Belgium now has a PGA Tour winner.
Thomas Detry made his native land the 33rd country to be represented on the Tour’s win list, claiming his maiden victory at the WM Phoenix Open.
Detry, in his 67th Tour start, finished at 24 under, beating Daniel Berger and Michael Kim by seven strokes. Detry is the third European to win the event, and the first since Sweden’s Jesper Parnevik in 1998.
“Deep inside, I was kind of—yeah, this one nobody was going to take it away from me,” Detry said.
MORE: Final payouts, results from WM Phoenix Open
The 32-year-old Detry took a five-stroke lead into the final round after a third-round 65. He was in the driver’s seat most of the afternoon; however, things got a little tight in the final few holes with Berger cutting the lead to three.
But the icing on the cake came on the TPC Scottsdale’s famous par-3 16th. As nearly 20,000 fans watched in the grandstands, Detry nearly holed out with his shot landing just over a foot right of the cup.
“In my mind, with my caddie we just had a number, and I think was 163 meters or 164 meters to the flag and we were just trying to pitch it 155,” Detry said, “and I was just thinking, ‘okay, just a normal 9-iron, a bit of downwind, just middle of the green and that’s it.’ I flushed it. I covered it nicely. It just was flying so good in the air.”
A statement shot from Thomas Detry! 🎯
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 9, 2025
The leader sticks it to a foot on No. 16 in search of his first career win.
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/zWxAckWc1S
After a bogey by Berger, Detry was up five with two holes to play.
There’s still a silver lining for Berger. A back injury sidelined him for 19 months between 2022 and 2024, and he earned his Tour card for this year by finishing No. 100 in last season’s FedExCup standings. This was his best finish outside of the Tour’s fall series since his injury, helping earn a spot in next week's Genesis Open.
“I asked for a sponsor exemption into Pebble Beach (last week) where the last time I played it I won (2021), and two years in a row I didn't get that exemption,” Berger said, “so it kind of was a little chip on my shoulder to get it done without needing anyone’s help, so I’m excited to go back.”
Ultimately, though, Detry built a lead too big to catch—and he extended it with another two birdies on his final two holes for a final-round 65, matching the low round of the day.
The win gets Detry into the Masters and PGA Championship. And a few more performances like this will help him find his way on the European Ryder Cup team in September. In 2012, Nicolas Colsaerts was the first Belgian to make a Ryder Cup squad, but Detry could be the first with a Tour win to his name.
“The Ryder Cup is something that I really want to be proud of,” Detry said. “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, and I think—I’ve been watching the Ryder Cup now on TV every single year, and being part of it would definitely be a dream.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Thomas Detry Dominates WM Phoenix Open, Becomes PGA Tour’s First Belgian Winner.
