But Bubba Watson's struggles down the stretch brought a host of players back into the fold, and DeLaet finds himself sharing the lead heading into Sunday with Watson and Charley Hoffman. DeLaet will be in the final group, and Watson will not.
Quite a turn of events.
DeLaet started the day five shots back of Watson but rose into contention with four consecutive birdies between holes 10 and 13, moving from 6-under par to 10-under and right in the thick of the hunt. He missed a short par putt on the par-3 16th but responded with the birdie on 18 to post a 65, sharing round-of-the-day honors with Ken Duke.
"I did play well pretty much all day," DeLaet said. "I had a lot of good birdie chances on the front nine, just couldn't really seem to find the hole, and Julian, my caddie, just told me to stay patient because I was rolling it well. I got off to a nice little start on the back side, and that kind of settled the nerves a little bit and kind of got me going."
Although he is still searching for his first win on the PGA Tour, DeLaet has proven himself through a string of high finishes the past few years. He has eight top-25 finishes in 16 PGA Tour starts to date in 2013, along with a tie for 5th at last year's Barclays, the first FedEx Cup event.
With a high finish tomorrow, DeLaet could thrust himself into the thick of contention for this year's Presidents Cup team. The event pits 12 Americans against 12 non-European players from the rest of the world, and will take place at Muirfield Village Golf Club just outside of Columbus.
Nick Price will serve as International captain this year, and DeLaet said he was inspired to make the team after Price called a meeting of potential team members at May's Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village.
"Absolutely; it was one of my goals starting the year," DeLaet said. "I was definitely on the outside looking in, but Nick Price held a meeting for potential team members on Memorial Tuesday, and Adam Scott poured his heart out that night, and it was super inspiring. Ever since then, I've wanted to be on that team...I'm doing everything that I can to try to make that team."
With a good Sunday, that goal becomes ever more realistic.
Notes: -DeLaet's caddy Julian makes an effort to wear a hat representing a local sports team at each event, and this week Julian went throwback. Julian went with the Hartford Whalers this week, a now-defunct NHL team that moved to Carolina in the mid-1990s.
So far, so good with the crowd response, DeLaet said.
"We were just talking about it, walking up 18, that he's got more 'Go, Whalers' cheers like that than we've had all year," DeLaet said. "So it's been a lot of fun. We enjoy it, and he has a lot of fun with it, too, and he has a pretty nice hat collection now as well."
-Being a Canadian player, DeLaet takes a lot of pride in his home country. Led by Mike Weir in the early 2000s, Canadians have carved out an increased presence on Tour in recent years, and DeLaet said that the group makes sure to root for each other and stay supportive.
Just like anything in Canada, we take pride in our athletics," DeLaet said. "Whatever it may be, anyone who's excelling at anything, whether it be business or sports. And same thing out here, we all stick together with Mike and Stephen and David. David is one of my best friends, and Fritzy (Brad Fritsch) is having a nice year as well as a rookie. On the PGA Tour leaderboards I have them all colored, so I know exactly where they are all the time, and we're definitely rooting for each other every round."
No Canadian native has won on Tour since Mike Weir in 2007, and DeLaet will surely receive an outpouring of support from his home country if he can close the deal on Sunday.
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