DeLAET PICKS UP WHERE LAST CHAMP LEFT OFF
It was in 1904 that a Canadian last captured the gold in Olympic golf
It has been a running joke ever since golf was voted back onto the program that Canada is the reigning champion, although George S. Lyon isn’t around to defend his title because he’s been dead for 78 years.
So when Graham DeLaet was placed in the first group off the tee Thursday — the first Canadian to swing a club in the Olympic Games since old George in 1904 — he was more or less representing the ghost of Olympics past.
Not much more was expected of the 34-year-old from Weyburn, Sask., who owned up to anxiety issues a couple of months ago and has been trying to work through a case of what the unkind would call the chipping yips.
But DeLaet was inspired by the occasion Thursday at the Olympic Golf Course. Playing, symbolically, alongside Brazilian Adilson da Silva and Korea’s Beyeong Hun An (Pyeongchang hosts the next Olympics in 2018), playing through the ringing cellphones and ill-timed shouts of galleries not used to the etiquette of golf fandom, he wore the colours of his country proudly, and well.
His 5-under 66, closing with a birdie at the 18th, made him the clubhouse leader — at least for a half-hour or so, until Australia’s Marcus Fraser came in with a 63 — and he ended the day tied for second with British Open winner Henrik Stenson.
“We do this for a living week in, week out, but there was something different about the feel of that first tee shot today,” DeLaet said.
“I told Wiz walking off the first tee, I haven’t felt nervous like this on the first tee at a tour event for a long time. I mean, last time I can think of is probably the Presidents Cup. You’re out there playing for more than yourself — you’re playing for the flag.”
Wiz is his caddy for the week, Ray (The Wizard) Whitney, the 44-year-old veteran of 1,330 NHL games with eight different clubs, who’s famous in his own right and was the target of one of Thursday’s best moments of comic relief.
DeLaet holed a monster 40-foot putt up and over a rise on the eighth hole to get to 4 under, and a voice from the midst of a group of Team Canada-clad fans yelled: “Nice read, Ray!”
“Yeah, I heard ’em,” Whitney chuckled. “Bunch of idiots.”
The atmosphere was not like your typical tour event. It was warmer and looked like more fun.
Matt Kuchar was asked if he’d seen any wildlife on the course, like a capybara, and said: “I only saw one of the Aphibarnrats.” (Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat played in the third group off the tee.)
“I feel sorry for those guys who didn’t come,” Bubba Watson said, and indeed, the pros who bowed out for various reasons — jammed schedules, Zika, whatever — are missing out on history.
“I knew it was going to be a really cool experience. Not once did I ever think of not coming,” DeLaet said. “I’ve been out here since Friday and I haven’t seen one mosquito.
“It was really amazing to go to the opening ceremony on Friday. I mean, I think it’s different for a professional golfer … when you see how much this means to other athletes who’ve been working for four years to peak for this moment, the pride and the excitement they have, that’s been probably the neatest thing for me.”
DeLaet drove the ball beautifully and had perfect speed on his putts all day, so the 66 was no surprise. He made only one bad swing, blocking an approach to the 11th into a native area from where he couldn’t save par.
David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., played two hours later and battled the wind all day. Two late birdies salvaged a 73.
One of the happiest features of a good-hearted day was the way the crowd built around da Silva as the round progressed.
“Some of the people were making a bit of a noise and things, and I said (to DeLaet and An), look, guys, sorry about this,” said the 44-year-old from Santa Cruz do Sul, who plays on the Sunshine Tour in South Africa.
“But they understand. They know that we are not there yet, but we’re learning. People are there just to give us support, it doesn’t mean anything but helping us. I’m thankful for the crowd.”
Fraser, the 38-year-old Aussie who’s only in the Olympics because Adam Scott and Jason Day declined to come, took full advantage of his good fortune with his eight-birdie, no-bogey 63.
“We said before walking here, at the moment, you’ve got the Olympic record. That’s pretty cool,” Fraser said. “So hopefully that lasts all week.”
And if no one was about to say he had tied the low round ever shot in a major, well, that’s understood, too.
It may never be a major, but it offers a prize that’s pretty hard to disparage.
“It’s been a long time since we won a gold medal,” DeLaet said.
He gets the joke.