Mediate has made a smooth transition to Champions Tour

One night, if you’re sitting in a tavern and need a little extra cash to cover the tab, tell your bar buddies you have a golf trivia question you know they can’t answer.

"Who was the first PGA player to win a tour event using the long putter?"

Now, you’re sure to get a few names thrown at you by the men whose full bellies are pulled tight to the bar. There will be shouts to the roof top; ensuing arguments and long discussions as you shoot down each name one by one.

The longer it goes, the more entertaining it gets. Finally, when every hall of fame member and then some have come your way from all corners of the room; after you’ve answered, "no," so many times, folks wonder if there are any players left, you calmly say, "He finished second to Tiger Woods at the 2008 U.S. Open."

Rocco? Rocco Mediate? You gotta be kidding me.

Nope, you can look it up. It was 1991 at the Doral Ryder Open. He beat Curtis Strange in a playoff. A chronically bad back forced the then-six-year tour veteran to stand tall in the saddle with a longer putter. When he won his first and second tour events with the big broom, nobody at the USGA said, "Hey, maybe we should take a look at this thing."

That has since changed.

"It’s a lot about nothing to be honest with you," Mediate said of the long and short putter debate. "I’ve gone back and forth for years. There’s no advantage. You still have to hit it in the right direction."

Mediate is one of 81 golfers teeing it up today in the second Pacific Links Hawaii Championship at the Kapolei Golf Club. The field is deep, the track is fast and Mediate is healthy, fit and fat, as he likes to say. His back, which has tortured him for years, is dormant, something he couldn’t say back in the day.

After winning in 1993 at the Greater Greensboro Open, it would be another six seasons before he would hoist a trophy again. A ruptured disc and ensuing problems took nearly five years away from Mediate’s livelihood. The six-time PGA winner managed his last tour victory at the Frys.com Open in 2010 at age 48.

"And that was huge for me," Mediate said Thursday in a phone interview. As a Champions Tour rookie, Mediate has won twice in 2013. His back is fine, he insists. His waistline seems to be expanding, something he will deal with in the offseason. But other than that, the 50-year-old from Pittsburgh has made the transition just fine.

"Getting that win at the Frys kept me on tour the last two years before I turned 50," Mediate said. "I was hurt a lot and didn’t play particularly well, but it kept me sharp. It kept me competitive. It helped me when I came out here for the first time."

Mediate became the 16th Champions Tour competitor to win his first event. Going into the final round with a three-shot lead seven months back, it was all square at the 16th hole of the Allianz Championship. He went on to win by two over Bernhard Langer and Tom Pernice Jr.

"But I was nervous," Mediate said. "I had been practicing. I felt I was ready. And when it was all tied at the 16th, I said, ‘Let’s go.’ And I found a way to win."

It would be another six months before Mediate secured victory No. 2 at the Shaw Charity Classic in Calgary. He took that event by seven shots over runner-up Tom Byrum. Life is so good out here, he’s debating whether he will go back to the PGA Tour in 2014.

"I told myself I wanted to play out here full-time for one year to see what happens," Mediate said. "It’s a tough decision because you want to still play out there (PGA Tour) as long as you can. I turned down a few chances this year to play in PGA Tour events, so we’ll see.

"All of the guys tell you these are the hard years; deciding which tour to play. I’m going to the Frys.com Open in a few weeks. It was good for me to get a win there because before that, my best finish was a second at the U.S. Open."

Not that he minds talking about the last major Tiger Woods won and that famed 19-hole playoff Woods captured on a broken leg, but getting that tour victory is a good feeling for Mediate.

"Probably my last one, but you never know," Mediate said. "I’m excited about being here. Hopefully, I can get into the Sony Open in January. I love it here. The greens on this course are like pool tables. It’s great to be a part of this tour and playing with some of my heroes.

"Tom Watson and Hale Irwin were my idols when I was growing up. To be out here with them and all the guys, it’s great. Let me tell you, it ain’t easy out there. I’m working as hard as I have in my life. Most of these courses are over 7,000 yards; just like the PGA. If you want to win out here, you have to be committed to it. Because everybody else is."

Rookies have won the past four events and seven overall in 2013, including Mediate’s dominating performance in Canada three weeks ago. That victory has him sitting in eighth in the Schwab Cup race with 1,073 points. Kenny Perry (2,760) has a commanding lead over Langer (1,903) and David Frost (1,730).

The top five and nine of the top 10 are here this week, including Fred Couples.

"This is a great field," Mediate said. "Let’s go have some fun."