The 32-year-old from Saskatchewan had to take medication after feeling a kink in his neck while warming up for the second round and, with his movement limited, was convinced he would be destined to miss the cut.
However, a weather delay of 45 minutes gave him extra time for the painkillers and anti-inflammatories to take effect and DeLaet ended up firing a three-under-par 68 on a rain-sodden layout to vault into contention for the title.
"It was a tough day, for sure," DeLaet told reporters after finishing at five-under 137, four strokes behind pacesetting Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy. "I kinked my neck pretty bad. I wasn't able to really move.
"If you'd asked me this morning, I thought I was going to miss the cut. I didn't think I was going to be able to get it around. But a bunch of Advil, some Tylenol...
"I made a few good putts today, just kind of bunted it around. Some days when you don't have any expectations, you never know what's going to happen."
Asked what had caused the kink, DeLaet replied: "I have no idea. It just kind of happened as I was warming up this morning, then kind of progressively got worse as the day went on.
"It was nice to have a little bit more of a delay this morning, gave us extra time to do some soft tissue work. I don't know exactly what's going on, but we're going to get it figured out here this afternoon."
DeLaet was especially pleased that he rebounded from an ugly four-putt to double-bogey the par-four second, his 11th hole of the day, with three birdies over his closing stretch
"Obviously you don't ever hope to four-putt, but I knew that I was putting well the last couple of days," said the Canadian, who has missed the cut in four of his five career starts in the majors. "I just kept giving myself chances and believing in it.
"The little putt that I missed (for bogey) was a little bit careless. The putt before (from four feet) I just kind of pulled it a bit. It was a nice way to finish after that because it could have gotten away from me there.
"I'm in good position going into the weekend. It's by far the best I've gone into the weekend in a major, so I'm excited about the opportunity coming up."
(Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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