Canada’s DeLaet set to take on the PGA’s best

SASKATOON — If Graham DeLaet were to roll up his pant legs today while standing on the No. 10 tee box of Honolulu’s Waialae Country Club, a tattoo of a Canadian flag would be revealed on the back of his calf muscle.

Canada will soon be watching the Weyburn, Sask., natives progress on the PGA Tour, ready to milk it for all its worth.

Already considered one of the most promising newcomers on the PGA Tour, DeLaet — who turns 28 later this month — is about to grip it and rip it in the PGA Tour’s Sony Open. He will tee it up in Honolulu in Thursday’s opening round with Rich Barcelo of the U.S., and Daisuke Maruyama of Japan.

Craig Dolch, of PGAtour.com, writes that, among the rookies to make it through Q-school, DeLaet is among those with the best chance of making an impact — along with Troy Merritt, Rickie Fowler, Billy Horschel and Cameron Tringale. “He’s a long hitter who seemed unruffled by the pressures of Q-school,” Dolch said of DeLaet.

During the final stage of Q-school, Golf Channel commentators raved about DeLaet’s PGA Tour potential.

And then there’s that big following back home in Saskatchewan, where one of its native sons has gone on to beat incredible odds by earning his PGA Tour card.

“He’s travelled the globe this past year in order to give himself the best chance of doing what he’s doing right now and that’s being on the PGA Tour,” says Daniel Rauckman, executive director for the Saskatchewan Golf Association.

“He’s worked his butt off to get where he is. There aren’t many guys, I think, in the world who have travelled as much as he did for golf and to see it all come to this success is awesome.

“For three years of trying to go through the second Q-stage and going through that frustration and just the extra work he is done, this is truly amazing.”

DeLaet developed his game during the shortened golf season as a junior golfer in Weyburn, where he has truly made his mark.

During the Christmas season, Titleist golf caps, with “Graham’s Gallery” inscribed across the front, were flying off the shelves at his old stomping grounds, the Weyburn Golf Club.

“For sure, the biggest seller,” says Dean Toles, head professional at the Weyburn Club. “He’s made sure that all the profit from that goes back to junior golf back in Weyburn. It kind of speaks to his character, that he’s looking out for his own course and looking at junior golf as a priority.

“The members love him. From watching his game, he has progressed so well and really proven that he can win at all these levels now. It hasn’t really shocked that many people. They all knew he could do it.”

DeLaet also spent a summer working in the back shop at Saskatoon’s Riverside Country Club for head professional Earl Scott.

Scott is actually is on holidays in Hawaii, where he is among a number of Saskatchewan people on hand to watch DeLaet.

“He was a pretty good player prior to him coming there (Riverside),” Scott recalled Wednesday from Honolulu. “We just gave him the opportunity to come out and work on his game and help out the younger kids. I just thought of him more as a role model for the younger kids, who were members, as opposed to an employee.

“I don’t know if we played a big part in shaping his game other than giving him an opportunity to hang out. It was great having him around.

“I’m extremely happy for everybody in Saskatchewan and Canada — to have another Canadian on the Tour is wonderful.”

DeLaet, a former Saskatchewan Amateur champion (2004, 2005) and 2004 Canadian Amateur medallist, won 10 collegiate titles during his NCAA playing days at Boise State University. As an amateur, he finished second at the 2005 TELUS Edmonton Open, becoming a member of Canada’s national amateur team through the 2006 season.

DeLaet moved on to play on the Canadian Tour, where he had an outstanding 2007 rookie season by making 11 of 14 cuts and seven top-10 finishes. In 2008, he won the Desjardins Montreal Open and represented Canada at the World Cup.

This past season, DeLaet kicked things off by finishing tied for second at the 2009 Vodacom Championship and the Telkom PGA on South Africa’s Sunshine Tour. He went on to become the top golfer on the Canadian Tour in 2009, capturing the Order of Merit title with wins at both the 2009 ATB Financial Classic and Players Cup to go along with a second-place finish at the 2009 City of Surrey Invitational, third at TELUS Edmonton Open and fourth at 2009 Desjardins Montreal Open.

Back in fall, DeLaet captured the 2009 BMG Classic on the South African Tour and 2009 World Cup qualifier with Stuart Anderson before surviving the PGA Tour Q-school, where he cracked the top 10 with an eighth-place finish thanks to a lengthy birdie putt on the final hole.

“That putt, as it turns out, was big,” said DeLaet. “Because of that putt, I might get into a couple more (PGA Tour) tournaments.”

At Q-school, DeLaet finished ahead of such PGA Tour notables as former world No. 1 player and British Open champion David Duval ($17.5-million in PGA career winnings), Tim Herron ($16.3-million in PGA career winnings) and Jesper Parnevik ($15.2-million in PGA career earnings).

He also topped Tom Pernice Jr. (13.4-million PGA earnings), Jonathan Kaye ($10.5-million PGA winnings), Chris Riley ($9.9-million PGA winnings), Carlos Franco ($9.3-million), Joe Ogilvie ($8.5-million PGA winnings), Shaun Micheel ($7.75-million, 2003 PGA Championship), Paul Stankowski ($6.3-million PGA career), Todd Hamilton (2004 British Open and Honda Classic champion, $5-million PGA winnings), Kenny Duke (22nd on the PGA Tour money list in 2008 with $2,238,885), Dicky Pride ($3,335,298) and Darron Stiles ($1,418,842), among others.

“I was in good condition all the way through so I don’t think it was quite as stressful for me as it was for a lot of guys,” assessed DeLaet. “Coming back the Back 9, even though I had a pretty good cushion, I was the most nervous I’ve ever been on the golf course.”

Hamilton, Parnevik and Franco all started but did not finish the third stage.

“We were casually nervous,” said his father, Norm DeLaet. “All we wanted him to do was finish as high as he could. Every place that you place higher up obviously gives you more (tournament) opportunities, so we were cheering more for that than we were worried about him making the Tour.”

The final stage included 108 gruelling holes with the top 25 golfers and ties earning PGA Tour cards for the 2010 season. Over 1,300 applications were taken for Q-school, which included five pre-qualifying sites, 13 first-stage sites and six second-stage sites.

This year’s Q-school champion, Troy Merritt, also played at Boise State — after DeLaet graduated.

However, the two of them are regular playing partners in Boise, where DeLaet estimates they’ve played “a 100 rounds” together.

Saskatoon StarPhoenix