Rocco Mediate won the Allianz Championship at Boca Raton, Florida on Sunday.  He just turned 50 years old in December and it was the first Champions Tour event that he was eligible to enter.

Mediate shot a five-under par 67 in the first round on Friday and lit up the Old Course at Broken Sound with a course record 11-under par 61 on Saturday to jump into the lead. He finished the win off with a one-under par 71 on Sunday to hold off Tom Pernice Jr. who turned in a brilliant 66 but fell two shots short of the winner.

Mediate turned professional after helping Florida Southern College win the 1985 NCAA Division II National Team Championship. Lee Jantzen was also member of that team.

He made 380 cuts in 566 starts over his 27-year PGA Tour career. He had six PGA Tour career wins and earned over $15 million.  He was also the first player to win a PGA Tour event using a long putter when he won in 1991 at Doral.

Mediate is best known for and will go down in golf history as the player who pushed Tiger Woods in the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Woods played on a broken leg that required surgery after the tournament was completed.

Mediate who finished ahead of Woods in the final round had to watch from the scorer’s tent as Woods rolled in a down-hill putt to tie Mediate after 72 holes and force the 18-hole playoff on Monday.

Mediate took a one-shot lead into the final hole in the Monday playoff and Woods once again made birdie to tie Mediate and force sudden-death.

Woods finally prevailed on the first sudden-death playoff hole when Mediate made bogey and Woods made a par. The 2008 U.S. Open was the 14th and last major that Tiger Woods has won thus far in his career. 

Back problems plagued Mediate throughout his career and prevented him from practicing and playing a full schedule for many years.

He still had a solid PGA Tour career and may become a factor on the Champions Tour.

2012 Charles Schwab Cup runner-up Bernhard Langer finished tied for second with Pernice.  Tom Lehman who has won the Charles Schwab Cup the last two years finished T-6.  John Cook who won the first Champions Tour event of the year in Hawaii finished T-9.

The next event for the Champions Tour will be held this week at Twin Eagles Golf Club in Naples, Florida.