On-roll Rocco hits hole-in-one
San Martin (California), Oct. 15: Rocco Mediate rode the momentum of a hole-in-one to a seven-under par 64 Thursday and the first-round lead in the USPGA Tour’s Frys.Com Open.
“It was fun playing with a lead,” said Mediate, who aced the par-three third hole. “You can wait your whole life for this feeling.” Paul Goydos, Bo Van Felt and Ryuji Imada shared second on 65, and John Mallinger, Michael Letzig, Shaun Micheel and Will MacKenzie were tied on 66.
Rickie Fowler, fresh from his US Ryder Cup appearance, carded a 69. Mediate, 46, used a six-iron on the 190-yard third hole to fire his second hole-in-one of the year. He had one in the third round of the John Deere Classic in July.
“It’s just cool,” Mediate said. “It looked like it barely fell in.” Mediate, who lost a 19-hole playoff to Tiger Woods at the 2008 US Open, hasn’t finished higher than ninth since.
“It’s all about putting,” Mediate said. “It has just been destroying me. I reach the fairway and hit the green but I three-putt three to five times a day and you’re not going to beat anybody doing that,” he said. Although he knew what he needed to do, Mediate said he couldn’t implement it until recent weeks. “No matter what I did, I could not make any putts,” Mediate said.
“My attitude was horrible. I kept thinking I would hit the green but miss the putt. That’s not the way to think,” he said. Now that he's found some confidence on the greens, Mediate said he hopes to retain his card for next year.
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