Does Rocco Mediate still love playing golf and competing at the age of 61 as much as he did more than 33 years ago when the brash, mop-topped 27-year old from Greensburg, Pa., won the first of his six PGA Tour titles at Doral?
“Yes, he does,” said Mediate, after posting a 66 on Saturday at the Timuquana Country Club to earn a share of the lead in the Constellation Furyk & Friends with Bob Estes, at 11-under-par 133.
And he’s primarily motivated by a numbers game that would show some remarkable career consistency: Mediate has won a combination of 10 PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions titles in his 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s and is the final group on Sunday with a chance to add a trophy for his 60s.
“That would be cool,” Mediate said. “It’s hard to do, as we all know.”
Mediate is making it look all too easy through 36 holes.
Mediate, Estes made runs on opposite sides of the course
Mediate shot 4-under on the front nine to surge into the lead, capped by a bunker shot he holed for birdie at the par-4 ninth hole. He turned and made his only bogey of the week at No. 10, but birdied Nos. 11, 12 and 15, then made two clutch par putts of 4 feet at Nos. 16 and 18 to save his spot in the last group.
Estes (67) made his run on the back nine, going 5-under during a five-hole stretch that began when he holed a 60-degree wedge from 87 yards at the par-4 12th hole.
World Golf Hall of Fame member and three-time major champion Vijay Singh of nearby Ponte Vedra Beach and Mario Tiziani shot their second 68s of the week and are tied at 8-under, three behind Mediate and Estes.
Singh, in the same group with Tiziani, putted out first to get a spot in the final threesome, which will tee off nearly two hours early at 9:51 a.m. because of Sunday’s weather forecast.
Singh could have an edge on a wet course
Singh failed to make a birdie on the front-nine par-5 holes but birdied both on the back. He had a stellar ball-striking day, missing only two fairways and two greens.
“It was solid … I drove the ball well and left a couple out there,” he said. “The par-5s [were] in position to make birdies and [I] did not. That was disappointing because you got to take advantage of the length here. Had few opportunities out there but played pretty solid. Did not do anything drastically wrong, you know, so happy the way I’m playing.”
Estes said if the course takes on more rain, Singh might have the edge with his power off the tee.
“The guys that don’t hit it or carry it as far are affected more by the rain than others,” he said. “The golf course could be softer with the rain that’s supposed to come tonight. I like a much firmer, faster golf course. Somebody like Vijay carries the ball is long way, and so she’s got a little bit of an advantage in that regard over me and Rocco, who like to hit it and chase it down the fairway.”
However, Mediate and Estes are doing pretty well with that formula.
Mediate has missed only three fairways and eight greens in the first two rounds, and Estes bounced back from an indifferent driving day in the first round to hit 12 of 14 fairways, setting himself up to hit 16 of 18 greens.
All three players looking for elusive victory
Estes is looking for his first Champions Tour victory. Mediate won the last of his four Champions titles in 2019 (a span of 98 starts) and Singh last won at the 2023 Ally Championship, 25 starts ago.
They’ve all been close this season. Mediate and Singh both tied for third at the Pure Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach two weeks ago, the second top-10 finish in a row for both.
Estes has five top-10s this season and 18 for his career.
“I am onto something and I am staying with it and I’m trusting it out there,” Mediate said of some set-up changes and a new-found confidence in hitting fades. “The cool thing is I’m getting to trust it under the gun. It always matters, but now it matters even more. The shots are coming off, not all of them perfect, but they’re coming off. That’s good.”
Singh said his finish at Pebble Beach took him aback after taking a month off, admitting “I just kind of didn’t want to be here.”
He said he’s refreshed and encouraged by his play at Pure Insurance.
“That was a surprise after four weeks off,” he said. “I think the game has always been there. It’s my head that’s never been there. I think I’m feeling a little bit better upstairs so that’s kind of helping the golf game … so just had a good talk to myself and I said if I need to play I got to play a lot or don’t play.”
Estes won four times on the PGA Tour but the last was 22 years ago at the Kemper Open.
“I just like to win anything,” he said. “een too long since I’ve won. I’m not afraid to win. I just have to keep performing and get it done.”
Perhaps this is a good sign: After eight PGA Tour Champions seasons, Estes is a 36-hole leader or co-leader for the first time.
Points leader Ernie Els back in the pack
Ernie Els, who entered the week as the Schwab Cup money leader, had a 69 but is tied for 24th at 4-under. He’s playing in interesting threesome with Retief Goosen (70) and Angel Cabrera (69): they have combined to win five U.S. Opens, Els and Goosen two each.
Freddie Jacobson of Sweden, who is playing in his first Champions Tour event through a sponsor exemption, was in a three-way tie for the lead after a first-round 66. He made two quick birdies on Saturday but grabbed his left shoulder in pain after his tee shot at No. 4, and bogeyed his next three holes.
After being treated by an EMS on duty at the course on the seventh tee, Jacobson birdied the par-3. He hen bogeyed four of six holes on the back and rallied with birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 for a 74. He has not withdrawn from the tournament as of Sunday night.
Defending champion Brett Quigley (71) is also at 4-under. Jacksonville native David Duval (74), who grew up playing Timuquana, and Davis Love III of St. Simons Island, Ga., are 1-under and tournament host Jim Furyk (74) is 3-over.
Scores remain low
For the second day in a row, the field broke a scoring record as they continue to take advantage of having preferred lies. The players averaged 71.385, a tournament record for the second round and the third-lowest overall.
For the second day in a row, 24 players shot in the 60s and 50 players are under par for the tournament.
Eighteen players will begin the final round within five shots of Mediate and Estes.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Rocco Mediate, Bob Estes tied for the 36-hole lead in Furyk & Friends
