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Major Impact (continued)

INTERVIEW BY ELI MILLERPublished: February, 2009

Tiger Woods wound up with the Open trophy, but Mediate loved being along for the ride (Photo: USGA).
Do you feel like the added exposure has put more pressure on you to succeed?
No, no, no. It’s taken it off. Because ... a lot of people would say, well, I almost won the U.S. Open, I’ve got to get better. I just want to continue doing what I’m doing. I’ve actually become a much better putter and pitcher. I’m always improving there, but as far as changing things because you did well, that makes no sense to me, so I’m going to try to continue the same things.

It also showed me that I can play under the gun and my golf swing does work now — quite well at times — under the most intense of feelings out there. You just never know until you put yourself in that situation. I was very pleased with the result. Obviously, I wanted to win, but as far as getting the ball around the golf course and doing things in front of the world, it was really cool. You just dream about that stuff. It was just a dream.

What have you been doing to get your game ready for 2009?
Actually, Wednesday, January 7, was the first time I hit a golf ball since December 14, 2008. I took some time. I never stopped from June on, and I had some good events in there and played OK. It’s like people expect you, if you win a major or finish near the top like I did, they think you can do it every week, but I can’t. I’m not Tiger. No one’s Tiger.
I’m just doing the same things, working on the same things on my golf swing that I’ve been working on for the last four or five years with Jimmy Ballard and working a lot on putting — mostly putting and chipping.

Did your experience at Torrey Pines make you hungrier for a major championship?
It made me know that if I do happen to get there again, I’ll have some more experience under my belt. It was invaluable. You can’t really buy that. It’s a totally different ballgame playing against Tiger. In the U.S. Open, things can be equalized, and they pretty much were for five days.

Are you looking forward to returning to Torrey Pines and the rest of the West Coast Swing?
It’ll be nice. It won’t be nearly the same golf course. It’ll be a lot wetter, colder, it could be rainy. It’ll be a lot longer and slower — it certainly won’t be an Open setup. Riviera is my favorite tournament golf course. I love Riviera, another George Thomas golf course. It’s just a striker’s golf course. You’ve got to move your ball around. It’s been my favorite for 24 years.

You’ve been working with caddie Matt Achatz for about a year. How much has working with him helped your game?
Matty has made my job easier because he’s the opposite of me. He’s very meticulous. He’s into statistics, which I am not; he’s into drills, which I am not. We do a lot of putting drills, which has helped me. He’s very good with his numbers. He’s very efficient.

He loves what he’s doing. That’s what I love most about him. He really loves his job, and it’s hard to find guys that love their job that much. And we’re really good buddies. He knows his place, and I know my place. He’s tough on me when he needs to be, and he’s not afraid to say something to me. I’d rather someone say something to me than not.

Describe your relationship with esteemed Los Angeles teaching pro Eddie Merrins.
Jimmy Ballard is my swing teacher. He’s responsible for getting me to where I have been over the last few years as far as making my golf swing more efficient. I started working a little bit with Eddie two years ago at Riviera. No golf swing stuff, but little putting drills. He’s been a lot of fun.

How has your relationship with Cindi Hilfman boosted your life both on and off the golf course?
Cindi and I have become very good friends. She saved me a couple of years ago at Riviera and fixed my back and keeps it in one piece, thank God. It’s made a big difference. It’s allowed me to do what I want to do, and that’s continue to play and not be out for three or four weeks at a time. She’s definitely been one of the main reasons I’ve had some reasonable success. As far as physically, it’s been remarkable. She’s just very, very good at what she does. She has a lot of good docs on her team, that’s helped me a little bit, too. It’s been a perfect match for me.

You’re 46. What do you want to accomplish for the rest of your career as a professional golfer?
I just want to keep improving. I don’t feel 46 by any stretch of the imagination. I still hit it far enough. I still want to win more golf tournaments. I’d like to get in the hunt at more majors, somehow. I think I have one of those in me, I really do. I’ve just got to get there. It’s just hard to get there. What Tiger’s done is — it’s just ridiculous what that man’s done. He’s just there all the time. It’s just so hard to do.