Rocco Mediate was humble, almost apologetic.
“I have no idea,” he said quickly when asked how he out-played Colin Montgomerie at Harbor Shores on Sunday to win the Senior PGA Championship.
“Playing with Monty, he’s relentless,” Mediate said of the defending champion, who was trying to make it three-straight at this senior major. “I made everything. It was that old one shot at a time crap. It works sometimes!”
The big moment of the round came at the par five 15th where Montgomerie was staring at a 15-footer for eagle to tie while Mediate had a 12-footer for birdie. Monty missed but tapped in for birdie and Mediate then rolled his in on top of the Scotsman to keep his two-shot lead.
It was at the par three 17th where Mediate locked up the victory. He found a greenside bunker with his tee shot then promptly holed it for birdie. “As soon as I hit it I thought I made it,” Mediate said looking back. It gave him a three-shot lead and elicited a huge smile and a fist bump from Montgomerie.
It took Mediate’s best putting to beat Monty. In the end, Mediate shot 66, Montgomerie 67.
Mediate posted 19-under par to win by three over Montgomerie and collect his first major of any sort.
Bernhard Langer and Brandt Jobe tied for third at 13-under.
