INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- When Rocco Mediate got the call inviting him to his first LG Skins Game, his first reaction was a combination of disbelief and utter elation.

After all, Mediate remembered watching his hero and fellow Western Pennsylvanian Arnold Palmer duel Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson in the inaugural Skins Game a quarter century ago. So, an invitation to play in the Thanksgiving weekend event was a call he never thought he'd receive.

"I didn't think they had the right number, so I told them to call me back," he said.

They had the right number -- and the right man in Mediate, who will face two-time defending champion Stephen Ames, the world's No. 3-ranked player Phil Mickelson and seven-time PGA Tour winner K.J. Choi in the $1 million Skins Game on Saturday and Sunday at the Celebrity Course at Indian Wells Golf Resort.

As Mediate tees off in his first Skins Game, Ames is angling for a share of event immortality. A third victory would make him only the second player in history -- after Payne Stewart -- to win three consecutive Skins Games.

"This is totally cool," said Mediate. "I can't believe I'm going to be a part of it.

"The LG Skins Game can be nerve-racking and it can make you jittery, but the bottom line is I'm not playing in the Skins Game to win a million dollars," Mediate said. "I'm going because A) I can't believe I'm a part of it, and B) I want to give people watching on TV an idea of what it's like to play a round of everyday golf, like you'd play with your buddies on Saturday morning."

And so Mediate will tee off with the intent of talking and bantering his way through his first Skins Game. And if winning $1 million in the Thanksgiving weekend tradition isn't at the top of his agenda, getting his game and health in shape for 2009 certainly is.

"I've battled injuries for a while, and this year and last year they came together and went away, kind of," said Mediate. "I had a bad start and then, obviously, a decent middle of the year. A good year for me. I was not very solid the first half of the year and then, all of a sudden, things happened. I almost won the big one, and it was a lot of fun. I had a decent two or three months after that, and then it's been good. It's been fine. Coming off these injuries, I'm very, very pleased."

He should be. Aside from the $1.42 million he banked in 2008 -- the sixth time he's cracked the $1 million mark -- Mediate is riding a wave of popularity that can only come from winning a major championship.

There's one small detail there: Mediate didn't win a major championship. But he came about as close as you can come without actually hoisting major hardware.

Always one of the more popular players on the PGA Tour due to his everyman persona, accessibility and willingness to try anything; he took a flyer and entered the Main Event at the 2005 World Series of Poker mere months after he took up the game and finished 600th out of 5,619 entries, Mediate discovered to his utter relief that nice guys can finish second.

The story of Mediate's magical week at Torrey Pines, where he took Tiger Woods to the 19th hole of their epic U.S. Open playoff before finally succumbing to the world's No. 1 player, wasted little time becoming part of golfing lore. In sudden death, Woods parred the par-4 seventh hole, while Mediate finally succumbed with a bogey after he drove into a fairway bunker and missed a 20-foot par putt.

"As far as being a player, I've become better," he said. "You can't get worse in that situation, but it was the battle royale I've always wanted with him and I want another one. You're always nervous and jumpy in a U.S. Open and in a playoff, especially with someone like Tiger. But there's nothing that can top Monday."

For someone who likes to experience all that life has to offer, the 2008 U.S. Open provided a life experience that Mediate will savor for the rest of his life.

"When you're playing against Tiger, you just want to -- I just didn't want to live up to the expectations of everybody else, which was to get my butt handed to me, and that wasn't going to happen," Mediate said.

"You want to be there with the best guy in any sport, and you want to see what you have. And what it did for me is it showed me that I can still do this thing, this golf thing, and I liked what I saw. I watched some of the replay stuff, and I liked what I saw, how my body did what I asked to do it a lot of times. Sometimes it didn't, but, being human, we screw up sometimes."

In the Skins Game, players compete for money for each hole rather than the low score for the round. A player must win a hole outright to win a skin. If a hole is tied, the skin(s) and money carry over to the next hole. Each of the first six holes (one through six) will be worth $25,000. Each of the second six holes (seven through 12) will be worth $50,000. Holes 13 through 17 will each be worth $70,000, and the 18th hole, the LG Super Skin, will be worth $200,000. The foursome will play for $300,000 on Saturday and $700,000 on Sunday. Twenty percent of the winnings ($200,000 total) will be donated to the players' favorite charities.

The Skins Game will air on ABC from 1:00-3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday and from 3:30-6:00 p.m. ET on Sunday.

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