(Reuters) - A year after back surgery almost
entirely wiped out his 2011 campaign, pain-free
Canadian Graham DeLaet made a near-perfect start
to his 2012 season in Thursday's opening round of
the Sony Open in Hawaii.
DeLaet, 29, took advantage of surprisingly benign
conditions at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu,
firing a seven-under-par 63 to grab an early two-
shot lead.
DeLaet, who competed in only four events last
year, recorded six birdies, an eagle and a lone
bogey to set a sizzling pace in the PGA Tour's first
full-field event of the season.
South Korean KJ Choi, the 2008 Sony Open
champion, opened with a 65 to end the day level
with Swede Carl Pettersson and American Kyle
Reifers.
"When we teed off ... it was cool and not a breath
of wind for probably the first six holes so it was
definitely a day you could take advantage of,"
DeLaet told reporters.
Asked to assess his all-round fitness, he replied:
"I'm feeling great, better and better all the time. I
feel probably as good right now as I have in the
last two or three years."
DeLaet had surgery on his lower back on January
3 last year and returned to competition in June
before lingering pain forced him to abort his
season after playing just two events apiece on the
PGA Tour and its feeder Nationwide Tour.
He is competing on the 2012 PGA Tour in the
major medical extension category and has 26
events to earn a total of $657,694 to secure his
card for 2013.
"That's basically a full year on tour," said DeLaet, a
three-times winner on the Canadian Professional
Golf Tour. "Hopefully I won't have to worry about
that money line later in the season.
"I really think that if I can just go out and play my
game here for the next five or six months, I can
make it happen."
American world number five Steve Stricker, who
clinched the PGA Tour's season-opening
Tournament of Champions at Kapalua on Monday,
was among Thursday's late starters at Waialae.
(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los
Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue)
