Weekly PGA Recap: A Jamboree for Detry

This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.

Writers always root for the best story. With apologies to Thomas Detry and his family, Jordan Spieth winning the WM Phoenix Open for his first victory in almost three years would've been the best story. But Detry would have none of it, and wound up authoring a pretty impressive story of his own.

The 54-hole leader by five strokes, Detry was never headed and even birdied the final four holes to make his first PGA Tour victory a blowout, a seven-stroke laugher at TPC Scottsdale on Sunday. Daniel Berger and Michael Kim tied for second – two pretty cool stories in their own right -- and Spieth shared fourth as he continues to try to return to being Jordan Spieth.

Detry, the 32-year-old from Belgium, won in his 68th start on Tour and became his country's first Tour winner ever. (There are only two Belgians on Tour; Adrien Dumont de Chassart is the other.)

"Yeah, I've heard people [in the gallery] saying that I was from Germany. I've heard people saying that I was from Denmark," Detry said. …

"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."

Another thing that Belgium and Germany have in common, besides matching flag colors, is that both are in Europe. And in a Ryder Cup year, Detry has suddenly leaped to fifth in the European standings, and the top six automatically qualify.

"I feel like the atmosphere at Bethpage would be pretty similar to this, especially for me as a European," Detry said. "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."

Detry had come close to winning many times worldwide, but he had never won on a major tour until Sunday. He has multiple runners-up on DP World Tour and one on the PGA Tour in last year's Houston Open. He also tied for fourth at the 2024 PGA Championship. He also finished fifth the 2025-opening Sentry. So obviously there's been a lot of game there.

Detry's hallmark has always been putting. He's ranked 10th on Tour in SG: Putting this year and that was his final ranking last year. At Phoenix, he ranked second in the field, gaining nearly 8.5 strokes.

He talked about his golf goals, one of which was winning a tournament. He also wants to reach the Tour Championship – "I missed out by only a couple of shots last year, and I was very disappointed" and qualify for the Race to Dubai on the DP World Tour.

And then he finished by saying that he wants to "just keep getting better at it, and hopefully I'll be like Scottie Scheffler one day."

Wait, what? Okay, it was a great story until then. That's just pure fantasy. But you have to like Detry's confidence going forward.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Daniel Berger
After missing about 18 months with a debilitating back injury, Berger might finally be returning to his former self. He missed the second half of 2022 and all of 2023, then 2024 started slowly. But he ended the year with a share of runner-up at the RSM Classic and now added another T2 at Phoenix to zoom into the top-60 in the world at No. 59. The finish also catapulted him into the Aon Swing 5 and a berth in this week's Genesis Invitational Signature Event. 

Michael Kim
Kim also tied for second and also qualified for the Genesis Invitational. He soared to a career-best 86th in the world rankings. This is the best finish of Kim's career, in terms of OWGR points, even more than in his lone win at the 2018 John Deere.

Jordan Spieth
Spieth tied for fourth after showing much of the old Spieth magic over the first three rounds before merely treading water on Sunday. He ranked second in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach and 13th in SG: Putting in only his second tournament back following wrist surgery last fall. Spieth will play the Genesis this week, in on a sponsor's invite. 

Christiaan Bezuidenhout
The man they call Bez tied for fourth to move within an eyelash of returning to the top-50 in the world at No. 51. Bezuidenhout ranked fifth in the field in SG: Putting, something that if repeated will produce more high finishes. But he hadn't a top-five since the Memorial last June.

Justin Thomas
Thomas zoomed up the leaderboard by matching Detry for the round of the day on Sunday with a 65, punctuated by a hole-out eagle from 102 yards on the par-4 18th hole. He is now up to No. 11 in the world, after he tied for sixth to follow up his runner-up at the Amex a few weeks back. Really, a win looks like it's coming. Thomas even ranked a very respectable 26th in SG: Putting. 

Will Chandler
In just his third PGA Tour appearance-- via the Monday qualifier -- the 27th year-old tied for sixth. Not only that, he played the final round with Scottie Scheffler -- and he beat the world No. 1 by six strokes, 66-72. The top-10 will get the University of Georgia alum into the Mexico Open in two weeks. Chandler entered the week at No. 579 in the world and exit at 296th.

Robert MacIntyre
In just his second start on the PGA Tour in 2025, MacIntyre tied for sixth. He ranked fourth in the field in SG: Off-the-Tee and 11th in SG: Putting, a combination that would result in a lot of top-10s.

Gary Woodland
Woodland, 40 years old an a year removed from brain surgery, continues a remarkable comeback. He tied for 21st for his third top-25 in three starts in 2025. Normally the strength of his game is off the tee, but Woodland used an all-around attack at Phoenix.

Scottie Scheffler
In his second tournament back from his hand injury, Scheffler looked about as mortal as he's looked in years. He tied for 25th. Notably, he did not finish in the top-20 in any of the strokes-gained metrics and was only 30th in SG: Approach.

Tom Kim
Following last week's top-10, Kim was riding high by opening 67-66 at Phoenix. But he closed 72-73 to plummet down the leaderboard to wind up tied for 44th. His approach play was poor all week, even on Thursday and Friday.

Emiliano Grillo
A look at the leaderboard would indicate a forgettable week for Grillo, finishing second to last among the cut-makers at solo 76th. But he will remember this week forever, and for one shot: a hole-in-one on the iconic 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale setting off, what else, a wild celebration.

MISSED CUTS

Matt Fitzpatrick, Luke Clanton, Billy Horschel, Max Homa, Chris Kirk, J.J. Spaun (WD), Rickie Fowler (WD). Bummer for Clanton, who had plenty of time to return to the Florida State campus for class on Monday morning. All he needed to do was make the cut to get his Tour card via the PGA University qualification. When that he happens, he'd likely leave school and turn pro. … Homa continues in his free fall. … Fowler withdrew after the first round, citing illness. He has a sponsor exemption into this week's Genesis Invitational.