European Ryder Cup hopeful makes startling admission

To outsiders, it always felt like a matter of time. 

But for a sportsman riddled with as much self-doubt as Thomas Detry, it was easy to see why the Belgian wondered if his day would ever come.  The 32-year-old finally banished years of Sunday anguish to storm to his first PGA Tour title with a seven shot win at the Phoenix Open two weeks ago.

Long known as one of the most talented European players, Detry has also been labelled as the nearly man for a lucrative career that had until then yielded no victories on the main circuits.

Yet that narrative has flipped after he closed with four consecutive birdies in his transformative win at TPC Scottsdale. So when asked on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast whether he had doubts he would ever win at the elite level, Detry’s admission about his fear of failure was frank but startling.

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“It sounds very weird what I’m going to say right now,” he began, “but I’ve had times when I was making birdies on a Friday when I was just thinking I don’t want to make birdies, I don’t want to put myself in this situation and fail again. That’s what I had going through my mind sometimes which is a horrible thing to think.

“You’re out there playing well and you’re thinking, ‘here we go, I’m going to be in contention again on Saturday or Sunday and I don’t like being in contention because I’m going to fail again.’

“Thoughts like that are horrendous and should never happen but we’re all human. It’s human nature in a way to be like that a bit. I had to overcome that and I still feel like I have to battle that. It comes a lot easier to some players but to me it was a bit more hard work and all the hard work paid off.”

Detry has credited his swing instructor Jerome Theunis for doubling up as a sounding board before his win in Phoenix.

“Putting yourself in position is already really hard and I put myself in position a lot,” he added. “Some guys never do it. Some guys only put themselves in contention once or twice a year, but for me it happens much more often. That’s already something very positive to look at. All I had to do is trust it.

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“Jerome has been so helpful to me. I’ve been able to be very open to him and tell him my feelings that sometimes I just don’t feel comfortable on Sundays. That I feel heavy armed, not quite in full possession of my mind and my game which is very annoying because you want to do well but feel like something is holding you back.

“Being able to vocalise and be open about it has been really helpful.”

Ludvig Aberg’s own sensational finish at the Genesis Invitational on Sunday meant that four of the first five winners of the PGA Tour season have been Europeans. Like Aberg, Detry has climbed inside the current automatic spots for September’s match against the United States at Bethpage Black.

“That Ryder Cup would be a dream to play, but it’s not a goal in itself,” Detry said. “I’ve got all my other goals and if I achieve all my other goals I’ll be in that team no problem.

“Ultimately it’s whoever plays the best closer to the date, but watching the Ryder Cup in Italy and hopefully being part of one of the first teams in a while who wins on US soil would be amazing.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.