Thomas Detry dared to blink on the seventh hole. He left a long birdie putt well short, then slid a 10-foot par putt by the cup. On the next tee, he pushed a drive right, into the second cut. He looked, however briefly, like a player weighed down by the moment, conscious that his first PGA Tour title was within reach.
So what did Detry do next? He stepped up, clipped a 183-yard shot over a tree and spun it to within 9 feet. When he sunk the ensuing birdie putt, the ship had been righted. There would be no collapse.
For 18 holes Saturday, this was how Detry proceeded. Any blip was quickly squashed. On 11, he hit his drive into the native area and was forced to lay up. No matter, he calmly recovered for par. On 13, he did the same, punching out from behind a cactus and saving par. On 18, he responded to another wayward drive by getting up and down from 47 yards for one more par.
More often, he rolled along, no blips to be seen. On the front nine, he marked five birdies, including three in a row from the third to fifth hole. On the back nine, he did not bogey a single hole. He birdied 14 and 17, making par on the rest.
“I was trusting my game and trusting my ball flight and kind of seeing the shots,” Detry said. “And I’ve been putting well to be honest, as well, which helps. But definitely pretty happy with the way I handled the whole day.”
At the end of it, he could nearly reach out and touch that first trophy.
The chasing pack — Rasmus Hojgaard, Daniel Berger, Jordan Spieth and Michael Kim — was five strokes back, at 13-under. Crazier things have happened, especially with a player of Spieth’s pedigree in that group. But at 18-under, this is Detry’s tournament.
For any player, a first PGA Tour win being this close is a daunting thought. But Detry’s demeanor is remarkably calm. He is not scared to think of what lies ahead. He knows avoiding those thoughts would be impossible.
“It’s all about how you deal with those emotions,” Detry said. “It’s OK to think about it but then try to come back in the present. I think that will be the key for tomorrow.”
And how will he achieve that?
“That’s what meditation can help you with,” Detry said. “Like when your mind kind of spirals and goes into the future like that, forward-thinking, and that’s kind of where you need to be sharp and recognize that moment and going back into the present.”
This moment, after all, is what he’s been pursuing, nearly as long as he can remember.
Detry’s first official PGA Tour event came back in 2019, when he tied for 33rd at the Puntacana Championship. Since then, he has occupied that anonymous space in the PGA Tour’s middle class. Over the past three seasons, he’s played in 54 events and brought home $7,041,670 in earnings. Not a bad living.
But glory has eluded him. In 2022, he finished solo second in Bermuda. Last year, he tied for second at the Houston Open, a shot behind Stephan Jaeger. That week, he missed his birdie putt on the 18th hole by 7 inches, failing to force a playoff. That’s as close as a title has come.
The most notable moment of his career remains a tie for fourth at last year’s PGA Championship, although he was never really in contention.
So that’s what awaits Sunday. Six years since his PGA Tour debut. Nine years since his only professional win, on the Challenge Tour. Thirteen years since he moved from Belgium to the U.S. for college, chasing his golf dream at Illinois.
Sixteen years since he won the Dutch Junior Open, his first foray into sporting relevance.
All those years without a title. All those years for this.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Thomas Detry nears first PGA Tour title at Phoenix Open
Read the full article here
