Survivor of Back Woes Soldiers On Rich Schultz/Associated Press Graham DeLaet of Canada in the final round of the Barclays on Sunday. DeLaet, who has had back surgery, tied for second. NORTON, Mass. - Tiger Woods's back woes dominated the news on the eve of the $8 million Deutsche Bank Championship. Fifteen of the 24 questions he fielded on Thursday - and 12 of the first 14 - concerned his back, which bothered him last weekend at the Barclays in Jersey City. But Woods went out on the course, playing 18 pro-am holes in cool, moist conditions. He spent time on the driving range. The back? Not a problem, he said. Teeing off at the same time as Woods - on the 10th hole, not the first - was Graham DeLaet, a Canadian who could give Woods a "War and Peace"-length discourse on hazards of back injuries. Two years ago, DeLaet had lower back surgery, one year after his debut on the PGA Tour. A bulging disk that bothered him in 2010 had become herniated and was pressing against a nerve. It needed to be shaved. DeLaet, 31, missed virtually all of the 2011 season recovering from the operation. "The thing that hurt the most was that I had finally reached my goal, which was to play on the PGA Tour," DeLaet said after his pro-am round at TPC Boston. "And then it was all taken away and you have the "poor me, why me?" attitude. You have to get over that, and then do everything you can in the gym or on the course. He added: "You just have to listen to your body. I did what I could to get back out here because it means so much to me to be playing here. He is not merely a wallflower in this event, which includes the top 100 players in the FedExCup point standings. DeLaet tees off Friday as No. 25 on the money list, with about $2.1 million in earnings. He is coming off a second-place finish (tied with Woods, among others) in the Barclays, where he closed with a 65. But two other rankings are considerably more important to him. He is seventh in the FedEx Cup standings, which should guarantee him a spot in the last two FedEx Cup Playoff events, the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship. Maybe even more important, he is ranked 10th on the international players" list for the Presidents Cup. The top 10 automatically get chosen for the event, which pits a United States team against non-European internationals. "Obviously it would mean a lot to play in the Presidents Cup," DeLaet said. It's one of my main goals starting the year and it would be a proud moment.  DeLaet would be the first Canadian since Mike Weir in 2009 to play in the Presidents Cup, which will be contested at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Ohio in early October. "It's close to Canada," DeLaet said, "so I think there would be a lot of Canadians who would come down. So it would be unbelievable. Should he slide out of the top 10, he could still be one of two picks by the international team captain, Nick Price. This is the final week for players to earn a spot on the teams before Price exercises his two choices. DeLaet presents a strong case with six top-10 finishes this season. DeLaet's coach, the former PGA player Gabriel Hjertstedt, said, "It would mean the world to him to make the team, especially if he could play his way on instead of being a captain's pick." Hjertstedt has been coaching DeLaet for three years, taking over before DeLaet underwent back surgery in January 2011. He cautioned DeLaet to take his time. DeLaet had dealt with back pain before, especially in his younger days when he spent six months of the year playing hockey and six months playing golf. "This was much worse," DeLaet said. He could not sleep. He spent days on his back, playing video games, icing the area in pain. After the surgery, he played briefly in 2011, but decided he needed more time to heal. Hjertstedt said: "Any time you have any kind of surgery, you might feel all right. But mentally, the brain is still reminding you of it, and that's tough to overcome. By any yardstick, DeLaet has overcome both the physical and mental pain posed by the surgery. The proverbial cherry on the sundae for him would be to somehow find a way to win his first PGA event. The Barclays finish was the best of his career. He had a third-place finish in this year's Travelers Championship. "All the hard work is finally paying off," DeLaet said. I've had a couple chances to win and haven't been able to close the deal. The more times you are there, the more comfortable you become in that situation. I feel my time is coming.