Rocc-On

I have a list of golfers whom I have affectionately named  "my guys". This means when my sweetie is looking at the line up for the current weekend's tourney I say "Oh! Are any of my guys playing?" Now then, for one of these lucky individuals to be classified as one of "my guys" it probably means I have an autograph from them. My very first guys were Tim Clark and Paddy Harrington, after I scored their autographs on my pink visor at the AT&T Pro Am a couple of years ago. That list grew exponentially after I filled an entire visor at the Heritage Tournament in Hilton Head, this past Spring. However, there is one guy in particular who tops this list, yet has remained elusive in terms of autograph capturing: the one, the only (go ahead with the drum roll if you like).. Rocco Mediate! I totally love this guy! It all started one innocent Saturday evening, during the 2008 US Open. That weekend happened to coincide with the North Beach Festival and after a lovely day (which may or may not have included cocktails) we found ourselves at Joe DiMaggio's in NB. The place was jam packed with happy patrons feeling the glow that one too many libations provides. The day was quickly nearing dusk, as the Saturday round neared completion. All of the TV's in the bar were tuned into the Golf Channel and everyone was cheering for Tiger. Eh ehm. Really people? Sigh... I was irritated...

I am not now, nor have I ever been a fan of TW, and no, I do not shed a tear when he slices it deep into the rough (although no one has that kind of luck when it comes to lies). Anyway, because I actually am a nice chickadee, I shall not belabor that point and suffice to say I was not cheering for him to win. Instead... in the midst of throngs of dudes rooting for Tiger, I quite happily and confidently voiced my opposition and stood behind my newest "guy". Go Rocco! Of course I received looks aplenty, but I cared not. In fact, I made a bet with a bartender from Kokkari that Rocco would win. sigh... ok so I haven't been to Kokkari in a while...

Everyone hears stories about the woman's husband who was late for work the day the Twin Towers fell and that fact saved his life. Sometimes a minute... a last minute decision to take a different route, or pressing snooze one more time can change your life. At the US Open in 2008 it all came down to a putt. One... single... freaking... putt. In the words of my sweetie "that's golf baby".

Although Rocco did not prevail (I will not say that he lost because truly he did not), he is my #1 "guy".. and as one of the most loyal people on the planet, I will not waiver in my support of him. Here's the thing: he was a cup lip away from claiming the title at Torrey Pines, but beyond that, he is every one of us on the course. He smokes... he grabs a granola bar from the little shack thing at one of the holes, he has great days... and he trunk slams. He is the real deal. And I want to play 18 with him (After I get my new driver acourse).

My quest has become to simply say hello to the guy, perhaps obtain an autograph and if I wish with all of my might, stay conscious long enough to have someone snap a picture of me with him. Sigh... I could totally die a happy woman. I have tried on a couple of occasions. This past year at the AT&T Pro Am (yes, the one where Bill Murray dissed me... whatever.. ) we followed Rocco's group. That day he was playing with Tim Herron (aka: Lumpy, and I did get his autograph!) as well as Bill Murray and an amateur with whom I am not familiar. Bless my sweetie's heart for making sure we followed them... I thought for sure that at the very least I would get to say hello and get his autograph at the end of the day. Alas. It was not to be. Yes, I moped most of the way home, but figured it just wasn't meant to be.

Fast forward to March... The Heritage Tournament in Hilton Head. I knew that Rocco was playing and since we were being hosted in 2 of the sky boxes (especially the one on the 18th green) I thought for sure I would get my wish. We didn't go to the tourney on Friday (seriously, I really was there on business) but we toured several hotel properties. Since we get some inside scoop on the hotel stuff, I was asking everyone if they knew where Rocco was staying so I could ya know.. hang out in the lobby just in case, hehe! So... there we were... having dinner on Friday evening and I received "the text". My sweetie sent me a text with only two words. It read: "oh Rocco". Yeah.. he missed the cut and I'm sure was trunk slamming before I even knew. Are you kidding? No Rocco? I was bummed like I can't even tell you. My hotel/CVB chums were taking pity on me and joking that they were going to get a cardboard cut out of him so I could have my picture. So. Very. Bummed.

Again with the fast forward... to this weekend and the John Deere tourney. Although my guy has not had the best luck of late, he totally killed it! In a cruel twist of fate, so did Goydos and Stricker. Don't get me wrong, those guys played like they had been kissed by the golf gods, but all I could think was: "Rocco should have won this". He aced one for pete's sake, and played as if he too had a little peck on the cheek.

I guess the moral of the story is: you can't win 'em all. I get that, I really do... but Rocco sure could have used that win today, and I sure would be a happy girl if I'd gotten that picture.

Keep on Rocc-in'