Tag: Thomas Detry

Thomas Detry lived every golfer’s worst nightmare when he 5-putted from 4 feet

We’ve all been there, Thomas.

The game of golf giveth and the game of golf taketh away.

Belgian golfer Thomas Detry fell squarely into the latter camp during Friday’s Round 2 at the Cognizant Classic, which was held at the PGA National Members Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Every golf hobbyist has had to live through a comically horrendous putting performance. Unfortunately for Detry, it happened to him on national television in a professional setting.

After an approach putt to set up an easy par on the sixth hole, Detry missed from four feet out. Ouch. Detry was then forced to settle for an easy bogey. Except he missed. Again.

That set up a gimme for a double-bogey, which he couldn’t possibly miss. What’s that? Oh, he missed it. After one more rushed, missed shot in an attempt to close out the hole, Detry finally (mercifully) escaped with a quadruple bogey eight on the Par 4.

Five of Detry’s six putts on the green were from within four feet.

Simply less than ideal.

The hole all but singlehandedly ended any chance of making the cut for Detry, who entered Round 2 with some ground to make up following a 2-over showing in Round 1. After shooting an 80 on the Par 71 course, Detry fell to dead last in the tournament by a four-stroke margin at 11-over.

6 notables among those who missed the cut at 2024 Cognizant Classic

Many golfers saw some wild fluctuations between their Thursday and Friday scores.

The field of 144 at the 2024 Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches is down to 68 after the cut came on Saturday morning at PGA National.

Play was halted for darkness after each of the first two rounds, and that meant 13 golfers had to return to the course Saturday morning to finish their second rounds. There were actually 14 who hadn’t played 36 holes by Friday night but Chandler Phillips withdrew with one hole to go. He was 6 over.

The tournament, in its first year with a new name, has $9 million up for grabs, with $1.62 million going to the winner. Chris Kirk is the defending champion and he’s tied for 24th. Bud Cauley is the solo leader after two days. He’s at 11 under. The cut was 2 under.

There is a slew of others not so lucky after a windy Friday at PGA National, many of due to some wild fluctuations between the score they signed for Thursday compared to their scores on Friday.

PGA Tour pro needed six agonizing putts on sixth hole at 2024 Cognizant Classic

The details, provided by the PGA Tour’s TourCast, are ugly.

Thomas Detry was on in two on the 461-yard par-4 sixth hole at PGA National.

It took another six shots for him to find the jar.

Detry’s second shot was more than 50 feet from the hole, but no biggie, right? PGA Tour pros are generally great lag putters.

But Detry sent his first putt about six feet past the hole and that’s when disaster struck.

The details, provided by the PGA Tour’s TourCast, are ugly:

  • Shot 4: Putt 8 ft 3 in., 2 ft 6 in. to hole
  • Shot 5: Putt 5 ft 9 in., 3 ft 10 in. to hole
  • Shot 6: Putt 5 ft 3 in., 15 in. to hole
  • Shot 7: Putt 5 ft 5 in., 3 ft 11 in. to hole
  • Shot 8: In the hole

The video is just as painful to watch.

6 notable players who missed the cut at the PGA Tour’s 2024 Mexico Open at Vidanta

The field of 132 at the Mexico Open was reduced to 65 on Friday night after the cut came in at 2 under.

The field of 132 at the Mexico Open at Vidanta was reduced Friday night after the cut came in at 2 under, and that sent 65 players to Saturday’s third round.

It’s not the most star-studded field on the PGA Tour this season, but there were still some notable names among the 67 who failed to make the weekend at Vidanta Vallarta, a 7,456-yard golf course where Tony Finau – who is tied for ninth – is the defending champion.

Still up for grabs for those playing is the $1,458,000 first-place prize as well as a Masters invite, if one is not already secured by the man who hoists the trophy come Sunday.

Here’s a closer look at some who didn’t.

Thomas Detry’s walk-off birdie among 5 things to know at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Here’s what you need to know from the opening round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Less than a week ago, Thomas Detry was leading the Farmers Insurance Open in the third round when he spun a wedge from 90 yards back into the water and made double bogey. He admitted it was “a punch in the face.” He went on to shoot 2-over 74 a day later and finished T-20. On Thursday at Spyglass Hill, he was cruising along once again when he fatted his approach at the final hole. But this time there was no penalty area to ruin a good round. This time, he pitched in from about 20 yards short of the green to shoot 9-under 63 and take a one-stroke lead over Patrick Cantlay after the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

“It was an uphill lie, I felt pretty comfortable I would put it within 3 feet to be honest,” Detry said in his post-round interview. “And it rolled nicely, just trickled in the hole. It was lovely to watch.”

Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Best celebrity photos | Friday tee times

Detry, a 31-year-old pro from Belgium, said having an extra day to get over last week’s disappointment – the Farmers Insurance Open is the only PGA Tour event that ends on Saturday – helped put it behind him.

“Last weekend was a tough pill to swallow,” he said. “I played some great golf and I didn’t really have the finish that I wanted to. I was in contention the whole weekend except the last five or six holes.”

