By: Jessica Marksbury May 29, 2021

Rocco Mediate is in the hunt for his second senior major.

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Its been a long two days at the 2021 Senior PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thursdays opening round was suspended at 3:48 p.m. local time due to dangerous weather. At 6 p.m. local time, it was officially called for the day. That meant players whose rounds were still in progress had to arrive bright and early on Friday to finish what remained of their opening rounds, and then complete their second rounds too.

Fifty-eight-year-old Rocco Mediate was one of those players. Mediate ended up playing 27 holes on Friday, and is in contention yet again at the tournaments halfway mark after firing rounds of 68-69. He was three-under overall after 36 holes, and four shots behind leader Mike Weir.

While Phil Mickelson made headlines by crediting his healthy lifestyle with helping him to become the oldest player to win a major at the PGA Championship, Mediate shared that hes also made positive lifestyle changes over the past few years and pointed to one regimen in particular that helped him succeed during Fridays marathon day of play.

Got myself in better shape over the last four, five years, Mediate said after his round. Dropped a whole bunch of weight and I spent a lot of time on the VersaClimber. And thats what made the 27 holes not a big deal.

The VersaClimber is a piece of gym equipment that engages both the arms and the legs in a climbing motion.

I wasnt very tired, Mediate continued. And I kept telling [caddie] Murph, Thats why I climb. You have days like this, its wet, windy, brutal golf course. If you get tired its going to be even worse.

Though he has six career victories on the PGA Tour, Mediate is perhaps most famous for going toe-to-toe with Tiger Woods at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Mediate eventually lost to Woods in a playoff. Hes since gone on to a successful Champions Tour career, with four victories, including a major: the 2016 Senior PGA Championship.

Will Mediate add another major to that tally this week? That remains to be seen, but one thing seems sure: energy wont be a problem.

As a four-year member of Columbias inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where shes primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLFs inaugural Style Issue, which debuted in February 2018. Her original interview series, A Round With, debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.

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Rocco Mediate credits this piece of workout equipment with giving him the stamina he needs for 27-hole days - Golf.com