Rocco Mediate's winning ways continue at 61 in Constellation FURYK & FRIENDS playoff

At 61, Rocco Mediate is a winner once again after he captured the Constellation FURYK & FRIENDS on Sunday in a two-hole playoff over Bob Estes, the tall Texan seeking his first PGA TOUR Champions triumph, at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Florida. Mediate’s lengthy two-putt for par on the difficult, 435-yard 18th hole, a hole he had bogeyed at the end of regulation, lifted him to his first Champions Tour victory since the 2019 Sanford International – halting a winless drought of five years and nearly 100 starts.

The victory was the fifth for Mediate since joining PGA TOUR Champions over a decade ago and gives him professional wins in his 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and now, 60s. Mediate won six times as a member of the PGA TOUR, and also pushed Tiger to 91 holes in a memorable playoff loss at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in California – a record that carries weight for a player who outwardly considers himself an “overachiever.”

Mediate and Estes both shot 1-under 71s Sunday, with the players trying to outrun impending heavier rains headed their way on a blustery, overcast afternoon in Northeast Florida. Light showers fell sporadically on Sunday during play, but for the most part, the players were left unbothered, and presented with good, calm scoring conditions. Australia's Greg Chalmers (68) finished alone in third, two shots out, which was a shot better than the fivesome of Retief Goosen (67), Scott McCarron (68), Darren Clarke (69), Thongchai Jaidee (69), Tim Petrovic (70) and PGA of America Club Professional Jason Caron (70).

Mediate and Estes entered the day tied atop the board and finished 54 holes deadlocked at 12-under. Estes had trailed by as many as three shots late in the final round but pulled even with Mediate following birdies on the 15th and 16th holes of regulation. Mediate, on the wrong side of a two-shot swing with Estes when he made a bogey at the par-5 15th and Estes birdied, regained a one-shot edge heading to the final hole of regulation after sinking a 15-foot birdie putt at the par-3 17th. Estes caught him one last time at 18 when Mediate’s 8-footer for the win in regulation was struck a tad firm, the ball spinning out of the hole.

Both golfers missed the green at the opening playoff hole (18) and scrambled to make gritty pars, Estes converting from 18 feet before Mediate matched him with a right-to-left 10-footer for par to keep on playing. On the second playoff hole, with Estes outside of 14 feet for par, after an errant drive led to him laying up 80 yards short of the green in two, Mediate had the advantage and made the most of it. Mediate rolled his initial putt from the front of the green to 4 feet, then, after marking and waiting, converted that to win, an exercise that never gets old.

Mediate had started off hot this season, finishing runner-up at the Chubb Classic in February, but was 30th in the Charles Schwab Cup standings when he arrived in Jacksonville this week. Sunday’s win moved him up 17 spots, leaving him in a good position for the Playoffs, which begin Oct. 18-20 in Richmond, Virginia (Old Dominion Energy Classic).

“I can’t hit it any better,” Mediate said after belting 3-iron into 18 for a second time in the playoff. He still was nearly 50 feet shy of the flagstick. “I kept plugging. I had so many long clubs in."

Mediate said that winning in his 60s was a goal he thought about at the outset of the season: “I said at the beginning of the year, that would be nice, especially me. I overachieved (in my career), I believe, myself. But I’ve hung around a long time, and it’s fun to be able to do it (win) again.”

His steady play from the front on Sunday also kept Estes from entering the winner’s circle, though Estes keeps knocking hard at the door. Sunday’s finish was the third career runner-up showing on PGA TOUR Champions for the 58-year-old, who showed something with the 18-footer he made for par up the hill at 18, forcing Mediate to respond and ensuring the playoff would not finish there.

Sunday was the first time that Estes entered Sunday with a lead or co-share of the lead on PGA TOUR Champions, and he came close to converting that into a much-awaited victory, even if, in his words, his game was not as sharp as he wanted it to be at Timuquana.

“My game is not quite where it could be or feels like it should be,” Estes, a four-time winner on the PGA TOUR, said, “but obviously this was one of the better tournaments that I played, so maybe I'm making progress.”

Said Mediate of Estes, “He's a wonderful player. Great guy. You know, he could have won, obviously, just as easily as I did.”

This time, the trophy went to Mediate – temporarily, at least. Mediate said his newly procured hardware actually was bound for his 9-year-old daughter, Francesca, who was hoping her dad would win one soon for her. While the Tour shifts to North Carolina this week for the final event of the regular season (SAS Championship), Mediate plans to be across the country, taking Francesca to Las Vegas to celebrate her fall school break. The two plan to have fun climbing onboard a few thrill rides and will take in a show together at The Sphere. Francesca may not yet know her dad is a big softie. This latest title, in so many ways, had extra meaning for the 61-year-old Mediate.

The fact he had not earned a trophy since 2019 was not lost on him.

“Amazing,” he said. “Like I said, it was for the little one. Gets her a little trophy which is cool just to win anything, and this is one of our best events for sure. I don't know, this golf course, Jim and Tabitha (Furyk, the event hosts and longtime friends of Mediate’s), I don't know what else to say ...”

Winning also gave Mediate a chance to give a special nod to his longtime caddie, 75-year-old Pete Bender, who has been at Mediate’s side for most of the player’s biggest moments.

“He always says the right thing – always,” Mediate said. “He’s good. He hates when I say that. I don’t care.”

Winning, need Mediate be reminded, has its privileges.