Rocco Mediate shares story about Tiger Woods stiffing him on autograph
Rocco Mediate recently shared a story about Tiger Woods that gives us an interesting glimpse at the golf legend’s personality.
Mediate sat down with Golf Channel’s David Feherty for an interview on “Feherty” (Mondays 10:00 p.m. ET on Golf Channel) last week and said he still hasn’t had a chance to chat with Tiger about their dramatic playoff at the 2008 US Open. Woods, playing on a bad knee that would require season-ending surgery, sunk a birdie putt on the 72nd hole to tie him with Mediate, who was in the clubhouse at -1. The two played an 18-hole playoff on Monday to determine the winner. Tiger again made birdie on the last hole of the playoff round to tie Mediate. Woods then beat Mediate in a sudden-death playoff hole to win the tournament.
Battling Woods head-to-head for the entire day is Mediate’s biggest claim to fame. So when he saw Tiger the next year at the 2009 Players Championship, he was hoping his competitor could give him a nice personalized autograph.
Mediate told Feherty that he placed a manila envelope containing a pin sheet and great photo of the two of them on the course together that day. He said he included a note asking Tiger to sign the pin sheet and write a personalized message on the photo.
Mediate returned from his round at TPC and saw the envelope sitting in his locker. He was eager to read what it said. When he opened it up, he saw there was nothing written on the pin sheet, and that Tiger only signed his name on the photo without leaving a message. He was disappointed to learn that Woods ignored his request.
“Why wouldn’t he just go, ‘Roc, you suck, you got lucky for six days. I had a broken leg’ … just mess with me, and then sign my pin sheet so I could put the damn thing on the wall and say, ‘Almost got the guy that day,'” Mediate said to Feherty.
Mediate says he threw the picture away.
“I could go buy one of those pictures if I want one,” he told Feherty.
As bad as the story sounds, Mediate said he wasn’t sharing the story to bash Tiger, but to “tell you how this guy’s programmed.” Mediate also says he’s still one of Tiger’s biggest fans.
“I love the way he does his job.”
If you want to give Tiger a break here, you can say he was in the middle of a tournament and was too busy to worry about jumping through all of Mediate’s hoops. Or maybe Mediate should have asked him personally to sign it so that he got it right. Or maybe this story shows just what Rocco thinks: Tiger is just wired that way.
What do you think?
H/T Devil Ball Golf
