WM PHOENIX OPEN

February 9, 2025

Thomas Detry

TPC Scottsdale

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Thomas Detry to the interview room, the winner of the 2025 WM Phoenix Open. Your first PGA TOUR title, first player from Belgium to win on the PGA TOUR. How would you characterize the emotions of this day?

THOMAS DETRY: Incredible. Incredible. I felt nervous yesterday morning, and last night didn't sleep great. I woke up this morning early, 4:00 a.m., couldn't fall back asleep.

But then deep inside of me, I kind of really trusted myself. I felt like I've been doing a lot of really good things in the past to put myself in that position, and I felt like I was kind of ready to win. So deep inside, I was kind of -- yeah, this one nobody was going to take it away from me.

Q. Quickly tell us about birdieing the final four holes. You withstood some charges throughout the day, but to really slam the door shut there, what was going through your mind?

THOMAS DETRY: Yeah, I hit the green in two on 13, which in my mind I thought was kind of a key, and I kind of maybe mentally relaxed a little bit too much there and didn't pay enough attention on that putt, three-putted 13. Daniel Berger just birdied 12 and 13 and suddenly I was like, okay, I need to be careful here.

Then I think what really turned it around was my up-and-down on 14 and that driver on 15, because 15 was playing downwind, so 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, which was big, and I was able to birdie that hole, and then after that obviously 16 -- I was just trying to hit it to the middle of the green pretty much.

I think the adrenaline kind of took over a little bit. I didn't realize it was that close. I thought it was probably just a couple of feet away or maybe 10, 15 feet away or maybe just past it, just short, and when I got there, I was like, okay, this is looking good now.

Q. As a guy who was trying to break through, did it feel differently when you woke up this morning? Was there a moment during your warm-up or during the round that you felt like this was going to be it?

THOMAS DETRY: Yeah, I've had the tendency of when I've felt under pressure, and it's been every single week, honestly when I'm in contention, heart racing, I started forward thinking a little bit, kind of getting ahead of myself, not really being in the present.

Today I paid more attention. I meditated this morning. I meditated yesterday morning, as well. I felt like that kind of brought me into a peaceful mindset.

I also did an ice bath this morning, which was nice. I felt like this was kind of what I did yesterday morning, as well, and I felt like yesterday morning I actually felt pretty comfortable on the first tee and I did the exact same routine today, and I actually felt comfortable on the first tee. I didn't really have any nerves.

I felt like I had my full mind to it and I was just ready to play my own game and not try to chase something.

Q. Like you said, you hit an unbelievable shot on 16. Can you talk about when you made that birdie, just the feeling of the crowd? Did you embrace, this might be it?

THOMAS DETRY: Yeah, it was incredible. To be really honest, everything goes so quickly that you almost don't realize it.

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, 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.

I saw Daniel Berger's ball just flying over, so I was thinking, just take it easy, don't bounce too hard, and I didn't realize it went that close, to be honest. But it was probably one of the best shots I've ever hit, to be honest.

Q. It's obviously a Ryder Cup year; what would it mean for you to represent Team Europe later this year at Bethpage Black?

THOMAS DETRY: I feel like the atmosphere at Bethpage would be pretty similar to this, especially for me as a European. Lots of people shouting at me.

But no, the Ryder Cup is something that I really want to be proud of. 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.

But I'm not really getting ahead of myself. I'm not getting over-excited. It's still a very long way away. There's still lots of golf to be played.

At the end of the day, there's obviously picks. There's automatic qualifiers but there's picks and whatever. I might be a pick; I might not make the team. It's whoever plays the best golf closer to that date.

Q. I walked the course a lot with you on Saturday and I kept hearing fans ask, who is this guy. Now as a winner, how do you want to be remembered by those fans who didn't know who you are?

THOMAS DETRY: Yeah, I've heard people saying that I was from Germany. I've heard people saying that I was from Denmark. It's quite nice that people hopefully will start putting a face on my name. People recognize the name "Detry," but they don't really recognize my face sometimes.

I've been in contention many times, so hopefully, yeah, people recognize it, and also for Belgium. It's pretty cool that people don't get it confused with Germany. I made that joke earlier, but it's true; so many people think that I'm from Germany just because we've got the same colors of flag, but it's obviously different. Just a different flag.

Yeah, it's nice, and hopefully I get my name going. It's good for my brand. It's cool. I love it here. It's great. The PGA TOUR is great. Hopefully I can broaden my fan base.

Q. I was talking with Charlie Danielson this morning and he was recalling getting up at 5:00 a.m., getting your coffee, working out and having short game challenges at 7:00 a.m. --

THOMAS DETRY: I got Charlie into coffee. He used to never drink coffee until I got him into it. I'm a big coffee drinker, so --

Q. Did you have coffee this morning?

THOMAS DETRY: Yeah, I had my coffee this morning. I have my coffees every morning. I'm sure he has too now.

Q. I was wondering living with him for four years and pushing each other, how do you think that dynamic kind of fueled you and cultivated your mindset?

THOMAS DETRY: I mean, Charlie is one of my best friends. In college it was great. I was kind of on my own there in America, not really having any friends, and he took me under his umbrella. I was spending every Thanksgiving at his house. His family were amazing to me. We were very competitive. I hated when he beat me.

