Graham DeLaet tied for ninth place while at the Farmers Insurance Open, held on the Torrey Pines Golf Course in California from Jan. 24 to 28. The tournament was delayed a day, due to rain and fog that prevented play during the weekend.
Graham DeLaet tied for ninth place while at the Farmers Insurance Open, held on the Torrey Pines Golf Course in California from Jan. 24 to 28.
The tournament was delayed a day, due to rain and fog that prevented play during the weekend. Despite the weather delays, DeLaet still earned $146,400 for his week.
The payday jumped DeLaet to 61st on the FedExCup standings. He was at 120th before the Farmers Insurance Open, after competing at the Sony Open and the Humana Challenge so far during the 2013 season.
The former Weyburn athlete did mention the golf course where he learned the game during the weekend while at the Farmers Open. After receiving an online question of what is the best 19th hole bar and grill room in Canadian golf, DeLaet tweeted in response, "Weyburn Golf Club, hands down".
DeLaet started the tournament on the north course of the Torrey Pines for round one. During the front nine he shot birdies on holes one, four and give, with one bogey on hole eight.
Then during the back nine, DeLaet had a bogey on hole 12, then three back-to-back birdies on holes 13, 14 and 15, before shooting another bogey on hole 17. He finished round one at four under par, at 68.
For the second round of the tournament, DeLaet competed on the South Course of the Torrey Pines. He started on the back nine, and stayed on par until the 17th and 18th holes, where he shot back-to-back birdies.
While playing the front nine of the second round, DeLaet shot two more birdies on holes three and six. For a moment, he was in second place on the leaderboard, chasing the leader Tiger Woods. Then he double-bogeyed hole eight, and ended the second round at 70, two-under-par.
After two rounds, the cut was set at one-under-par, and DeLaet was well above that mark to continue his competition.
DeLaet started the third round with a bogey on hole one, while playing the South Course. He shot at par for the rest of the front nine. Then during the back nine, he shot birdies on holes 13 and 15, then took another bogey on hole 16. DeLaet finished round three at 72, right on par.
For the final round of the day, DeLaet started on the front nine of the South Course again. This time he shot birdies on holes five and six, then a bogey on hole seven. Then during the back nine, he had a birdie on hole 10, two bogeys on holes 11 and 14, then a birdie on hole 17.
He finished round four at 71, one-under-par. With a total score of seven-under-par, DeLaet was tied with Brad Fritsch as the top Canadians on the course. Both Canadian golfers performed better than Mike Weir, who tied at 68th, and David Hearn and Stephen Ames, who were cut.
According to the World Golf Rankings, DeLaet is currently the top Canadian golfer. Hearn is in second place, and Fritsch is currently in third place.
Graham started his rookie year with the PGA in 2010, where he claimed the top Canadian title his first year after finishing in the top 100. He was unable to golf for much of 2011, since he had to get back surgery.
But during his comeback year in 2012, he topped the $1 million mark and made the playoffs.
The next tournament for DeLaet will be the Waste Management Phoenix Open, held in Arizona starting on Thursday, Jan. 31 to Sunday, Feb. 3.
