Just Who the Hell Does Rocco Mediate Think He Is?

Notes from the tail end of the FedEx Cup run at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro.

Rocco Mediate charmed the pants off of America with his beguiling smile and tireless attacking of a one-ACL'd Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open. People knew who Rocco was before that, but they didn't love him. Now ... they freaking love him.

So it was great news for the Wyndham Championship when the two time former winner committed to come to Greensboro and play. He is, after all, arguably the second or third biggest crowd drawer in golf available (Phil's not playing and Tiger is injured), which is scary in it's own right, but important when you consider the Piedmont Triad's need for a big turn out.

However, if you've been following the Wyndham at all this weekend, you have likely noticed Rocco's absence from the field. From the press release last week:

Rocco Mediate, Angel Cabrera and J.B. Holmes have withdrawn from the Wyndham field, it was announced today. Mediate withdrew to spend time with his family

Aw. Well, that's nice and all, but Rocco's reason was later specified as "fatigue". So, not: "Family emergency." Which, frankly, is the only thing that should have kept him from competing in this tournament.
Now, before you get all upset at my chastising the other-worldly Rocco (and believe me, no one was more disgusted by Johnny Miller's poolman comment than this guy), please be aware that he is a two time champion of the Piedmont Triad tournament and tremendous fan favorite in this area, even well before he became America's new sweetheart.

So, his unwillingness to play in this event is kind of tough to stomach if you're either a local golf fan or a long time follower of the tournament. Now, all that being said, Rocco's played 23 events this year, so yeah, he should be tired.
But what worries me is that our fondness for Rocco might have given him a little bit of a head-swole. You never would have seen Mediate cancel on a tournament where he's won twice before his recent tussle with Tiger -- now he was perfectly willing to bow out right as the tournament was really building steam.

And sure, the Wyndham still landed plenty of big names but with Vijay Singh and a few others whiffing on the cut, it's still ends up being a pretty negative turn for the folks that have treated Rocco so well in the past.