We used to chip, go to our amazing facility at U of I, and we used go on chipping contests just before class and after class, as well. We were feeding from each other. He was so competitive and he was an amazing player. It's a bit of a shame that he had that knee injury which kind of prohibited him from being out here.

But yeah, it definitely helped me, and those years with Coach Small were great. He really put us in that right mindset of one of the phrases that he used was "poor, hungry, determined." Those are the three words that he wants us to -- that's the way to approach a tournament and approach golf. That's kind of what I remember from it.

Q. The mental game, I know you've talked about meditating. I was wondering what meditating looks like for you, how long you do it for --

THOMAS DETRY: It doesn't take that much time. It takes 10 minutes. It just takes 10 minutes at night and 10 minutes in the morning. It really helps me to -- I'm a forward thinker. 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, and that meditation really helps me stay in the present.

You're going to have those moments where your mind is just going to go there, but it's just the fact of being able to recognize that moment, oh, my mind is going ahead now, I'm going to start rushing, so just use that tool and bring yourself back to the present moment, and that's really what I've been able to do very well this week.

Q. When did you start meditating and what inspired you?

THOMAS DETRY: Actually my wife got me into it. My cousin, as well. A couple of friends, a lot of people doing it. I'm talking to a psychologist who's kind of advised me to do it, as well.

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 10 minutes in the morning. Some people will do a bit longer, but for me, 10 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 utilize 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.

Q. When did you first meditate?

THOMAS DETRY: Maybe two years ago I started -- a year and a half ago I must have started. At the start when you start meditating, your mind just rushes all over the place and you're meditating 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 recognize those moments when your mind just kind of rushes, and it gets you back into the present moment.

Q. Coming into this final day, what was your confidence level with the five-stroke lead coming into the final round?

THOMAS DETRY: Confidence was high, because honestly, I was playing great golf. Confidence was high; I was driving well and putting well. Usually that's kind of the magic formula, especially for me. Every time I drive it well and putt well, not much really can happen.

But I was comfortable. But like you always had that in the back of your mind, you've got a five-shot lead, don't blow it, don't blow it; you'll be really cool.

But I stayed present, and I felt, like I said, very comfortable. This course, there are birdies out there, but once you start missing fairways, those tricky pin positions and the firm greens, the course can bite you. So I was able to trust my game and kind of rely on that.

Q. What are some of the goals you're looking forward to now? You said earlier I've got my goals set coming in, and now you've gotten one of them achieved. What are the rest of the goals for this year?

THOMAS DETRY: I mean, winning has been a goal of mine for the last four or five years. Every year I'm like, this is the year I'm going to win, so this is amazing.

I think reaching TOUR Championship is definitely one of the goals. Reaching TOUR Champ, it's massive. I missed out by only a couple of shots last year, and I was very disappointed.

But my goal is just to perform as good as I can all over the world. I'm still a very big fan of the DP World Tour. I still like to go back in the fall and play all those DP World Tour events and qualify for the Race to Dubai. It's great. This is where I grew up and learned to play golf and where I started my professional career.

My goals are just to keep playing well and keep putting myself in contention and hopefully improve in these situations. Like when I'm under pressure and when I'm in contention, just keep getting better at it, and hopefully I'll be like Scottie Scheffler one day.

Q. Was there a moment today where in the past you might have started racing but you were better able to kind of -- based on your work in the last year and a half you were able to bring yourself back to the present moment quicker?

THOMAS DETRY: Yeah, many times. 13, for example. I was kind of cruising. Made a great birdie on 11, felt comfortable there, and then suddenly kind of 13, that three-putt on 13 kind of came out of nowhere and suddenly I was like, a little bit like, oh, just careful, and Daniel Berger started playing some really good golf. He smoked one on 14, so I was like, hmm, this is getting a little bit dangerous here.

So there I was really able to kind of get back to my routine, just commit to my target. I got myself out of position a little bit off the tee shot on 14 on the right, and I was just like, you know, it's a tucked pin on the left, just hit it right, leave yourself an easy up-and-down, and I was able to kind of stick to my routine and trust the process really.

Q. Coach Small said you know four languages.

THOMAS DETRY: I do, yeah. It's a mess in my brain, but yeah, I do know four languages. My grandma is Spanish, so I used to speak French and Spanish at home, obviously English now, and then I was in a Dutch-speaking school. Brussels, Belgium, is kind of a bilingual country, so we speak French and Dutch in Belgium, and yeah, Dutch is cool, so Dutch, Spanish, French and English.

Q. When you're playing golf, do you think mainly in English?

THOMAS DETRY: My caddie is English, so we speak English all the time. Do I think in English? My wife is British, as well, so there's a lot of English happening. I speak French to my daughters. I'm mainly French speaking, so I kind of think in French. A bit of both.

Q. On the meditation and back on the 16th hole in particular, did you have a moment there where you brought yourself back right before hitting that shot?

THOMAS DETRY: Not really there. Everything kind of went by quickly. I didn't really feel under pressure at that moment. It was just a perfect -- my mind didn't rush there. We had a great number. It was playing downwind. The greens are pretty firm so you know what to expect, a little bounce, it's not going to spin back. I felt really comfortable in that moment. I was like, this is the perfect club, it's a 9-iron, just a normal 9-iron, and I hit an amazing shot.

As I said, was kind of planning on hitting it 10, 15 feet short, and it just kind of took a big bounce and almost went in. It was pretty cool.