Thomas Detry Wins WM Phoenix Open By Seven Shots To Claim Maiden PGA Tour Title

Thomas Detry finished with four successive birdies to ease to a comfortable victory at TPC Scottsdale and secure a first PGA Tour trophy

Thomas Detry holds the WM Phoenix Open trophy

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Thomas Detry claimed his maiden PGA Tour title with a convincing WM Phoenix Open win at TPC Scottsdale.

After making birdie at the first, Detry then bogeyed the second. However, a second birdie followed on the next hole before he began to find his rhythm.

He couldn't have been too comfortable, though, particularly as Hojgaard and Scottie Scheffler, in particular, had fast starts. The Dane birdied three of his first five holes, including a brilliant 61-foot effort at the fifth. As for Scheffler, he made four birdies in his first six to heap further pressure on the leader.

Detry, though, was undeterred, and maintained his composure even when his lead was cut to three following Hojgaard's moment of magic at the fifth.

Hojgaard then bogeyed the sixth and seventh as his challenge went off the rails. At the same time Spieth began making a charge, moving to four off the lead with a 27-foot birdie putt at the seventh.

Just when Scheffler appeared poised to turn the screw, he missed a straightforward birdie putt at the ninth and, in truth, never recovered, eventually finishing T25.

At the 12th, Robert MacIntyre briefly entered the equation with his fourth birdie of the day to move four behind, but Detry continued on his impressive way, and made his third birdie at the 11th to restore the five-shot lead he began with.

By the 13th, Berger was the latest to ask questions of the leader, moving to three behind after his third birdie of the day, while at the 14th, Kim remained in the hunt after his birdie left him four back.

Berger then produced a brilliant chip-in to save par at the 14th, and he was joined by Kim in T2 soon after when he made his third successive birdie in a row at the 15th. It was to be his last of the day.

In any case, any hopes the pair had of closing the gap were about to be extinguished. After Detry birdied the 15th, he sent the crowd wild at the 16th, when he almost followed Emiliano Grillo's ace in the second round with one of his own. It landed a foot right, but it gave him another birdie. To strentgthen Detry's position, Berger made his first bogey at The Coliseum as a three-shot advantage became five.

Daniel Berger takes a shot at the WM Phoenix Open

Daniel Berger's first bogey at the 16th all but ended his chances

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Another birdie followed on the 17th for Detry, this time with a confident 21-foot putt that rattled the back of the cup before dropping. With a six-shot advantage, it had become a procession, and, after Berger missed his birdie chance at the 18th, Detry made his fourth in a row to complete his seven-shot victory.

Following his win, Detry reflected on his achievement, and admitted he felt it was his time to win on the PGA Tour on the 67th attempt. He said: "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."

He added: "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."

WM Phoenix Open Leaderboard

  • 1 Thomas Detry (-24)
  • T2 Michael Kim, Daniel Berger (-17)
  • T4 Christiann Bezuidenhout, Jordan Spieth (-16)
  • T6 Justin Thomas, Will Chandler, Robert MacIntre (-15)
  • T9 Adam Hadwin, Taylor Moore, Maverick McNealy (-14)
  • T12 Min Woo Lee, Cameron Young, Rasmus Hojgaard (-13)
  • 15 Sepp Straka (-12)
  • T16 Wyndham Clark, Kevin Yu, JT Poston, Denny McCarthy, Ben Silverman (-11)

Updates from...

Matt Cradock
Matt Cradock
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HELLO ALL

As mentioned, Thomas Detry leads going into Sunday, with the Belgian holding a comfortable five stroke advantage as he searches for a first victory on the PGA Tour.

Amongst the chasing pack are Jordan Spieth and Daniel Berger, with World No.1 Scottie Scheffler also hoping for a final round charge as he looks to claim a third WM Phoenix Open title.

LEADERS ARE OFF

Up ahead on the green, Jordan Spieth, Michael Kim and Maverick McNealy have all made par to begin their final day.