On Thursday, the weatherman was wrong with his dreary forecast and sunshine prevailed during the opening round. It still was breezy and the tree-lined Spyglass course served as a buffer and allowed for slightly better scoring than at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Detry birdied his first three holes of the day and came home in 30 with a flurry of three straight birdies to cap the day.

Here are four more things to know from the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

MORE: Rory McIlroy assessed two-shot penalty for illegal drop at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

First-time winners lead, Will Zalatoris finds his form and more from moving day at the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open

Someone forgot to tell the players moving day came early this week at the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open.

SAN DIEGO — Someone forgot to tell the players moving day came early this week at the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open.

Just 18 of the 79 players who made the cut were under par on Friday on the South Course at Torrey Pines, and the low rounds of the day were a pair of 4-under 68s from Ryan Brehm and Will Zalatoris.

The third round featured the return of the CBS walk-and-talk with a San Diego native, a new swing analysis tool, the return of a rising PGA Tour star and a gritty golf course fit for a testy Saturday finale. Here’s what you missed from the third round of the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

Farmers Insurance Open: Photos

Players to watch: Predicting 10 first-time PGA Tour winners in 2024

Keep an eye on this mix of veterans and rising stars in 2024.

After taking a nearly two-month holiday hiatus, the PGA Tour will return to action the first week of January with the 2024 Sentry in Hawaii.

The last time we saw the boys in action, rookie Ludvig Aberg earned his first win on Tour at the RSM Classic in November. There were 13 first-time winners on Tour in 2023, up one from 12 the year prior. Golfweek predicted four of them.

So who do we have our eyes on for next year? From veterans to rising stars from the amateur ranks, here are 10 players who we predict will hoist a trophy on Tour for the first time in 2024.

Candidates for PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for the 2022-23 season

Let’s take a look at some of the top candidates for the Arnold Palmer Award.

There were 28 rookies on the PGA Tour for the 2022-23 season, the same number that there were a year ago. It’s also the most since the Tour had 35 newbies for the 2011 season.

Two rookies won a Tour event this season: Nico Echavarria at the Puerto Rico Open and Vincent Norrman at the Barbasol Championship.

Of those 28, none made the 30-man field at the Tour Championship, the first time rookies were shut out of East Lake Golf Club since the 2020-21 season. Notably, there have never been more than two rookies in the season finale in the 17-year history of the FedEx Cup.

While plenty of these first-year players made some noise along the way this season, there can only be one Rookie of the Year. Players are still vying for the honor, as the FedEx Cup Fall series events count towards consideration.

There are three events left: the World Wide Technology Championship in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in Bermuda and the RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Georgia. Ballots for Rookie of the Year will be sent out after the RSM.

For now, let’s take a look at some of the top candidates for the Arnold Palmer Award with their FedEx Cup ranking in parentheses.

FedEx Cup Playoffs projected standings: Cam Davis, Thomas Detry into top 50

Getting into the top 30 for the Tour Championship is the goal but more pressing is making the top 50 for the BMW.

Friday turned out to be a big day for a couple of golfers eyeing the Tour Championship.

Only the top 30 make the season-ending field at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta and Lucas Glover was 49th before the second round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis. But thanks to his Friday 64, which got him to 10 under and into the outright lead at TPC Southwind, Glover rocketed up to third in the FedEx Cup Playoffs projected standings.

Jordan Spieth was also a big mover Friday, shooting a 68 to take over solo second, a shot back of Glover. That moved him from 31st, a spot outside of Atlanta, to sixth.

Other big movers up the projections: Sungjae Im went from 32nd to 18th and Lee Hodges from 35th to 30th.

Also worth noting: the change at the top, as Scottie Scheffler is now No. 1, replacing Jon Rahm atop the standings. And with Glover up to third, Rory McIlroy is bumped back to fourth, while Max Homa is also down one to fifth.

More pressing, however, is making the top 50 for next week’s BMW Championship. Here’s a look at two golfers who improved their standing, as well as the two who moved the wrong way in the points race.

Winning is hard: These 14 pros nearly picked up their first PGA Tour win this season

“Second place is just the first-place loser. There is no room for second place.”

With the calendar flipping to June, the PGA Tour counts eight first-time winners this season, including the duo of Davis Riley and Nick Hardy, who teamed up for their first wins at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

It was almost nine on Sunday as Denny McCarthy had a putt to win the Memorial only to be denied his maiden victory by Viktor Hovland.

McCarthy isn’t alone. So far this season, 14 different players have finished runner-up or tied for second 15 times while bidding for their first Tour title. If the Netflix documentary “Full Swing” taught us anything it is that winning is hard. (Don’t drink every time a player says just that or you may not make it through a single episode.)

“The only one who will remember you if you come in second place is your wife and your dog,” World Golf Hall of Famer Gary Player once said, “and that is only if you have a good wife and a good dog.”

NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt didn’t mince words either, saying, “Second place is just the first-place loser. There is no room for second place.”

Nevertheless, let’s take a closer look at this year’s runner-ups, who were so close to tasting victory and climbing another rung on the professional golf ladder with their first Tour wins.