To win a major championship, you need to have luck on your side. Graham DeLaet paired that luck with some pretty fantastic golf on Saturday at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.
Entering the third round nine shots back of co-leaders Kevin Kisner and Hideki Matsuyama, the Canadian star faltered out of the gates falling to 12 off of the pace after a double bogey on the sixth hole. However, DeLaet authored one of the best three hole stretches you could imagine on the back nine to end up pulling himself to within five shots of the lead heading into Sunday.
GolfChannel.com’s Rex Hoggard detailed the crazy series of events.
DeLaet’s dramatic turnaround began with a tee shot that just narrowly slipped passed the hole for a hole in one at No. 13 for a tap-in birdie. His next tee shot, at the 301-yard, par-4 14th hole, also nearly went in and he converted the 8-footer for eagle.
“I could have just gone 1, 1, but going 2, 2 is pretty good on those holes, too,” DeLaet told his caddie, Julien Trudeau.
DeLaet wasn’t finished, adding a 12-footer for eagle at the par-5 15th hole and he capped his run with a birdie at No. 16. That’s 6 under in a four-hole stretch to finish with a 68, which matched his lowest round in a major.
Although he started his third round nearly an hour and half before the leaders teed off, he will begin Sunday tied for seventh place, just five shots off the lead.
“That would be a cool run at any PGA Tour event. But to do that at the PGA Championship is pretty special,” DeLaet said. “It’s something I’ll probably always remember when I look back at my career. And the nice thing about it was it put me in a position where something really special tomorrow can . . . you never know.”
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