Detry grabs PGA Pebble Beach lead
Published on: Saturday, February 03, 2024
By: AFP
Belgium’s Thomas Detry
SAN FRANCISCO: Belgium’s Thomas Detry pitched in from the greenside rough on the last hole to grab a one-stroke lead after Thursday’s opening round of the PGA Tour Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Detry, chasing his first PGA Tour triumph, birdied the first three and final three holes at Spyglass Hill to fire a nine-under par 63 – one off the tournament record—and seize a one-stroke edge over American Patrick Cantlay.
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“It was a great round of golf,” Detry said. “I was driving it great out there. I didn’t really have any misses. I drove it far as well.”
The first two rounds of the PGA “signature” event, which features no cut and an 80-golfer field, are played over the Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill courses.
World number 99 Detry, whose best PGA finish was a 2022 runner-up effort at Bermuda, birdied the first three holes, took his lone bogey at the par-3 fifth, then answered with birdies at the par-5 seventh and the first two holes on the back nine.
After completing a sweep of par-5 birdies at 14, the 31-year-old Belgian birdied 16 and 17 to match Cantlay for the lead, then left his approach shot of a raised green at 18, only to punch out his third and have it roll into the hole.
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“Just perfect,” Detry said. “It was an uphill lie, I felt pretty comfortable I’d put it within three feet. And it rolled nicely, just trickled in the hole. It was lovely to watch.”
France’s Matthieu Pavon, coming off a victory last week at Torrey Pines, was third on 65 followed by Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo and South Korea’s Kim Si-woo on 66 and Americans Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa sharing sixth on 67.
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Among the leaders, only Pavon, Kim and Morikawa played at Pebble Beach.
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