Rocco Mediate Reveals He Was 'Habitual Alcoholic' Who Drank During PGA Events

PGA Tour veteran Rocco Mediate said he drank on occasion during tournaments and called himself a "habitual alcoholic" during an interview with Golf Channel's Vince Cellini. 

"Absolutely I have [played while drinking]," Mediate said. "Because it was just normal for me. It was just a daily ritual, let's say. You can put it in a lot of places. A lot of places. Was it every time? No. But most of the time when the pain came in, it wasn't not going to happen."

Mediate told Cellini he stopped drinking in October 2017.

"I couldn't tell you since last October, years before that, a day I went without having a drink," he said. "I knew at the time that eventually it was going to get me."

Mediate, who suffered from back injuries often during his career, related his substance abuse issues with those of Tiger Woods, who was arrested in May 2017 on suspicion of driving under the influence. A toxicology test discovered five different drugs in Woods' system at the time of his arrest.

Mediate said the biggest difference between himself and Woods was that he didn't get caught in such a public manner: "But when it comes to that type of pain, you'll basically do whatever it takes to be able to go, 'Oh, that feels better.'"

The 56-year-old Mediate has six victories on the PGA Tour and three wins on the PGA Tour Champions circuit. 

He's most remembered from his runner-up finish to Woods at the 2008 U.S. Open. Mediate and Woods required an 18-hole playoff and a sudden-death hole to determine a winner.