DETRY MAKES THE PERFECT START

Thomas Detry waves to fans

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Detry's lead is now six shots at TPC Scottsdale! Perfect start from the former World Cup of Golf winner, who fires his approach to 12-feet and converts the left-to-right putt for an opening birdie.

Alongside Detry, Berger sees his birdie attempt slide by the right side, whilst Hojgaard's birdie putt also goes the same way. They trail their playing partner by six.

KIM AND SPIETH MOVE TO 14-UNDER

Not to be outdone, Kim's playing partner, Spieth, also makes his birdie putt to get to 14-under. The pair are teeing off in front of Detry's group, so will need to carry on their fine start to put him under pressure.

BOGEY FOR DETRY

Within the group, Hojgaard holes a lovely snaky 25-footer for birdie to get to 14-under, whilst Berger is able to get up-and-down from the fringe to stay level-par for his day and 13-under for the tournament.

FAIRWAY FINDERS AT THE THIRD

Down the leaderboard, Scottie Scheffler has birdied two of his first four holes to get to 12-under, six back of Detry.

MACINTYRE GETS TO 13-UNDER

Robert MacIntyre watches his tee shot

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MacIntyre is enjoying yet another strong week on the PGA Tour and, at the par 3 fourth, he finds just the third birdie of the day as the Scot holes a lengthy putt.

He is now 13-under, five back of Detry, who fires his approach at the par 5 third into the rough short of the green. It's on the correct side though, so should be a good chance to make birdie.

BIRDIES FLYING IN

Back in the final group, Detry plays his chip shot past the hole but, from 15-feet, he converts for birdie and moves back to 19-under. There's even better news for the Belgian, as both Hojgaard and Berger fail to find their birdies. Detry's lead is now five.

KIM AND SPIETH BOGEY

Speaking of Hojgaard, the Dane fires an impressive approach to around 15-feet, with Detry pulling his approach left and also finding the green, albeit a long way away. Last up is Berger, whose 8-iron from 180-yards also finds the putting surface, slightly closer than Hojgaard's.

SCHEFFLER AND HOJGAARD ON A CHARGE

Like Scheffler, Hojgaard will need to go low to challenge and, at the par 3 fourth, the 23-year-old makes just the fourth birdie of the day there, rolling in a 12-footer. In the group, Detry and Berger both two-putt for pars.

BIRDIE FOR SPIETH

After bogeying the fourth, Spieth rolls in a gorgeous birdie putt to get back to 14-under at the par 4 fifth. He is now five back of Detry.

In the final group, Hojgaard has carved his tee shot right and is resting up against a metal fence. It's unclear as to what options he has yet. Up next is Detry, who pulls his drive left and into the wasteland, with Berger joining his playing partner in the desert.

BIG BREAK FOR HOJGAARD

Shaping his shot round the tree, Berger goes slightly long of the green. In Detry's world, he plays a good shot from the rough that doesn't spin. He will have a long two-putt coming up. Finally it's Hojgaard's turn and, just left of the fence, he is able to play a wedge on to the green, which is again some distance away from the hole.

AWESOME FROM RASMUS

PLENTY TO THINK ABOUT FOR DETRY

BREATHING SPACE FOR DETRY

MISTAKE FROM SCOTTIE!

PLENTY AT STAKE

While Detry is still in the driving seat, he's just hit a tree off his tee shot at the eighth, which could present a problem...

BRILLIANT FROM DETRY

The birdie chance misses right, but he should make par.

HEAVY GOING FOR HOJGAARD

DETRY IN CONTROL

Moments later, Daniel Berger makes his second birdie of the day at the same hole to move into a tie for second with Jordan Spieth.

NOT QUITE FOR SPIETH

SLIP-UPS FROM THE CHASING PACK

And Scheffler's par putt misses left so he drops back to -13, six behind Detry.

