The Golf Watch

Mediate withdraws from Buick

Those interested in seeing Rocco Mediate attack Torrey Pines' South Course in '09 will have to wait another year.  Mediate underwent minor arthroscopic surgery today in Los Angeles and was forced to withdraw from the Buick Invitational.

Tod Leonard indicates that this is a major setback for the tournament...

Mediate's withdrawal is a significant blow to the Buick Invitational. With Woods still rehabbing his knee and out for the tournament, Mediate was to be arguably the most popular player on the course, possibly surpassing hometown favorite Phil Mickelson,

Hopefully this won't affect the writing of John Feinstein's book, "Are you kidding me?"

"Is this any way to win a major?"

Rocco Mediate has caught pretty much everyone off guard, including himself. He shares the first round lead at the British Open at 1-under-par.

For someone who has never fared particularly well with links style courses and the cold weather, he is playing some of the best golf of his career.  As Rocco put it:

I have no explanation for that whatsoever.

The round didn't go without a hitch.  On the 11th hole, Mediate felt some pain in his back and hip, and needed a massage to alleviate the pain.  So there was Rocco lying in the wet grass on the 11th hole.  Steve Elling's lede was:

Is this any way to win a major?

Rocco has become a pretty popular guy...

Karen Crouse of the New York Times files an interesting report about Rocco Mediate's recent popularity bump, most noticeable the past two days at the CVS Classic.  Crouse makes Rocco come off as a rock star, as playing partner Brandt Snedeker joked that it was "akin to playing with Elvis."

Was Rocco's color choice deliberate?

For Monday's 18 hole playoff, Rocco Mediate was daring and decided to sport the red and black.  According to a Golf Channel report, that was the only outfit Mediate had left in his suitcase.  Mediate said the following on PTI:

No, the red shirt wasn’t deliberate on my part.  Here’s what I figure, I figured it’s Sunday he wore red, right? Why would he wear red on Monday?

...So when I got to the range, I went down to see him, and he looked at me and goes, “nice shirt.” And I was like, "you wore red yesterday."

Mediate added that he wasn't trying to get into Tiger's head. 

Former winner Mediate leads after Round 1

5-time PGA Tour winner Rocco Mediate shot an 8-under 64 Thursday to take the first round lead at the Buick Open.  Mediate, who won the Buick Open in 2000, said in a press conference after his round, "It’s just a matter of putting the ball in the right spots here because you can get to some of these holes."  Mediate has remained winless on the PGA Tour since 2002 due to an ailing back, but has played well this year with a second place finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March.  "It was a really solid day. I putted really well and I made all of the putts that I should have made…This whole year has been really nice."