Thomas
Detry reckons he’d be ready for a Ryder Cup debut at Bethpage Page
Black in September after winning for the first time on the PGA Tour in
front of rowdy American fans in the WM Phoenix Open.
The
32-year-old created history by becoming the first Belgian to taste
victory on the US circuit and did so in style as he finished with four
straight birdies in a closing 65 at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona to win by
seven shots.
“Incredible,”
said Detry of his success, which came in his 68th start on the PGA
Tour. “I felt nervous yesterday morning, and last night didn't sleep
great. I woke up this morning early, 4am, couldn't fall back asleep.
“But
I kind of really trusted myself. I felt like I've been doing a lot of
really good things in the past to put myself in that position, and I
felt like I was kind of ready to win. So, deep inside, this one nobody
was going to take it away from me.”
Detry, who won on the Challenge Tour in 2016 and had come close a few
times to landing a maiden DP World Tour victory before securing his PGA
Tour card, is up to second in the FedEx Cup Standings behind Austrian
Sepp Straka.
The win also boosted Detry’s hopes of becoming just the third Belgian to
play in the Ryder Cup after Nicolas Colsaerts (2012) and Thomas Pieters
(2016).
“I
feel like the atmosphere at Bethpage would be pretty similar to this,
especially for me as a European. Lots of people
“The
Ryder Cup is something that I really want to be part of. I don't want
to say it's a goal. Like I don't play golf this year to reach that Ryder
Cup team. I think my good game and my achieving my goals will kind of
naturally qualify me for the Ryder Cup team.
“I've
been watching the Ryder Cup now on TV every single year, and being part
of it would definitely be a dream. But I'm not really getting ahead of
myself. I'm not getting over-excited. It's still a very long way away.
There's still lots of golf to be played.”
Bob
MacIntyre, who partnered Detry in last year’s Zurich Classic in New
Orleans, recorded his first top-ten finish of the new PGA Tour season
after ending up in joint-sixth.
The
Genesis Scottish Open champion had moved into a tie for second after
stiffing his tee shot at the par-3 12th to be four under for the day.
However,
he was then unable to make birdies at either the 13th or 15th - two par
5s - as he signed off with a 67 to end up on 15 under par.
The
Oban man would have been slightly disappointed at the end but,
nonetheless, it was a solid week’s work heading into the next Signature
Event, the Genesis Invitational starting at Torrey Pines on Thursday.
Meanwhile,
a closing 74 - her worst round of the week - left Gemma Dryburgh having
to settle for joint-39th behind American Yealimi Noh in the LPGA’s
Founders Cup presented by U.S. Virgin Islands in Florida.
shouting at me,” said
Detry with a smile of September’s clash in New York.
