Waiting in line for coffee in a tony Los Angeles suburb, Cindi Hilfman witnessed one more example of superstardom as it relates to
Rocco Mediate. The woman who, with others, has been credited with alleviating Mediate's back woes was with him at a Brentwood Starbucks a few days after his thrilling playoff loss to
Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open in mid-June. And she couldn't believe it. "People were fighting over who was going to buy his coffee," said Hilfman, a physical therapist for Fitness Golfer in Santa Monica, Calif. "He is like a rock star now."
Mediate has made his way to this west coast, in England, some 6,000 miles and eight time zones from his California exploits. But the glow has not left him, despite Thursday's dreary weather. With a birdie-birdie finish at Royal Birkdale, Mediate shot a 1-under 69 to share the first-round lead at the Open Championship with
Robert Allenby and
Graeme McDowell. "It was just one of those rounds," said Mediate, 45, who has become something of a celebrity since taking Woods to a playoff at the U.S. Open and finally losing on the 91st hole. "It was just up and down and up and down and a couple of birdies, and here we are. I would have been ecstatic with 73 or 74 today. … I'm ecstatic with this one. This was a lot of fun."
Truth is, Mediate wasn't expecting much fun when he woke to the sounds of rain and wind. The temperature was in the low 50s, the wind gusted up to 25 mph and he saw his colleagues wearing wool caps. Not exactly the kind of weather a guy with a historically bad back wants to face on one of the most exacting golf courses. "He was feeling really, really bad this morning," Hilfman said. At one point, Mediate lay on the ground and Hilfman helped alleviate his pain by pushing on his right hip while he maneuvered his spine.
It was a 30-second procedure before his round that Mediate downplayed, but one that was quite important, considering where he has been in a career plagued by back problems. Things had gotten so bad that Mediate was doing work for The Golf Channel at the beginning of 2007, unsure what was left of his playing career. It was at the Los Angeles tour stop that Mediate met Hilfman, who started working with him that week. "He had been horribly mismanaged and diagnosed," said Hilfman, noting that Mediate had a bulging disc in his lower back and a pinched nerve in his right hip area. He took a cortisone shot a year ago that has done wonders along with exercise and therapy.
Mediate also has worked with swing instructor Jimmy Ballard, whose theories fit perfectly with a guy who needs to nurse a bad back. "He's a genius as far as the back is concerned and what to do around the golf swing, what to do with the back and how it moves and stuff like that," Mediate said. "I've learned so much about moving the golf club a certain way and how it does certain things."
All of that -- and 36-hole qualifying -- got Mediate to the U.S. Open, where the five-time PGA Tour winner was in the clubhouse with a 1-stroke lead when Woods somehow birdied the 72nd hole to tie him. They went to an 18-hole playoff the next day, with Mediate turning a 3-stroke deficit through 10 holes into a 1-stroke lead by the 18th hole. But Woods again birdied the par-5 to tie Mediate and force sudden death. On the next hole, a par gave Woods his 14th major victory. But Mediate hasn't faded away. He was a big hit at the Buick Open (where he finished tied for 28th) and the AT&T National (T-18). He has yet to meet a microphone he hasn't liked. And despite "not sleeping for two weeks," he has managed to keep his game at a high level. But there was the matter of getting into the British Open; Mediate wasn't exempt, despite his second-place finish at Torrey Pines. He learned heading into the AT&T National that he was second to
Kenny Perry on a hybrid money list that included six tournaments and that only the top two players earned tickets to the British Open. Even though Perry was forgoing his spot, Mediate didn't move up. And he had players such as
Paul Goydos and
Tommy Armour III in close pursuit.
"Paul Goydos did me a lovely favor by qualifying [through a 36-hole qualifier] that Monday, or else I wouldn't have made it," Mediate said. "Tommy Armour was playing beautifully, and if he makes one more birdie coming in, I'm gone. A lot of crazy things have happened the last six weeks."
Mediate got to England this past weekend to begin preparing for the tournament, needing to get acclimated to the time change and the weather. This is his first British Open since 2002 at Muirfield and just his ninth overall. His best finish was a tie for 18th in 1996 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, and he had shot just a handful of rounds in the 60s before Thursday. Mediate began Thursday morning in pouring rain at Birkdale. He started bogey-par-bogey-par-bogey for 3 over par. But he played his last 11 holes in 4 under, including chipping in for birdie at the 17th.
"I want a chance to see if I can handle it all again and maybe do one better," Mediate said. "I actually look forward to seeing what happens. I think [the U.S. Open experience] has done nothing but make me better, even though I did not win the golf tournament. Some people do forget that."
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