good and very, very quick. Growing up in Pennsylvania it's the same stuff. But I used my feel today. It was cool.
It's a good start. I feel good. I'm healthy. That's all that I -- I've had a few injuries over the years, but this thing scared me to death because I'm thinking: Really, I am done, I just won, I can't play? This is stupid. So it's better.
Like I said, it took six months. We'll see. It's good to feel that. It was good to finish no bogeys and a little bit of heat out there I put on myself. Once I got to the last four or five holes, I just went, let's just keep rolling. So it was good.

Q. What were the best putts you had out there?
ROCCO MEDIATE: There was a lot of them. I made a bunch of really good par putts after some interesting shots into some of the greens. I had a good one on 15, good 15, 18-footer, I don't know how far it was really, it was stupid. Made just a couple up-and-downs that I made some good putts after that. I hit a lot of good shots, too, but I hit a couple bad ones that it was hard to recover, but I made those ones that keep you going, kept making them.
I think it has to be a little bit better of both. I mean, the putting was fine, but I've got to be a little better hitting. But like I said, I was really excited. I was just out of my -- I could feel it, and it was easy to fix.

Q. How long did this have you out of commission?
ROCCO MEDIATE: Well, it was an ongoing nagging thing for a while. It didn't affect -- it just really -- could hardly hold -- when you squeeze these fingers it activates that whole tendon and half the year I couldn't hardly hold. Ballard and I changed the pressure points in the grip a little bit helped a teeny bit in the left hand, but with the repetition we do it just was no good. It couldn't get worse unless I hit a tree or a root or something. So it was just a matter of hanging in.

Q. And you're all the way back?
ROCCO MEDIATE: I feel like it is. It's still there, it always is going to be there because tendons don't like to heal, take their time. Just as long as it doesn't stop me.

Q. When was the last time you felt this confident about your game?
ROCCO MEDIATE: I don't know. It's been a while. Towards the end of last year I was really good there for three or four weeks or four or five weeks in a row, but it's definitely been a battle. But San Jose saved me, Fry's saved me, which is why I get to stand here and yack at you guys. I love it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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