DeLaet’s East Lake dunking doesn’t take shine off great season

The FedEx Cup finale didn't turn out quite the way Graham DeLaet had hoped.

After a good start at the PGA Tour Championship with his eyes on the $10 million prize, things pretty much went downhill for the best golfer to ever come out of Weyburn, Sask. The golfer with the playoff beard was four over par and finished 28th in a field of 30.

DeLaet pretty much got worse each time he stepped up to the first tee in Atlanta following Thursday's opening-round 68 that put him four strokes behind wire-to-wire leader Henrik Stenson. He shot 71 on Friday, 72 on Saturday and 73 on Sunday as he followed some odd mathematical arc. The disappointing tournament at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta meant he dropped a spot in the FedEx Cup overall standings and finished in eighth place.

But no matter what happened this weekend, there is no denying this has been a breakout season for the 31-year-old. It's been such a great season for DeLaet that he can go to next month's Presidents Cup knowing that even if he shoots 90, splits his pants bending over to line up a putt and hits Barack Obama with a shanked tee shot, 2013 will go down as a major success.

Only two years after he missed an entire season of golf with a back injury, DeLaet had a dream season. Heading into the weekend, he stood 33rd in the world golf rankings -- a Brobdingnagian leap from the 178th-place he held when the season started. His FedEx Cup season put him ahead of stars like Phil Mickelson, Brandt Snedeker and Justin Rose in the standings.

He managed seven top-10 finishes this season -- four more than he had ever made before. He only missed the cut five times and has earned $2.7 million, almost three times the paltry $1 million he made last year.

It was a good enough year to earn him his first taste of the Presidents Cup competition.

That doesn't mean there won't be any pressure on DeLaet when he tees it up against the Americans at Muirfield on Oct. 3. A country hungry for a golf star since Mike Weir began his injury-filled slide a few years back will be watching him closely and expecting big things.

And while nothing will likely tarnish his incredible rise this season, a strong performance at the Presidents Cup will cement his place in the Canadian sports firmament.

Regardless of how he performed on the weekend, the end of the FedEx playoffs spelled curtains for the one and only playoff beard on the tour. After walking off the 18th green at on Sunday afternoon, DeLaet and was immediately asked what apparently was the most pressing question of the day.

“How much longer?” a Golf Channel reporter asked him, not needing to specify that he was talking about the chin decoration.

DeLaet barely blinked before replying, ``Probably about 15 minutes."

Every Canadian knows why: No playoff, no beard.