THE 153RD OPEN

July 17, 2025

Thomas Detry

Mixed Zone

Q. Can you give a sense of how difficult it is out there?

THOMAS DETRY: Yeah, it just really switched. That rain sort of came in. I hit a driver on hole No. 8, it sort of immediately -- 230, 235 to cover the slope, and I smoked my driver thinking it would be perfect, it would be way up there, and it pitched like 20 yards short of where we thought it would pitch. It really certainly switched as soon as the rain and the cold came in. Obviously the wind is up there as well.

It's definitely tricky. The greens have slowed down a little bit with the moisture as well.

I played some really good golf today to be honest. It's a bit of a shame those last two bogeys. I made bogeys and I hit great shots. Hole No. 16 played incredibly long. I played with Chris Gotterup, who hits it pretty hard, and he hit an incredible 4-iron and it still pitched short. I hit mine just front edge of the green, actually left myself a really easy putt. But the moisture, the wind and everything, left it four, five feet short, and then missed the one coming back. So a bit of a shame to have bogeyed that 16th hole. But hit a great driver on 17, same on 18. So pretty happy with the way I've played, and I'm in decent position.

Q. What about your attitude? You were just saying you know those are good bogeys. How do you keep the right attitude?

THOMAS DETRY: It's not easy. I feel like I've been getting a little bit impatient. But today was good. I stayed really patient. I came back under par after the rough start. I was 2-over after four holes I think.

It was really good. It's all about -- you know, conditions like this out here, if you think you're having a bad day or you're getting unlucky, then you get home at night and you see that everybody had the bad breaks and everybody missed short putts. You think it only happens to yourself, but it happens to everyone.

You've got to keep that in mind and look at the bigger picture and just keep focusing on little things like routine and hitting good shots and determining targets. I feel like that's really the key.

Q. Talk about the 1st hole. That might look fairly innocuous to some people but it's actually playing one of the hardest today.

THOMAS DETRY: Yeah, it's playing so tough. I think it's the tee shot. The wind, you somehow don't really feel the right, but it's in off the right. Those two bunkers are sort of in play, where if you hit driver -- I'd quite like to hit a little driver but then the wind is off the right hard. If it comes off a little bit left with a draw, it's OB. You're very conscious of it. I've got my 3-wood, I sort of like to draw it as well, and I was conscious of that as well. Like if I over-draw it a little bit too much, it does one bounce OB, so I held it right a little bit and then suddenly it spins up a little bit and you've got 200 yards into the wind up the hill to the flag.

I think that's one of the reasons why -- I think hole 1 was probably a hole where you probably had to take on the tee shot a little bit. Sometimes there's a couple of holes where it feel like you just want to get it in play, but it might not be the right play out there. You sort of want to be a bit more aggressive off the tee and make sure that you get it in play a bit more aggressive to let yourself a better chance to make par because it's really long.

I feel like for me, I hit 3-wood but probably a chipped driver would have been the right shot.

Q. It can't be easy when you're surrounded by the grandstands as well because you can't feel the wind.

THOMAS DETRY: Yeah, it's quite narrow and you feel like the right bunker is in play, but it's not really in play if you just hold it against it, but then if you sort of turn with the wind, then the left bunker is in play. I think it's just a brilliant hole. It makes you think -- yeah, I bogeyed it. I shot even par after that. It was pretty good golf.

Q. The Women's Open is going to Royal Porthcawl in a couple weeks' time. What do you make of that course?

THOMAS DETRY: I've never played Royal Porthcawl. But I know it's in Wales. I know it's in Wales. I know it's an incredible links course, but I've never played it.

Q. When you have a chance to play a links course and you're yet to play it, what typically is the right mindset when you show up on a property of a links course?

THOMAS DETRY: Well, it all depends on the weather really. The only mindset is wait and see what you get. The wind could drop now and the rain could stop and then I'm going to be lying T100, and if the wind keeps going and it keeps raining, I'm going to be T25 at the end of the day. That's one of the things you have to keep in mind.

That's just whatever the nature brings you. That's what the name of The Open, forged by nature. Really, that's what the golf course does and that's what it does to you really.