The Skins Game -- the made-for-television event that has lasted 26 years -- was founded and sculpted on the popularity of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. Nearly three decades later, another Western Pennsylvania native has capitalized on his new-found popularity to surprisingly land a spot in the 2008 Skins Game.

And Rocco Mediate, five-time PGA Tour winner, still can't believe it.

"I was pleasantly surprised and shocked that I got the call," said Mediate, a Greensburg native who lives in Naples, Fla. "You know, I've watched it for how many years -- 24 ... 25 -- it's been going on. I can't wait. It's going to be a blast."

After a stirring performance in the U.S. Open in which he lost a dramatic 18-hole playoff to Tiger Woods, Mediate was invited to participate in the $1 million Skins Game this weekend along with defending two-time champion Stephen Ames, world No. 3 Phil Mickelson and seven-time PGA Tour winner K.J. Choi.

For Mediate, it brought back memories of watching the first Skins Game in which Palmer and Nicklaus competed along with Gary Player and Tom Watson -- four of the biggest stars in the history of the game. But, a quarter-century later, there he is, playing in the same popular event that, through the years, has featured all of the game's top players, past and present -- Tiger Woods, Lee Trevino, Fred Couples, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie, Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia, even Annika Sorenstam, the only female player to compete in the event.

The Skins Game will be nine holes Saturday (1-3:30 p.m.) and nine holes Sunday (3:30-6 p.m.) on WTAE.

"Boy, there's a lot of them," Mediate said of his memories of the event. "[Lee] Trevino's hole in one. ... One of the first ones I remember is when Jack [Nicklaus] made the putt for $240,000 or whatever it was back then. I think it was on the 18th green. You remember those things.

"It's just like last year, Stephen [Ames] had a putt for $650,000 from 7 feet. You can say you're not putting for your money, but it is your money after it goes in, you know what I'm saying? There's definitely going to be some nerves. I'm looking forward to feeling it. I hope I get to feel something similar to that."

Of course, there will be no greater feeling on the golf course for Mediate than the one he experienced in June during his Monday playoff with Woods at Torrey Pines.

It was the manner in which he battled Woods -- right down to the 19th hole, smiling and talking all the way -- that endeared Mediate even more to the golf world. And landed him a spot in the Skins Game.

"The U.S. Open was definitely, obviously, my most favorite, favorite time I've ever been on a golf course, especially Monday," Mediate said. "Of course I wanted to win. I did all I could, had my opportunities, as did he.

"When you're playing against Tiger, I just didn't want to live up to the expectations of everybody else, which was to get my butt handed to me, and that wasn't going to happen. You want to be there with the best guy in any sport, and you want to see what you have. And what it did for me is it showed me that I can still do this thing, this golf thing, and I liked what I saw. I watched some of the replay stuff, and I liked what I saw."