SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Being in contention had always put Thomas Detry on fast-forward. His heart raced and his mind looked ahead instead of focusing on the moment.
Knowing what was at stake, the Belgian took steps to calm his nerves by meditating and taking an ice bath before each of his final two rounds at raucous TPC Scottsdale.
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It paid off with his first PGA Tour victory.
Calm throughout the day, Detry nearly aced the rowdy 16th hole in a stretch of four closing birdies, shooting a 6-under 65 on Sunday to win the Phoenix Open by seven shots.
“Today I paid more attention,” Detry said. “Yesterday morning, I actually felt pretty comfortable and I did the exact same routine, and I actually felt comfortable on the first tee. I really didn't have any nerves.”
A year after soggy conditions led to multiple delays, perfect weather greeted players at the jam-packed Stadium Course. The fans also were on their best behavior — as much as they can be at the PGA Tour's wildest stop — following a mayhem-filled 2024 tournament.
Detry took advantage of the ideal conditions and navigated the noise to enter the final round with a five-shot lead. Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth and Daniel Berger all made charges, but Detry hit it to 16 inches on 16 to seal his first win in 68 PGA Tour starts.
Detry added two more birdies to finish at 24-under 260, becoming the first Belgian to win on the tour.
“I tried to just do my best to put pressure on him, but every time I felt like I made a birdie, he made one back," Berger said. “He was playing really great golf today and he was deserving to win this.”
Berger shot 67 and tied for second with Michael Kim (67) at 17 under. Spieth shot 68 to tie for fourth at 16 under in his second tournament since wrist surgery last summer.
Justin Thomas holed out from 103 yards for eagle on 18 to shoot 65, finishing tied for sixth at 15 under.
“I felt like I played a lot of great golf and did a lot of really good things this week — and I feel like we kind of deserved that,” Thomas said.
Detry had been waiting for this moment.
The 32-year-old won the European tour's Bridgestone Challenge in 2016, twice represented Belgium at the Olympics and had two runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour — most recently at the 2024 Houston Open.
All that was missing was a win.
Detry put himself in position with stellar ball-striking and putting in the desert. He entered the final round at 18 under and wasted no time adding to it, dropping a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 1. He couldn't get up-and-down from a greenside bunker on the par-4 second, but bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 third.
Detry shot 1-under 34 on the front nine and still had a four-shot lead heading to the back. He reached 20 under with a birdie on the hardest hole on the course, the 470-yard, par-4 11th, and added a two-putt birdie on 15 before his near-ace on 16.
Detry got up-and-down for birdie on the short par-4 17th and closed out in style, sinking a 9-foot birdie putt on 18.
“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,” Detry said. “So I was able to trust my game and kind of rely on that.”
Several players tried to make it difficult on Detry as they climbed the leaderboard.
Berger made the latest charge.
He pulled within three shots with birdies on No. 12 and 13, then chipped in for par on 14 after barely getting his third shot out of a greenside bunker. He briefly cut into the lead with a birdie on the par-5 15th, but Detry poured in one on top of his to keep it at three.
Berger bogeyed No. 16 after bouncing his tee shot through the green, ending his comeback bid.
Spieth shot 33 on the front to get to 15 under, but had one birdie over his final 11 holes.
“All in all, it was a big progress week for me,” Spieth said. “I didn’t feel like this was a one-off. It felt like this is just trending the right direction.”
Scheffler shot 31 on the front nine to reach 14 under, only to fade. He shot a 5-over 41 on the back nine to finish with a 72, dropping all the way to 25th in his second start since he injured his hand on broken wineglass while making ravioli for Christmas.
Even with a good back nine, there wasn't much chance that Scheffler or anyone else was going to catch Detry.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf