DeLaet’s finish sours promising opening day at Tour Championship

Canadian Graham DeLaet got off to a pretty good start at the PGA Tour Championship on Thursday -- but it could have been so much better.

The pride of Weyburn, Sask., finished the first round tied for sixth place after shooting a 2-under 68 at Atlanta's East Lake Golf Club. That places him four strokes behind leader Henrik Stenson.

But DeLaet was headed for so much better a finish until things started falling apart on him during the last five holes. His impressive scorecard was stained with three bogeys on the last five holes, three strokes that would have put him just one behind Stenson.

He did cut his losses a bit with a birdie on the 15th, but it wasn't enough to undo the damage. But even with that late-round stumble, DeLaet had a substantially better day than his playing partner. Phil Mickelson never got it together on Thursday, finishing with a 71.

The real bad news for DeLaet, though, wasn't that faltering finish to Day One. Stenson's outstanding performance may end up hurting DeLaet the most in the end. That's because Stenson, the hottest golfer on tour the past month, needs to have a few stumbles of his own for DeLaet to have any hope of winning the PGA's FedEx Cup and the $10 million that comes with it.

Even without a tough opening day, DeLaet needs a lot of things to go his way this weekend. He not only needs to win his first PGA Tour victory, but can claim the overall title only if Stenson and Tiger Woods finish third or lower.

Stenson didn't co-operate on that front. The FedEx Cup leader grabbed the lead with a sensational opening day that featured a string of five birdies in six holes on the front nine.

A Swedish athlete hasn't been that hot since Daniel Alfredsson left Ottawa in a huff.

Woods certainly opened things in DeLaet's favour, looking like the Bad Tiger in shooting a first-round 73 to stand second-last in the 30-golfer field, nine strokes behind Stenson.

While DeLaet's chances of winning the FedEx title are tough, he has a good chance of taking home $1 million. He stands seventh overall in FedEx standings and can win $1 million by playing well enough this weekend to jump into the top five.

Those odds look a little better after Thursday's round. Two of the golfers ahead of him in the FedEx standings -- Matt Kuchar and Zach Johnson -- came off the course one under par, one stroke behind DeLaet.

Regardless of how this tournament ends, 2013 has been a breakthrough year for the 31-year-old son of the Saskatchewan sod. He has posted seven top-10 finishes in 25 tournaments this year and has amassed $2.7 million in winnings -- 19th best on the tour.

He also landed a coveted spot on the Presidents Cup team.