That is exactly how mine started out. I ignored it for quite a while (no time or money, those days). Eventually it got pretty bad; 2' long by a couple inches wide, just peeling out to the point that I could put a finger through. By then time to DIY was still an issue but I had the money to just...
I had a similar problem with my '08. I took it to a few body shops and they all told me that it wasn't worth trying to fix. I ended up replacing with a brand new liftgate. I think it set me back about $1700 but they painted it to match. That was 100k miles ago and has been well worth it.
