Big first round in the cards for Mediate

Updated: April 6, 2006, 8:30 PM ET

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By Gene Wojciechowski
ESPN.com
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AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Rocco Mediate's guru isn't much to look at. Leather sandals. White socks. Khaki shorts. Orange shirt. Straw hat. You don't wear this to Augusta National; you wear it to clean your garage.

But here he was Thursday, standing quietly under the outstretched arms of the famed "big oak tree," which was planted here about 150 years ago and now serves as the Masters week gathering place. (By the way, 150 years is about how often a grown man not in a nursing home should wear sandals and white socks in public.)

Mediate called his opening-round 68, "one of my best rounds I've ever played."

Anyway, the guru couldn't have been prouder of Mediate's opening round of 4-under 68, which put him in second place, only one stroke behind Vijay Singh. "What'd he miss, three fairways?" said the guru, who walked all 18 holes. "And he missed those by a combined total of about 6 feet. He hit all these great shots. He made a lot of putts on the back. He hit three putts that almost went in before he made his first birdie. You could take those three putts, move each of them a collective total of about 2 inches and he'd be 7 under instead of 4 under."

This is what the guy in the leather sandals and white socks said. Wise words, especially from an 18-handicapper who is actually Mediate's poker guru, not swing guru. This might have been Greg "Fossilman" Raymer's first-ever visit to Augusta National, but already he understands the essence of this tournament: drive for show, putt for dough. Raymer knows about dough. He won $5 million when he outplayed a field of 2,576 entrants in the 2004 World Series of Poker. He won another $304,680 in last year's WSOP, when he finished 25th out of nearly 6,000 entrants. All of sudden, Mediate having to beat 89 other players to win his first major doesn't sound so hard.

But it is, of course. Mediate is 43, wakes up every morning hoping his back still works, and last broke par here in 2002. This is his best-ever Masters start, so you can understand why he needed directions to the interview room after the round.

"I haven't been in here for a while," said Mediate, as he settled into a green (of course ... it's The Masters) leather chair for the post-68 chat.

He hasn't been here because his fickle back, or his game, or both, wouldn't let him. If not for his use of a one-time PGA Tour exemption, Mediate would have been forced to go to Q School in 2005. As it was, he didn't qualify for last year's Masters.

And without his sixth-place finish in last July's U.S. Open, Mediate would have never received an invitation from Hootie Johnson to the '06 Masters. Now he's a stroke off the lead after "one of my best rounds I've ever played." Or, in Mediate poker terms: "If it was Sunday, it would be a royal flush. Today, it's four of a kind."

Four of a kind beat everyone except a royal Singh. Seeing the Veej's name on the leaderboard is no shocker. The guy has finished in the top-seven here five of the last six years. But Mediate? He's had exactly one top-15 finish in eight previous Masters and was last seen here in 2004, when he missed the cut and made the Magnolia Lane Drive of Shame. Hey, it happens.

"Yeah, I scare the crap out of everybody," he said.

AP Photo/Joe CavarettaRaymer took a break from poker to see what was in the cards for buddy Mediate.

Nobody is interested in Mediate's jacket size just yet, but if the newly configured course continues to play dry and fast, who knows? On Thursday, he putted like "Caddyshack's" Ty Webb ("Nana-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh") and savored every moment of a sun-smooched day that belonged on an Augusta National calendar cover.

Better yet, he didn't whine about the much-publicized changes to the course, which plays 155 yards longer after six holes were tinkered with. Pro golfers are famous for whining about anything, including the color of their courtesy Cadillacs. Not Mediate.

Earlier this week, at an AT&T corporate outing, Mediate was asked about the controversial course changes. He said the same thing each time.

"It's supposed to be hard," he told the suits. "You got any complaints, stay home."

Mediate doesn't want to stay home. He wants to play, no matter if Hootie stretches the course to nearby Aiken, S.C. If you spend enough time on golf's disabled list, as Mediate has during his career, you quit worrying about yardage markers.

"My body actually did what I asked it today," said the king of Pilates. "And it better keep listening."

What are the odds of Mediate winning this thing? About the same for Raymer making GQ's Best Dressed list. Then again, nobody outside the greater Raymer family had heard of the patent attorney until he cashed that $5 million WSOP check.

Raymer and Mediate met last summer at the WSOP in Vegas. Raymer gave him some Hold 'Em tips; Mediate gave him some complimentary Callaways. This past January, Raymer visited Mediate's home in Naples, Fla., and played online poker with him. One time he even subbed for Mediate during an online sit-and-go tournament.

"I lost though," said Raymer, who now lives in Raleigh.

Mediate wants Raymer to widen his stance -- toes in, heel out. Raymer wants Mediate to bogart every player at the table with aggressive, timely betting. It almost worked at the '05 WSOP. Mediate finished 600th. The top 560 got paid.

"That's like missing the cut by one," said Raymer.

Raymer had to bug out after Thursday's round. He needs to get to Pinehurst for a poker seminar, but he'll be monitoring Mediate via CBS.

"I wish I could be here when he wins the green jacket Sunday," said Raymer.

I looked into his eyes. I don't think he was bluffing.

Gene Wojciechowski is the senior national columnist for ESPN.com. You can contact him at gene.wojciechowski@espn3.com.