LIV golfer Thomas Pieters is set to make his DP World Tour return at the Soudal Open in his home country of Belgium this week.
Pieters - who is a six-time DP World Tour winner - last played on the European Tour at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January 2023, finishing T6, before going on to sign for Bubba Watson's RangeGoats GC in the LIV Golf League just a few weeks later.
As a result of only playing two DP World Tour events in 2023, the Belgian was not allowed to take up membership for the 2024 season due to not meeting the minimum event criteria.
Also with no outstanding fines to pay to the Wentworth-based circuit, Pieters is teeing it up at Rinkven International in Antwerp via the national spots category - a bracket for players from the host country who are not otherwise exempt via a different method.
Other notable Belgian names set to join Pieters include former Ryder Cupper Nicolas Colsaerts, promising player Matthis Besard, and Adrien Dumont de Chassart - who won his first Korn Ferry Tour start in 2023, lost in a playoff during his next, and has played 14 PGA Tour events in 2024 already.
Stoked to be playing on home soil again next year at the @soudalopen 🇧🇪🙌 pic.twitter.com/GRSUD6akZNDecember 14, 2023
The Soudal Open marks the beginning of the DP World Tour's 'European Swing'. It is the fourth of the five global swings this season, starting at Rinkven International and heading on through five further tournaments - culminating in the BMW International Open in early July.
Pieters committed to the event back in mid-December and - speaking to event media earlier this year - highlighted how he would love to lift some silverware in front of his home supporters having never claimed a DP World Tour title in Belgium before.
He said: “Playing in front of friends and family, the Rinkven members, young people in general, that is what excites me most about the Soudal Open. I am definitely hungry. I have never before won in Belgium, so I would obviously like to add that to my track record.”
Pieters is likely to fancy his chances of achieving that dream, too, following an interview with Gulf News ahead of LIV Golf Jeddah earlier this year in which Pieters labelled the standard of play on LIV "10 times better" than the DP World Tour.
He said: “Coming from the DP World Tour, the standard of golf is ten times better than what I used to play.
“You can’t hide out here. As you can see from my results, I haven’t had the best year – if you’re average or have a bad week you’re going to finish last or in the last five which sucks, but that’s just the way it is. LIV is getting very strong.”
Pieters' form in the LIV Golf League this year has been polarizing, with a poor start making way for a much brighter past three tournaments. The 32-year-old's best finish during his first four starts of the season was 30th - at LIV Golf Las Vegas - while Pieters has ended 9th (Miami), 14th (Adelaide), and 5th (Singapore) more recently.
That has been a marked improvement from his 2023 season, too, in which Pieters finished no higher than 10th - although there were four other results better than 20th.
Outlining the reasons for a disappointing debut campaign with the RangeGoats, Pieters said: “Some personal stuff, not doing enough practice and having two young kids is not easy – they’re awesome but it’s very tiring!
“I obviously don’t live in a country (Belgium) with the best weather, so the winter has been tough. And then I had to go and play in Mexico which is the tightest place on earth. It’s not great for the confidence, but it is what it is. I don’t want to make excuses - it’s just not been great.”
