Playing golf for a living is a tough job. And it becomes ten times harder if one is playing for prestige at a major tournament and has to lock horns with Tiger Woods, in the final round.
A similar situation happened with a veteran PGA Tour pro who had to face the biggest challenge on the golf course when he ended up face to face with Woods. Recalling the incident, the Pro reveals how he feels about it after 15 years.
PGA Tour veteran loved his chaotic playoff with Tiger Woods
Former PGA Tour Pro, Rocco Mediate, currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. But he has spent a long time on the PGA Tour, and has played in numerous tournaments. Although the 6 times PGA Tour winner never won a major championship, he has made his best attempts while performing in them. His best finish came in 2008 at the US Open where he finished on T2. Although he didn’t win, he had an adventure of a lifetime being engaged in a face-off in the final round with Tiger Woods.
Recently Mediate recalled that core memory while he was engaged in a light-hearted round with a young Mini Tour Pro, Brain Mogg at Hazeltine National Golf Club. While on the ground Mediate was asked, “Is it really difficult to play with Tiger?” He replied, “No, I love that the most. It’s chaos. I love chaos. It’s a sad thing but I love chaos.” The clip was shared by Brian on his Instagram.
After this conversation, Mediate and the young pro engaged in a tough competition where Mediate performed barefoot. As the video ended, we couldn’t find out who won but at least we got to know about what Rocco feels about his historic competition.
The epic battle between Rocco Mediate and Tiger Woods at the 2008 U.S. Open
At the 2008 US Open, Woods made a poor start with a double bogey and was having a bad day. Woods was also suffering from a damaged knee which was said to have affected his performance. In the earlier rounds, Mediate made good finishes while Woods was struggling and was clearly in pain. However, in the third round, the golf legend improved his performance and climbed the leaderboard. In the final round, Woods and Mediate had a playoff. In the last moments, Woods excelled with his birdie putt and took the trophy away from the hands of Mediate.
It was a legendary win that brought both of them immense fame. Though Woods enjoyed victory, Rocco ended up with the best performance at a major tournament and an anecdote of a lifetime. What do you think about the historic match? Let us know in the comments below.
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