Andrew Redington / Getty Images

Rocco Mediate, 45, reacts after sinking a birdie putt on the 18th hole to shoot a 1-under 69 in the first round of the British Open on Thursday.

Then a mutual friend introduced him to a physical therapist named Cindi Hilfman. Instead of the four or five “adjustments” Mediate required weekly from his chiropractors to stay upright, she designed a workout regimen that stressed strengthening the rest of his body. Mediate bought into the idea when, a few weeks after they started working together, he finished second at Bay Hill.

She still tweaks his back or his muscles when required, such as the 11th hole on Thursday, when Mediate walked off the green, lay down in the rough on his side, and Hilfman held his spine steady so he could rotate his hip muscle and get it back into a comfortable spot.

“It makes a popping sound sometimes,” Hilfman laughed,” and when people hear it, they go, ’Whoo!’

“Rocco’s no spring chicken,” she added. “But compared to what he used to do to try and play, this has worked out well.”

Once Mediate began believing his back was strong enough, battling Woods down the stretch and into overtime at the U.S. Open convinced him his heart was stout enough to keep playing, too.

“I don’t know, I think I still have one of these (majors) in me. Whether it’s this week or this month, or next year, whatever. I don’t feel like I’m on my way out. I feel like I just got a new — it’s just starting again. I feel that way,” Mediate said. “Whether it happens or not, I really don’t — it’s almost like I don’t really care.

“I just want to get in the situation to see what I really have. That,” he concluded. “is what you want to test.”