Note: Localizing a big event. Without many Michigan ties to the field of the PGA Championship in 2008 at Oakland Hills, we had to resort to writing about the caddies. Achatz is a great guy and I also hooked him up with my friend Jamie Samuelsen for a radio interview on WDFN-1130 AM. Published Aug. 7, 2008.
BLOOMFIELD TWP. -- Rocco Mediate has dreams of making his first Ryder Cup team.
His caddie, St. Clair's Matt Achatz, feels like he's already living his own dream.
The pair is hoping for a strong weekend in one of golf most prestigious events so they can qualify for another of golf's most prestigious events.
The upcoming Ryder Cup looms and Mediate is right in the thick of things, hoping to fill one of 12 spots on the American team in the international event.
A strong finish this weekend at the PGA Championship for Mediate at Bloomfield Township's Oakland Hills Country Club could solidify Mediate's spot on the team.
"I've got a shot and that's all you can really ask for," Mediate said Wednesday. "It would be a lot of fun, though. I can tell you that."
Mediate is ranked No. 12 on the Americans' qualifying point standings. The top eight players will make the team, with longtime Mediate friend Paul Azinger selecting four captain's picks from the rest of the field.
A Ryder Cup appearance would've been out of the question if not for a recent summertime surge by Mediate, a 45-year-old everyman.
By his side all year has been Achatz, who will be on Mediate's bag for the 22nd tournament beginning this afternoon when the pair tees off at 1:25.
"I'm the wily veteran now," Achatz joked. "I don't know what I did to be blessed with the situation, but I consider myself to be in the best situation ever."
Achatz, a former St. Clair County Community College golfer, helped Mediate to a second-place finish at the U.S. Open this summer, losing a 19-hole playoff to Tiger Woods in one of the most memorable weekends in golf history.
Achatz, 32, brings a unique expertise to Oakland Hills, having served as a caddie at the course for two summers earlier this decade before the course was redone for this weekend.
"It's absolutely completely different," he said. "The only things that didn't change are the greens and hole No. 3. It was a tough golf course then, and it's going to be even tougher now."
Oakland Hills is expected to frustrate players all weekend and Achatz' experience with the greens could be a distinct advantage for the pair. But that might be oversimplifying things, he said.
"The key to putting isn't how good Rocco and I see (the greens), it's all about speed on that week or that given day," Achatz said. "There are 156 amazing players this week that can all play well if they bring their game."
Especially without Woods in the field, a bit of Rocco-mania has spread throughout the galleries this summer. That hasn't changed anything for Team Mediate, Achatz said.
"He was popular before," Achatz said. "And obviously, he's doing much better now. But he's the same person he was when I started caddying."
Mediate played nine holes Wednesday at Oakland Hills, his first practice round of the week. It's unusual for a player to not play more on the course in the days leading up to a major.
"I'm tired right now," Mediate said. "There's no tricks, obviously, just a lot of long clubs for me, and I enjoy hitting them. So hopefully they will be on (today)."
Mediate has been trying out new drivers all week on the practice range as his old one snapped en route to the U.S. Open in June.
Choosing one has been difficult and arduous, Achatz said, especially with a career goal like the Ryder Cup just within reach.
"For Rocco, his whole team and everyone behind him, we all want to make that team so bad," Achatz said. "We would rather make it without being a captain's pick, too."
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