Graham DeLaet fires 7-under 63 in the 1st round of Sony Open to take the lead - Golf News
Graham DeLaet from Canada shot a seven-under 63 in the first round of the 2012 Sony Open at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii, to take the first position on the leaderboard.
DeLaet suffered a back problem and was operated last year. Demoralised by the debilitating injury, the 29-year-old Canadian found himself losing confidence and wondered if he would ever be able to play golf again.
This year, he kicked off his season with the Sony Open. While he played on the course, it did not appear as though he had been battling any injury, he displayed an outstanding game.
In the first round, he started with a birdie followed by a bogey on the par-3 fourth hole. However, he bounced back starting from the eighth when he made a birdie-eagle-birdie and went four-under par.
He carded six birdies in total and a superb eagle against his only bogey on the first day.
“It’s definitely exciting to be back on the golf course,” said DeLaet. “Just being in Hawaii, period is a great way to start the year. To come out and fire a nice round in the opening round was great”.
“You know, I was actually pretty fortunate a couple of times today. I didn’t hit it very good off the tee and that’s one thing that you really need to do around here”.
“It seemed like every time I hit it in the rough, I had a little gap through the trees or just kind of chased one off to the front edge,” he added.
Carl Pettersson, KJ Choi and Kyle Reifers were two strokes behind DeLaet. Steve Stricker, who recently emerged victorious in last week’s Africa Open, was in a 12-way tie at the fifth position.
Stricker is aiming to win for the second time in a month on Hawaii’s soil. However, he looked somewhat tired when he was displaying his game on the course. Yet, he managed four birdies on the back nine to remain in the competition.
After the first round, he said that he was a bit sluggish at times but still excited. He went on to say that when he turns around, he gets back into the competition again.
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