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Sunday, September 23, 2001

You want to shake him as he walks from hole to hole, a celebrity of sorts on this particular golf course because of his well-known son, the touring pro. You want to tell him it's OK to smile, to stick out his chest, to yell at the world, "That's my boy on that leader board!" But what's the point? Tony Mediate won't do it. He wouldn't do it if you offered him a million dollars.

You wouldn't even know Tony is Rocco Mediate's father if it weren't for all of the people who stop to shake his hand, pat his back and wish his son well. It seems as if all of Greensburg has made the short trip to Laurel Valley Golf Club this weekend to see the hometown boy in the Marconi Pennsylvania Classic.

Tony Mediate's responses are almost comical.

"Rock really has it going today," one fan after another tells him.

"Doing pretty good. Pretty good," Tony says, quietly.

"We're pulling for Rocco to win, Tony," so many others tell him.

"Lot of golf to be played yet," Tony says, shaking his head.

That doesn't mean the old guy isn't hoping. It doesn't mean he wouldn't give just about anything for Rocco to win the first PGA Tour event played in Western Pennsylvania. It doesn't mean he isn't the proudest father in America.

"I'm a dad myself so I know what he's feeling," Rocco Mediate said. "If your kid is ranked in the top whatever in the world in anything, it has to be great. If that were one of my sons, I'd be going crazy."

Tony Mediate is.

"Look at my arms," he said in a quiet moment, away from the crowd, in a pretty spot along the 12th fairway.

Rhetorical goose bumps.

"It's incredible how you feel. You want to pour it all out. You want to holler. I can still remember him telling me, 'Dad, I'm going to be a pro.' Now look at him ...

"But people don't want to hear you brag. You've got to watch what you say. That's why we try to keep it cool."

It doesn't seem fair, not this weekend, not at Laurel Valley.

This has to be the greatest weekend of Tony Mediate's life, better even than when Rocco won the Buick Open last year or the Phoenix Open in 1999 or the Greensboro Open in 1993 or the Doral-Ryder Open in 1991. He has been fortunate to see him play in the Masters and the U.S. Open and the Players Championship. Those were great times, but this is better. This is home. Family and friends are here. Many are seeing Mediate play for the first time and are just now realizing what an elite golfer he has become. He was in second place just two shots behind leader Robert Allenby when their third round was suspended by darkness last night after 15 holes.

This also is a big weekend for Rocco's mother, Donna. She hasn't seen him play much, first because of a long, successful battle against cancer, now because of a bad knee. That's why he was so thrilled when tournament officials provided her with a cart and a driver to take her around the course.

"She looked like she was enjoying herself," Mediate said.

This isn't just a homecoming for him, it's one for his wife, Linda. She and their three boys made the trip from their home in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Laurel Valley is little more than a good 3-wood from Stahlstown, where she grew up. She worked as a manicurist at Anthony's -- the Mediates' hair shop in Greensburg -- before Rocco invited her to lunch one morning nearly 15 years ago and stole her away.

At the end of each day, while the other golfers head to a local motel, the Mediates head to Tony and Donna's place. Do you think they love that? They get to cook a meal, enjoy their grandchildren, share a few laughs, talk some golf, reminisce and say thanks for how good life is for their son.

"I read somewhere that only one out of 750,000 make it to the big leagues of golf," Tony Mediate said.

At times, it's still hard for him to believe his boy made it, that he's ranked No. 29 in the world, that he has won those four tournaments and nearly $7 million in prize money.

"For a long time, he didn't even like golf."

That was in the days Rocco used to caddie for his father at Hannastown Golf Club.

"The parking lot was by the sixth hole," Tony Mediate said. "He would make it that far, drop the bag at the car and say, 'That's it. I'm done. I don't like this stuff.'"

Over the years, the game grew on Mediate. He dedicated himself to it after the golf coach at Hempfield High School told him he wasn't good enough to make the team as a sophomore. That ticked him off but made him work harder.

"Dad, I'm going to be a pro."

You know what they say about the rest of the story.

It would be nice if there's a happy ending today. No offense to Allenby, but there can be no better ending than a Mediate victory.

That would mean $594,000 to Rocco, considerably more to his father.

Not that it would change Tony Mediate. He will be the same guy when he goes back home to Greensburg tonight if Rocco finishes first, 10th or 35th.

He's still going to be a proud father.

One day, after his career is finished, Rocco Mediate will realize that was his greatest accomplishment. They might end up calling him a Masters champion or an Open champion or a 10-time tour winner, but they'll never be able to say anything better about him than this:

He made his old man proud.

Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com.=