Thomas

Detry

Detry arrived as Mr. Consistency but couldn’t keep that ball rolling at PGA National. He swallowed a double bogey at the par-4 second but the real lowlight came at the par-4 ninth where he four-putted from inside of five feet. That wasn’t his only blemish as he lost 2.5 strokes on approach throughout the round. He entered ranked 18th in the early FedExCup race but will be a week the rookie wants to forget.

The Belgian twirled his fourth sub-69 round of the week. He traded six birdies with two bogeys today while battling some tricky winds. He ended the week with 23 birdies which erased five bogeys. This will be his third top-12 finish of the young season, and top finish of his PGA TOUR career (T9/2022-23 Sanderson Farms Championship). The result moves him to 7th in the early FedExCup race. Speaking on the finish he had this to say, “I think that’ll change up my schedule now... I will play Mayakoba and then I’m not sure yet for Houston. I may come back in Europe. As you know, I’m based in Dubai, so it would be nice for me to play the Race to Dubai, DP World Tour Race to Dubai in November.” Detry was 4th alternate for next week’s Mayakoba event but this top 10 will grant him entry. He’s not known for his winning prowess but it certainly seems like a win is right around the corner.

Detry landed a ho-hum 12 greens today (T91) but kept his card clean with a tidy short game which included 3-for-3 scrambling from the sand. The Belgian arrived with finishes of T12 or better in two of his three starts to open the season which is his first season as a card-carrying PGA TOUR member. He continues to impress with his consistency as he arrived with top 25s in six of his last eight PGA TOUR starts (dating back to a T22 at this event last year) and he’s doing more of the same at Port Royal this week.

The Belgian arrives with top 15s in two of three starts to open his rookie campaign. He also popped back to Spain for the Andalucia Masters (T45). Now he returns to Port Royal Golf Course, a venue that saw him land a 22nd-place finish last year in his debut. Despite him having already played the course, he’s hoping his caddie this week will be able to give him a little extra nudge in the course strategy department. “My caddie now (J.P. Fitzgerald) who used to work for Ernie Els and Darren Clarke actually caddied here a couple years during the Grand Slam. A long time ago, so hopefully he can give me a couple of good hits.” Detry went on to speaking about potentially setting up shop in the Dominican Republic to be closer to all of his Stateside action now that he’s a PGA TOUR member. It’s safe to say he likes the coastal conditions which makes him an attractive DFS and betting option this week at the Bermuda.

The Belgian is an early candidate for Rookie of the Year after opening the season with T12 and 9 finishes at the Fortinet Championship and Sanderson Farms Championship, respectively. “My game is very confident. I’m hitting a lot of fairways although I’ve had a new driver in the bag, which helps. Again, lots of Bermuda out here. So if you start hitting it in the rough, you’ve got no control. So lots of fairways out there. I made a couple of good putts.” His striking was solid today as he piped 11-of-14 fairways and missed just one green in regulation. Gamers should continue to ride the hot hand until he shows any sign of slowing down. Detry has 142 starts on the DP World Tour without a win but it wouldn’t surprise many if he finally landed one soon.

Detry rode a hot putter to a share of the 36-hole lead alongside Mackenzie Hughes, carving up the Country Club of Jackson with consecutive rounds of 5-under 67. But very little went right Saturday for the Belgian, as his lone birdie on No. 9 was countered by three bogeys. On a day when scoring conditions were readily available, Detry’s 2-over total dropped him from the lead to T-14 and he now faces a seven-shot deficit behind Mark Hubbard. Detry’s big issue came with his approach play, as he found just seven of 18 greens in regulation and spent much of the afternoon scrambling for par. The round slows Detry’s recent momentum, which also included a T-5 finish at the BMW PGA Championship and a T-12 result two weeks ago in Napa.

The Belgian has made the most of his debut at the Country Club of Jackson, dropping just one shot in each of his first two rounds while racking up a total of 12 birdies. Friday’s effort came despite a lack of accuracy off the tee, as Detry found just 3 of 14 fairways but still managed to hit 13 of 18 greens in regulation. He has made great strides on the greens, picking up a total of 3.532 strokes over the field with putter in hand as he looks to win for the first time on the PGA Tour. His lone bogey Friday came on No. 15, and he followed with five birdies over his next seven holes. Detry’s start in Mississippi continues a recent run of form, as his last two starts included a T-5 finish at the BMW PGA Championship and a T-12 result two weeks ago in the season-opening Fortinet Championship.

Detry kept things relatively stress-free with 14 GIR today. The highlight of his round was a 252-yard approach that he landed inside of seven feet to set up an eagle at the par-5 third hole. His putter was not very cooperative or this could have turned into a top-5 finish instead. Still, there is plenty to be happy about for Detry who claims this as his first top 10 in a PGA TOUR event. It is his fourth straight top 25 in a PGA TOUR event so he appears to be getting comfortable on the big stage. He’ll look to keep his momentum rolling next week at The Open, an event where he missed the cut in his debut last year.

The 29-year-old Belgian doesn’t have many traditional stats to write home about this week. He ranks T82 in fairways hit (27-of-42), T38 in GIR rate (65%), and T60 in Putts per GIR (1.771). Despite all that, he’s leaned heavily on the short game to swallow just five bogeys all week. Detry will now start the final round in a share of fourth place. It’s the first time he’s been inside of the top 20 thru 54 holes on the PGA TOUR, albeit a very limited sample size of 10 previous events played. His best PGA TOUR finish is a T13 last March at this same event. With Thomas Pieters making a commitment to play more Stateside events, it’s possible we see two Belgians add their name to the PGA TOUR roster by the time next season rolls around.

The 28-year-old Detry was in a position to contend last week at Wentworth Golf Club and he was even in running to make the European Ryder Cup team for the first time. Despite not having a European Tour win on his resume, Detry was 11th on the European Points List and 18th on the World Points List ahead of the final qualifying event. While the specifics were not made public, Detry confirmed the news via Twitter following his 2-under round of 70. “Gutted to have to confirm that due to signing for a wrong scorecard this afternoon, I was disqualified from the @BMWPGA,” he wrote. “Tough pill to swallow after a solid battle out there the past few days & very sad to finish such an incredible event too early.” Detry had opened with a first-round 69 and would have finished Friday at T-25, seven strokes behind 36-hole leader Kiradech Aphibarnrat. On the season, he’s 10-for-17 in cuts made with two runner-up results including a playoff loss at the abrdn Scottish Open in July. In five previous starts at the Dutch Open, Detry has made three cuts with his best finish being a T-3 in 2018. He was T-36 in 2019 (the event was not staged in 2020 due to the pandemic).