Graham Tracker at The Masters

Graham DeLaet pursues history as he plays the grandest of them all. - 3:50PM MST Thurs.

By Please Spay and Neuter Your Pets Apr 10, 2014, 11:19am PDT

Graham is certainly primed to play The Masters. After qualifying during last year's phenomenal season, Graham started 2014 with a bang: Two runner-up finishes in a row. With his most recent finish being another Top 10 placement (T8 - Valspar Championship), it looks like Graham is in top form.

We will follow his play here...

Through 18 holes: 8 Over

1 2 2 3 4 5 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 8

A horrendous start for DeLaet, as he bogies six of his first seven holes.

He makes par on holes 8 and 9 to hold steady at 6 under. However, a bogey at 10 continues the slide.

After pars at both 11, 12 and 13, Graham steadies himself for a second time. Unfortunately his par on 13 is shaky at best.

He strikes the ball well on 14, but slides his 30' putt 6' past the hole. It hurts him as his par putt lips out.

Graham misses a very makeable 6' birdie putt on the 15th and settles for par.

A nice tee shot on 16 shot lands just short of being a great shot. He has a wonderful lag putt and taps in for par.

At the 17th, he pushes his tee shot, but gets lucky again as he is just shy of being behind a tree. Beautiful approach leaves him with a simple 2-putt par.

At the 18th, Graham puts together a nice tee shot and approach shot, leaving him with another 2-putt par. Nice way to finish the day.

He'll need to finish tomorrow at least 3-under to have a chance of making the cut (Top 50 players or within 10 of lead).

Hole-by-hole Coverage, when available:

11th Hole

1st Shot:

Straight Drive in Freeway.

2nd Shot:

Difficult Pin location... does not challenge hole. Lands right where he wants to: on the green. Should be safe 2-putt from here.

3rd Shot:

Long putt that he slides past the hole about 4 feet. He'll be putting uphill, so it's definitely makeable.

4th Shot:

Although they did not show it, Graham makes the putt to finish with par... just his 4th of the day. For such a difficult hole, it's an "extra victory" for DeLaet.

12th Hole

1st Shot

8 iron lands short of green. I believe it's in the bunker.

2nd Shot:

I did not see the shot, but he leaves it 3 feet short of the hole. Should be an easy make.

3rd Shot:

Makes the putt for a second consecutive par.

Good job Graham. Way to make it around Amen Corner at just one over.

Hole 13

Shot 1

Horrible hook into the trees off the fairway. It takes a lucky bounce off a tree and lands in the rough off the fairway. He is lucky not to be out of bounds. At any rate, his chance for a eagle on this reachable par 5 is lost.

2nd Shot:

Graham is lucky to have a shot. He lays up back into the fairway and makes good distance towards the hole. His 3rd shot should be a short chip into the infamous par 5.

3rd Shot:

Chip lands 20 feet short of hole after it grabs back of green and spins back. Well-placed below the hole, Graham will have a good look at Birdie.

4th Shot:

Graham leaves it a foot short. He'll have a tap-in for par coming up.

5th Shot

Taps in for par, but doesn't look good as it sneaks in the left side.

14th Hole

Tee Shot

Nice 3 wood off the tee, especially after the previous hole's horrible hook that nearly ended up out of bounds. The other two players in his group are not playing particularly well. That's a shame because it often rubs off. Here's the scoring of his group:

2nd Shot:

Nice 7 Iron that lands just past the hole. His body language says he's not happy with the shot, however. It might be he was between clubs. More likely, he was unhappy with the spin on the ball. He's got about 30' coming back for Birdie.

3rd Shot:

Slides putt 6' past the hole. Needs to get used to slick greens.

4th Shot:

Again, he pulls the putt; this time it lips out.

5th Shot:

Solid 4' putt for bogey.

15th Hole

Tee Shot

Rips his driver straight down the center of the freeway.

2nd Shot:

Great shot on this par 5 that lands on the green but scoots off the back edge. It will be a difficult up and down for birdie from there, but he should be happy with the solid approach nonetheless.

3rd Shot:

Nice chip that slides past the hole 6'. FAST Greens!

4th - Birdie Attempt

Pushes it - misses on the "pro side". He appears to be adding loft to his putts instead of hitting them solidly.

5th - Par Attempt

Taps in for par.

16th Hole

Tee Shot

Barely misses the upper shelf of the green. It slides back down, but remains on the green. He'll have about 40' straight uphill for his birdie attempt.