Out of a field of 70, Graham DeLaet tied for 28th at the BMW championship. The former Weyburn golfer earned $54,400 and had his FedExCup rating pushed two spots to seventh.
Out of a field of 70, Graham DeLaet tied for 28th at the BMW championship. The former Weyburn golfer earned $54,400 and had his FedExCup rating pushed two spots to seventh.
Luckily for DeLaet, he still qualifies for the Tour Championships, which will start Thursday, Sept. 19 and runs until Sunday, Sept. 22 at East Lake golf course in Atlanta, Geo.
At least 11 of the U.S. President's Cup team members are projected to tee it up at the Tour Championship, with Zach Johnson on the bubble. The International team will be represented by Adam Scott, Jason Day and Graham DeLaet.
There will be a nice little break between the Tour Championship and the President's Cup for DeLaet, since that event will be held Oct. 3 to 6 in Muirhead Village in Dublin, Ohio.
According to Fred Albers, a PGATour correspondent, DeLaet is one of his favorite players on the PGA Tour. "Always seems to have a great attitude and I get the feeling DeLaet is just starting to tap into his talent," said Albers. "It's as if you can almost see his confidence growing. He is a ball-striking machine and will match well with any pairing."
During the BMW championship, all the three-person starting teams were chosen based off their FedExCup points. This meant that DeLaet golfed with Phil Michelson and Matt Kuchar for the first two rounds. Then for the two-person pairings, DeLaet golfed with Brendan Steele for round three and Graeme McDowell in round four.
DeLaet started on the front nine for round one. He scored a birdie on hole two, a bogey on hole four and a birdie on hole eight. Then during the back nine, he had a bogey on hole 13, an eagle on hole 14 and another bogey on hole 18. His final score for round one was 70, one-under-par.
The greens gave DeLaet a few more bogeys than birdies during round two. He started on the back nine, shooting back-to-back bogeys on holes 12 and 13, then during the last four holes on the back nine shot birdies on holes 15 and 17, and also bogeys on holes 16 and 18.
For the front nine, DeLaet hit a birdie for hole three, back-to-back birdies on holes five and six and then another birdie on hole seven. His score for round two was 73, two-over-par.
One of the highlights during the second round was when Jim Furyk had a history-making round, scoring 59. DeLaet twitted that the score was "unreal on any course, but with that wind swirling and gusting, that round by Furyk was just remarkable. Six better than anyone else."
DeLaet started on the front nine for the third round. He scored back-to-back birdies on holes two and three, but was knocked back to par after shooting a double bogey on hole eight.
During the back nine, DeLaet had back-to-back bogeys on holes 11 and 12, but then returned back to par with back-to-back birdies on holes 13 and 14. He had another bogey on hole 17, ending the round with a 72, one-over-par.
The best round of the tournament for DeLaet was the fourth and final round, when he avoided hitting any bogeys. He shot bogeys on holes three, 11, 15 and 16 to finish the round at 67, four-under-par.
With the BMW finished, DeLaet will now concentrate on his rookie appearance at the Tour Championship. Each of the 30 players in the field at this week's Tour Championship has a chance to win the FedExCup.
There are thousands of possibilities that would allow each player to win, especially when ties are taken into account. As seventh place on the FedExCup, DeLaet does have a chance to win the $10 million prize.
DeLaet would have to win first place at the Tour Championship, while Tiger Woods (first place) finishes in a three-way tie for second, or worse; and Henrik Stenson (second place) finishes tied second or worse.
It was a successful PGA Tour year for DeLaet, who not only qualified for the Tour Championship, but earned a spot in the International Team for the President's Cup. Out of the 25 events played this year, DeLaet had one second-place finish, two third-place finishes, and seven top 10 finishes.
He only missed the cut five times.
Also by looking at his performance statistics, DeLaet has achieved other successes. He is third overall in greens in regulation percentage, and first in the total driving and ball striking categories. DeLaet is also fourth for having the longest drives, hitting a 420-yard drive this year.
