Rocco uses Utah spotlight to take rip at poke-along golfers

LEHI — Rocco Mediate would rather have his fingernails pulled off than endure slow play on a golf course.

Mediate, famous for his U.S. Open battle to the wire with Tiger Woods in 2008 at Torrey Pines, makes his first appearance at the Sorenson Champions Challenge at Thanksgiving Point today.

Mediate, known for his quips, jokes and sure-fire commentary, is the latest golf personality to make this event.

The Champions Challenge field includes legends like Johnny Miller, Billy Casper and Hale Irwin, but Mediate says PGA Tour veterans and former BYU golfers Mike Weir and Dean Wilson should be favored in the two-man scramble event.

Just don't get Mediate started on poke-along play on a course. He hates it. His boyhood hero is Tom Watson because of his fast pace of play. You get the idea Rocco, a machine-gun quote kind of guy, has little patience for those who hover, stare or waggle, waggle, waggle before they hit the ball.

I have to agree.

So does Billy Casper.

Asked the best advice he had for golfers, Casper, the Hall of Famer, said: "Miss it fast."

In other words, if you take a ton of time to hit the ball, if you dawdle over a shot, take protracted and hesitant moments to line it up and execute it — then miss it — you look pretty stupid.

Miss it fast.

Mediate brought up this issue on Monday while talking with reporters. He even hinted at how slow play bothers him a week ago while making an appearance with LPGA star Natalie Gulbis at a charity event in New Jersey. Everywhere he goes, he's asked about his run against Tiger, who defeated him playing on an injured leg at Torrey Pines.

Last week, Mediate told a Staten Island (N.Y.) Advance golf writer:

"In 4½ hours out there, when it should have taken three hours because Tiger took forever to play his shots, I got to test everything I ever learned about golf, and everything I got just didn't work."

On Monday, Mediate was asked if he hung out with PGA buddies off the course.

Somehow this led to his dislike for slow play. How he made that transition is a mystery, but it underscored his hatred for folks dragging around a golf course.

"Slow play makes me nauseous," he said.

"I think it's disrespectful to the field. Some people say this guy's such a nice guy but he plays slow. No, he's disrespectful.

"If you hold up the entire field one, two or three times, you've got to speed up. The golf swing takes 1.4 seconds from start to finish. Some think they have to take another minute before every shot. They've got 40 seconds and that makes me angry.