Breakfast Ball #57: Detry Dominates in Phoenix

Apologies for the delay in this week’s newsletter, as the Super Bowl completely took over proceedings here in Philadelphia on Sunday night. However, the Eagles win over the Chiefs was not the only dominant victory on Sunday.

In This Week’s Newsletter:

Thomas Detry clears the field to win the Waste Management Phoenix Open by seven shots

A pro golfer’s legacy is often defined by their wins, yet with over 150 top players battling each week, only one can claim victory. A single win can elevate a golfer to elite status, while many talented players forge rewarding careers without ever capturing a PGA Tour title.

Take Thomas Detry, for example. Before this weekend, Detry had earned $7.6M in 67 PGA Tour starts, but he hadn’t won a professional event since his first victory on the Challenge Tour in 2016. Despite his early promise, critics argued that he had failed to convert his talent into wins over the past nine years. In 13 final rounds where he entered as one of the top three contenders, that elusive title always slipped away.

Thomas Detry silenced the doubters on Sunday with a dominant seven stroke victory in the Waste Management Phoenix Open—the first Belgian win on the PGA Tour. Detry entered the final round five shots clear of the field, and while Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Daniel Berger, and Rasmus Højgaard all made charges at him, he kept his composure and only had one bogey all day.

Detry’s defining stretch came on the 14th, 15th, and 16th holes. Former American Ryder Cup player Daniel Berger was charging, and Detry got out of position to the right of the 14th green. He was able to get up-and-down for par, then hammered a drive down the middle of the 15th fairway. “I think what really turned it around was my up-and-down on 14 and that driver on 15,” Detry explained. “With 15 was playing downwind, I knew that if I could commit to that drive and hit a proper drive, it was only an 8- or 7-iron into that par-5.”

Detry would convert that great drive into a birdie on the 15th to maintain his three shot lead, and then he hit the shot of his life on the infamous par-3 16th. A towering 180-yard effort to just 16 inches gave him another birdie and a five stroke lead, effectively guaranteeing him the tournament. He also birdied the final two holes for good measure.

This was not just the story of a man barely breaking through to get his first win on the PGA Tour. It was the story of a man smashing down the door to win a top tier PGA Tour event by a landslide. Detry is now firmly in the conversation for a spot on Luke Donald’s team in September, and I would not be surprised to see him there.

Other Results:

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Bob MacIntyre put in his best performance of the year to date, finishing in T6 after a strong week of golf

• 🇩🇰 Rasmus Højgaard was in the final group with Detry on Sunday, but after a promising first five holes in which he went 3-under, he faded to finish in T12

• 🇦🇹 The FedEx Cup leader Sepp Straka continued his strong form, placing in 15th

• 🌍️ While it is early in the season, 3 of the top 5 players in the FedEx Cup rankings are now European, with Straka in first, Detry in second, and McIlroy in fourth

Adrian Meronk wins first LIV Golf individual title in Riyadh

Adrian Meronk went wire-to-wire to win his first LIV Golf title in Riyadh by two shots. Meronk started the week with a 10-under 62, going bogey free through the first 28 holes of the tournament. He went into the final round leading by two ahead of Sebastian Munoz, but bogeys on the 10th and 11th holes by Meronk and two birdies by Munoz tied the two players at the top. With Rahm chasing behind, Meronk played the final 7 holes bogey-free with one birdie to push ahead and win by two.

Meronk joined LIV last year after being a controversial omission from the European Ryder Cup team in 2023. Meronk won the Italian Open in 2023 at Marco Simone, the golf course that hosted the match. That omission was part of his decision to join the league: “Not making the Ryder Cup team definitely opened my eyes to the fact that I need to focus on myself, my career, my game and my life,” he said. With this win, he puts himself firmly in the conversation for a captain’s pick this September.

Legion XIII were comfortable winners of the team title, with Jon Rahm (T2), Tyrrell Hatton (T6), Caleb Surratt (9th), and Tom McKibbin (T15) all finishing in the top 20. McKibbin pocketed over $1M in his first LIV event, as the winning team gets a $3M bonus alongside their individual winnings. They were 11 shots ahead of their nearest competitors Ripper GC and RangeGoats GC. LIV will now move on to one of their best events of the season in Adelaide, with over 90,000 fans expected to be in attendance over the three days.

Quick Hits (lots of them)

• 📈 Haotong Li birdied the final hole of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters on the DP World Tour to win by one shot ahead of Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen

  • This was his fourth win on tour and his first since 2022

• 📺️ LIV Golf made its debut on FOX in the US and ITV in the UK this weekend, as it finally penned two major TV deals

  • However, the results were not very encouraging, with an average of 12,000 viewers tuning into the first round in the US

• 🏌️ The shot of the week came from the iconic par-3 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale, as Emiliano Grillo had a slam dunk ace

  • Detry’s effort on the 16th probably should be shot of the week, but you’ve already seen that above so why not highlight something else?

• 🇪🇸 Sergio Garcia revealed that he is in talks to captain the European Ryder Cup team in 2027

  • Garcia’s main focus is on playing on the team in 2025, but he would be a natural selection for the captaincy in 2027

• 🛣️ Both the US Open and The Open announced that they will be giving one LIV player a direct pathway to play in their tournaments this year

  • The US Open is giving a spot to the highest ranked player in the top 3 of the individual standings not already qualified, while The Open is doing the same, but opening it up to the top 5

  • This is the first time major championships have given LIV players the opportunity to qualify for their tournaments directly from their play on LIV

Trivia Corner

The only Pro-Am tournament on the DP World Tour is the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, which takes place each year at Carnoustie, Kingsbarns, and The Old Course at St.Andrew’s. Tyrrell Hatton won the event for a third time last year playing alongside his dad.

LIV Golf is going to Australia for its next event. Australia has 4 of Golf Digest’s top 100 courses in the world. Can you name 2 of them?

Coming up on tour this week:

• 🌊 The Genesis Invitational is the third signature event of the year on the PGA Tour

  • This event is typically at Riviera Country Club in LA, but was moved to Torrey Pines this year due to the aftermath of the LA wildfires

• 🦘 LIV Golf moves on to Adelaide for its second event of the season

  • 94,000 fans came out to watch this tournament last year, as Australia is an extremely underserved pro golf market

If you have any feedback for the newsletter or would like to get in touch, I would love to hear from you! Email [email protected] or message us on Twitter/X at @BlueHorizonGolf. Thank you for reading!