Thomas Detry finally clinched a long overdue victory on one of golf’s major tours as he held off a packed leaderboard to claim the WM Phoenix Open title on the PGA Tour.
The Belgian played like a serial winner down the stretch, birdieing his last four holes to close with a final round of 65 and a 24-under total for a seven shot win ahead of Daniel Berger and Michael Kim.
“It’s incredible, it’s what dreams are made of,” said Detry. “Coming up that last hole was incredible, everything happens so quickly that you can’t really enjoy it but luckily my caddie was there to tell me to enjoy the moment it’s pretty special.
“I gave myself plenty of chances in the past but was never able to conclude it so to put out a statement like that is pretty incredible I’m just over the moon.”
Detry took a five shot lead into the final round and although he won by 12 shots on the Challenge Tour in 2016 and partnered Thomas Pieters to a three-shot win in the ISPS World Cup of Golf in 2018, he was bidding to end a run of eight runner-up finishes in his career, including twice on the PGA Tour.
The 32-year-old opened with a birdie, bogey, birdie start and after a run of seven straight pars he birdied the 11th but crucially birdied the 15th to remain three shots clear of Berger with as many holes to play.
The shot of the week and what he described as the shot of his life came on the par-3 16th when he clipped a 9-iron to tap in range and that shot was very much a team effort between himself and his caddie having watched Berger fly the green moments earlier.
“I was telling my caddie that Daniel hit a hard 9-iron over the green and I used that info to take a little bit off mine and it went just past pin high so honestly, I need to thank Daniel on that. It’s part of golf, one of the best shots of the week and my life under the circumstances.”
Detry turned on the style and set up a birdie on the drivable par-4 17th before rolling in for birdie on the last and being drenched in champagne by Matt Wallace who was part of a large DP World Tour cohort including Bob MacIntyre, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Ryan Fox waiting in the wings to congratulate Detry on the 18th green.
Detry’s win makes him the first Belgian to ever win on the PGA Tour and the 33rd country on the roll of honour while he will also rise to 22nd in the Official World Golf Ranking – the highest ranked Belgian player of all time – and this win will put him firmly in Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup plans as he looks to follow in the footsteps of his compatriots Nicolas Colsaerts and Thomas Pieters in wearing European blue.
Meanwhile, Seamus Power secured a top-40 finish with a final round of 70 for a seven-under total but he was far, far away from the main event.
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