Graham DeLaet hangs up his driver, putter and the rest of his gear

Canadian golfer Graham DeLaet turned a page in his history Tuesday when he announced his retirement from the PGA Tour.

According to information from the TSN chain, which first broke the news, the 40-year-old athlete had no choice but to make this difficult decision, due to his back problems.

“My whole being would have wanted to continue playing. I love this sport, DeLaet recounted. I love the competition and everything that surrounds it, but every time I go back to practice, it gets worse. It got to a point where it wasn’t worth it anymore, because it was having a negative effect on my life, considering all the things I wanted to do at home with my family and kids. After many difficult decisions and many tears, Ruby [sa femme] and I came to the conclusion that it was probably time to move on.”

The representative of the maple leaf will have thus fought against the problems that have bothered him since he was 15 years old, having received numerous treatments throughout his career. His problems even prevented him, at times, from taking a single practice shot before a round or walking the field before a tournament.

“It was really tough mentally because I don’t know anything about it,” DeLaet added. I have been a professional golfer all my life and have been playing golf since I was 10 years old. I felt like I was giving up and I never gave up, so that was the crux of it, the difficulty of breaking through that mental barrier where I’m like, ‘Okay, you’re not going to be a PGA Player from now on. You will just be a man in society.”

respected by his peers

Although he has never won a PGA event, DeLaet will not be ashamed of his career.

In 186 tournaments, he finished in the top 10 33 times, totaling more than $11 million in earnings during that time. He also became the second Canadian to participate in the Presidents Cup, in 2013, after Mike Weir. There he maintained a 3-1-1 record. He has also represented Canada numerous times, including at the Rio Olympics in 2016, when golf returned to the international event.

Thus he paved the way for other maple leaf golfers.

“I was playing aggressive when I was playing. He put all his energy on the court, gave 110% even if he was in pain, said David Hearn, his teammate at the Olympics. He hit the ball very well. It was fun to watch.”

“I greatly admired him when I started, added Corey Conners. He was a guy you looked up to. It was so nice to be around him and his drive was so pure.