Thomas Detrie left Torrey Pines last week with a sour taste in his mouth. Although he was in contention for most of the championship, he struggled to finish the third and final round with success.
Quite the opposite happened Thursday at Spyglass Hill, with Detrie finishing birdie, birdie, birdie for a 9-under 63. He holds a one-stroke lead over Patrick Cantlay at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
“I felt like I had a great drive,” Detrie said of Thursday’s round. “I really didn’t make any mistakes. I drove far too. The rough is wet and heavy so I have to go to the fairway, but to be honest, it paid off.”
Detrie hit 11 of 14 fairways, including the 18th.
However, he made a big mistake on the final hole at Spyglass Hill. He pushed his approach shot to the right of the green, but the ball hit the steep, wet rough. Tough ups and downs were coming.
The Belgians at that time I chipped in and got a birdie.which vaulted him into the lead alone.
Thomas Detrie chips in and takes the sole lead!!!
He was in the jail to the right of the 18th green, but got out of there without charge.
He’s currently at -9 and will head to Pebble Beach on Friday with a one-stroke lead over Cantlay. #Pebble Beach Proam pic.twitter.com/OaK1eLsshN
— PlayingThrough (@_PlayingThrough) February 2, 2024
“The greens are soft. It was a lie uphill. To be honest, I felt pretty comfortable getting within 3 feet,” Detrie said of the chip-in.
“And it rolled well and just dripped into the hole. It was pretty good to watch…The approach shots weren’t that great. I felt like I didn’t hit my short irons very well today. I mean, it was still pretty good. I’m not complaining. I shot nine under. It was a great round of golf.”
Last week, Detrie started the championship with a 6-under 66. He then shot a 4-under 68 in the second round and ended up playing in the final group in the third round.
And on Friday, he dunked the third shot Go to the pond in front of the 18th green on the Torrey Pines South Course. That appeared to crush his confidence heading into Saturday’s final round, with Detrie ultimately finishing tied for 20th.
“I’m not going to lie, last weekend was a tough pill to swallow. I played some great golf, but I didn’t finish the way I wanted to,” Detrie said.
“I was competing all weekend, except for the last five or six holes. So I’m glad it didn’t affect me. So I just continued to build on that good play and build that confidence and hopefully We were able to maintain that momentum for the next few years.”
Thankfully for Detrie, he didn’t leave Spyglass Hill feeling depressed Thursday. Instead, his confidence returned as he led the season’s second signature event after the opening race.
Talk about bouncing back and he did it thanks to a great finish. He knows how last week went, so it’s an impressive accomplishment.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
