PGA of Canada

I f there's one thing Graham DeLaet has learned since hitting the PGA Tour four years ago, it is that you've got to accentuate the positive and shake off the negative. of course, that's easier said than done. DeLaet has risen to a level only one other Canadian golfer—Mike Weir—has managed in the last decade. e Weyburn, Sask. native now hovers around the Top 30 in the world golf rankings; has played on the Presidents Cup team, where he famously bettered 20-something upstart Jordan Spieth on the final hole of singles competition; and has gar- nered a reputation as one of the game's great ballstrikers. His success this year has seen a pair of runner-up finishes, his third in the last 12 months. He's led the tour in greens hit in regulation, a stat that indicates just how strong his iron play is, for much of the year. But golf is almost two games—one played with woods and irons, and the other with a putter. And DeLaet's putter has a tendency of negating his great play on the fairways. "It is frustrating," DeLaet admits. "I hit it well enough to win in New orleans and finished 30th. But I drove it well and you have to take positives out of it. But you need to make putts because that's how you score." But DeLaet isn't letting it get the better of him. Instead he does what comes naturally— he goes to work on fixing the problem. Which is perhaps why he's had such success since turning pro in 2010. Com- ing from a group of talented young golfers who played on Canada's na- tional amateur team almost a decade ago, DeLaet was not the pick of the group. others, like Andrew Parr and Canadian Amateur champ richard Scott, received more at- tention. And prior to winning on the Canadian Tour (now PGA Tour Canada) in 2008, DeLaet was nearly broke, faced with tough decisions while he chased his dream. But he turned it around, winning regularly before making his way onto the PGA Tour two years later. Even aer retaining his status on the PGA Tour in his rookie year, DeLaet had hur- dles to overcome. In that instance it was significant back surgery that kept him away from the game for almost an entire season. Interestingly it is the same surgery that Tiger Woods recently had, leading many to ask DeLaet about his experience. "It is the first time I've been compared to Tiger Woods so I'll take it," DeLaet jokes. But truthfully he can't speak to Woods' situation, other than to compare it to his own rehab stint, which included a false start in the middle of 2011 when DeLaet made an at- tempt to return to the sport only to cut it short. "I'm not a doctor and I can't compare with what he's going through," he says. "I know it took me a long time to get back, but he's got great people around him. Two weeks before he had the surgery, he was playing golf. For a month before mine, I couldn't sit down." While DeLaet's back didn't hurt during his premature re- turn to the game, it wasn't where he needed it to be. "From a day-to-day health perspective it felt fine," he says. "But three days out of the week I didn't feel like I was moving well enough. If I was hitting it at 75% I couldn't compete on the PGA Tour. I wanted those days to be few and far between. Tiger might be able to compete and win at 75%. He's a lot better than anyone else." ese days DeLaet hits the gym in Scottsdale, AZ, four days a week to keep up the strength in his core and take pressure off his back. e gym is full >> 33  | SPrING 2014

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