How a ten minute routine helped Thomas Detry to maiden PGA Tour win

Thomas Detry was a self confessed forward thinker. In golf, that can be a real negative. But, the Belgian has explained how a psychological practice helped get him over the line for his first PGA Tour win.

The 32-year-old had been knocking on the door of a big win for what felt like forever. But, like so many golfers, his mind would race ahead and start thinking about the bigger picture.

No matter the level you play at, you’ll know the feeling of imagining yourself at the end of a round that’s going well. If these thoughts start coming into your mind before you’ve even started, you’re potentially in trouble. Detry, by his own admission, was a perfect example of this.

“I’m a forward thinker,” Detry told reporters after his win in Phoenix.

“I just constantly, especially when I’m doing well, just project myself and just imagine myself winning, and it just, I can feel my heartbeat going. I can feel my breathing getting out of control a little bit.”

Detry started to combat this around two years ago, when he took to meditation on the advice of his wife and friends.

“At the start when you start meditating, your mind just rushes all over the place, but you’re just thinking about what you’re going to eat tonight. That’s kind of what I’ve had at the start.

“But then the more you actually do it, the more you’re able to recognise those moments when your mind just kind of rushes, and it gets you back into the present moment.”

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Now, Detry says that he spends around ten minutes before a round meditating, saying that it helps him to keep his mind in the present.

“People think that it’s just one hour of doing like this, but it’s not. You can just put your headphones on. There’s all sorts of apps now that you can use on your phone and you can do that meditation. It takes ten minutes in the morning. Some people will do a bit longer, but for me, ten minutes is enough, and I think it’s good.

“Not only even for us golfers, I think it’s good for anyone. It’s good for businessmen, it’s good for performers, for artists, whoever, name it.

“I think everybody should kind of utilise that tool and be better at using your brain really. That’s really what it is. It’s just getting better at using your brain.

“I feel like I’ve still got work to do, but I’m getting better at it.”

Clearly, it worked on Sunday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. While the back nine looked sketchy for Detry at some points, particularly his three putt on the 13th, he was able to close out the win in emphatic fashion.

The Ryder Cup hopeful finished with four birdies, including a two at the signature 16th, to win by a comfortable seven shots. If those ten minutes in the morning keep producing results like that for Detry, it might be worth a try for you, too.

Lewis Fraser As bunkered’s Performance Editor, Lewis oversees the content that’s designed to make you a better player. From the latest gear to tuition, nutrition, strategy and more, he’s the man. A graduate of the University of Stirling, Lewis joined bunkered in 2021. Formerly a caddie at Castle Stuart Golf Links, he is a member of Bathgate Golf Club where he plays off four.

Performance Editor