Graham DeLaet a surprise leader at the BMW Championship
Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods may be making the headlines in the playoffs but Canadian Graham DeLaet stole the show at Crooked Stick Golf Club in round one. Graham shot a stunning 8-under 64 to lead the championship after round one.
Among the leaders, Rory McIlroy was always expected to do well. Considering the kind of form he is in, everybody would want to bet on him.
Tiger Woods does not really praise his rivals but for the first time in his career, he has come out and praised his opponent, Rory McIlroy.
“He hits it great, putts it great and top of that, he’s just a really nice kid,” Woods said in some of his strongest praise ever for another player. “The game of golf is in great hands with him, and he’s here to stay”.
Bo Van Pelt was somewhat also expected to do well since Crooked Golf Club is just near his home and he has been practising here for many years.
Bo shot a magnificent 8-under 64 to finish at the top along with the likes of Rory McIlroy and Graham DeLaet.
However, surprise performance of the day came from the Canadian, Graham DeLaet. DeLaet came into the playoffs with a FedEx Cup ranking of 106 but a spring of good performance now leaves him at the 60th place.
With this standing the Canadian faces elimination but by shooting a round 64 and taking the lead after the first day means that he is on the right track.
He definitely needs to finish inside the top-3 to have any realistic chance of making it to the Tour Championship. A few more replicas of the first round and he will be in contention for the $10 million purse.
Tiger Woods also had a strong first round. He finished with a score of 65 just a stroke behind the leaders.
The crowd followed the two stars, Rory and Tiger, all around the course and their third member, Nick Watney, felt a bit left out, seeing the cheers Tiger and Rory got.
“I definitely felt left out for a while,” said Nick Watney, The Barclays winner who played with Woods and McIlroy. “But it was fun to watch. Those guys ... they’re really good. Rory swings so aggressively, but he never looks uncomfortable. I wish I could
have kept up”.
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