SPIETH DOING SPIETH THINGS

Spieth is not exactly a stranger to getting into - and out of - tricky situations, and this time, he has his putter in his hand before digging it out playing left-handed, almost troubling another shrub before getting it somewhat safe, albeit not yet on the fairway and in the desert. He then follows it with a truly beautiful effort from 123 yards onto the green to leave a reasonable par chance.

Naturally, he then completes his par putt to remain well and truly in contention. Never change, Jordan.

MACINTYRE ON THE MOVE

Straight after, at the 11th, Detry then makes a birdie to restore the five-shot lead he had at the start of the day.

Soon after, Scottie Scheffler makes his second successive bogey at the 13th, and now he's eight behind. Surely it's all over for the World No.1?

CLOSE FROM DETRY

MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR SPIETH

Jordan Spieth takes a shot during the WM Phoenix Open

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At the par-5 13th, Jordan Spieth again finds the native area left of the fairway, before reaching the safety of the fairway with his second. His next shot then reaches the green to leave a look for birdie. He needs it, as he has to claw back five on leader Thomas Detry with opportunities beginning to run out.

Spieth is 11 feet from the hole, and his effort misses left by a whisker.

Further along, Adam Hadwin gets the crowd going at the 16th with a possible ace that stops just a foot or so right of the hole.

FROM BAD TO WORSE FOR SCHEFFLER

Scottie Scheffler acknowledges the crowd during the WM Phoenix Open

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It's officially an "off" afternoon for Scottie Scheffler. After starting the final round brilliantly with four early birdies, he's fallen off the pace dramatically, and now he's found the water with his second shot at the 15th. Back to the drawing board before next week's Genesis Invitational for the World No.1.

CHANCES GO BEGGING FOR DETRY

BERGER COOKING

Daniel Berger during the WM Phoenix Open

Daniel Berger is applying the pressure on leader Thomas Detry

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Is Daniel Berger about to give something for Thomas Detry to think about? It looks like it, as he completes a birdie at the 13th to close the gap to just three. This isn't done and dusted for Detry yet.

Another birdie for Michael Kim at the 14th leaves him four back.

BERGER CHIPS IN!

BRILLIANT FINISH FROM JT

KIM ON SONG

Then, at the 14th, Jordan Spieth's birdie putt comes up a hair's breadth short. That's his eighth successive par and why he likely won't be lifting the trophy.

ANYTHING YOU CAN DO...

TOP STUFF FROM CHANDLER

DETRY CLOSING IN

Thomas Detry takes a shot during the WM Phoenix Open

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The top two are at the iconic 16th, The Coliseum. Berger is first to go and, with the crowd baying for an ace, his effort lands beyond the green. Next, it's Detry. It's desperately close and finishes a foot right of the hole! That'll be a birdie and what a time to get it!

BERGER SLIP LEAVES DETRY ON VERGE OF GLORY

THIRD SUCCESSIVE BIRDIE FOR DETRY LEAVES HIM ON THE BRINK!

Back on the fairway, Thomas Detry chips onto the green, but it just keeps on going, so that'll leave a tricky birdie putt. Not that he'll be too worried about that with a five-stroke lead.

Berger's first to go, but he's 45 feet from the hole. The speed is good but it's right. He'll likely finish with par. Now Detry. He's been a model of composure all afternoon, and he does it again! He moves to 23-under, six clear with one to play!

DETRY BEGINS COMPLETING THE FORMALITIES

Up ahead, Jordan Spieth, in only his second tournament since wrist surgery, can be happy with his lot too. He's T4.

DETRY WINS IT IN STYLE!

With throngs of fans crowding around the 18th, Berger goes first, but it comes up just short and he finishes with par at -17. Now it's Hojgaard, who finishes the day beautifully, with an assured putt for birdie.

That leaves the stage set for Detry to complete the 2025 WM Phoenix Open. Can he make yet another birdie? It's never in doubt. What a win for the Belgian who claims his maiden PGA Tour title!

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