LIV GOLF RIYADH

February 4, 2026

Thomas Detry

Riyadh Golf Club

4Aces GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome Thomas Detry of 4Aces GC. Well played. You're tied for the lead after round 1 in your LIV Golf debut with a score of 7-under par 65. Can you talk us through your round.

THOMAS DETRY: Yes, I can. I got off to a great start. Always nice. I was a little bit nervous first day on the job, so a little bit of a change for me, so a bit nervous. I drove it so well out there, so it made my job pretty easy. The course, not much wind, and when you come from the fairways, it's pretty straightforward. It starts biting as soon as you start missing fairways, and I managed to do a great job of that.

Q. We're playing under the lights this week. Did you do any special preparations coming into Riyadh?

THOMAS DETRY: I did, yeah. I live in Dubai, so for me, I went to see my coach who lives in Abu Dhabi a couple of times and played and practiced under the lights, so tried to get used to the visuals. Like sort of the depth is a little bit different.

It was a bit of a readjustment. Obviously this week, as well, I didn't start my days until 6:00 p.m., sort of trying to get used to the lower temperatures, as well. The last couple of holes, the dew really appeared on the grass, so it really was quite a bit of a difference.

The greens are rolling slightly slower, as well, with the dew, and then the ball spins a little bit much with the wedges, so there was a slight readjustment to be done, but yeah, good.

Q. I'm wondering if there was a moment out there where you were able to step back and maybe look at your new environment and your new league. Maybe it was the light show or something like that. Was there a moment at any point --

THOMAS DETRY: Yeah, pretty much the whole course. At the start I was a little bit -- not nervous, but just pretty focused, and then as the day went on, I sort of got into a flow and I felt pretty comfortable, and I pretty much enjoyed -- really enjoyed, I want to say, the last nine, 12 holes pretty much. It was really fun.

I think my caddie enjoys it, as well. I definitely enjoyed it, as well. I was paired with Jason and Anthony Kim, who I've never met. I was actually really impressed with his game, too. We had a really good round.

Listen, it's a different environment than what I'm used to, like some lights, and it's all really cool. I didn't really know what to expect, how I would react with the music playing, and it seems like I'm doing really well with it. It doesn't really bother me at all, so I found it pretty cool. No, all good.

Q. How much fun have you had with your good buddy on the 4Aces team there?

THOMAS DETRY: Pieters? I've known Thomas since we were pretty much eight or nine years old. We grew up playing golf together, and pretty competitively, as well. It's great to finally be back. We haven't seen each other for the last four or five years, so it's nice to finally be back together and spend a bit of time together.

Q. Could you give us a bit of insight as to how it went down for the 4Aces when Patrick made the decision to move on? Did you know ahead of time or was it a shock?

THOMAS DETRY: Yeah, it was not really planned I don't think. Definitely not planned. It was a shock for me, to be honest. It was a bit of an up and down the last couple of weeks, to be honest, with all what's happened.

It was a shock because I spent -- I congratulated Patrick in Dubai when he won. I was with him, and I was with him in Bahrain last week, as well, so spent the last couple of days practicing with him and having lunch with him. I sort of heard about the news through social media, so yeah, it was definitely a shock.

Q. Is there something special about this particular week of the year for you because I think it's obviously Waste Management week where you won last year and you're top of the leaderboard here. What is it?

THOMAS DETRY: You know what, I feel like I thrive from getting some good rest. I've had tendencies of getting off to a really good start to my season. I think it's because of all the rest. On the PGA TOUR I tended to just sort of overplay because of the nature of the TOUR out there. You just have to keep playing all the time, all the time. At least out here I feel like I've got more sort of stretches and little blocks where I can rest.

I just feel like I've had two months -- not really off, but two months to be able to work on my game and spend time with the family and rest and take some time for myself, as well, and I feel pretty ready mentally, as well, to approach these tournaments.

Q. What's the experience been like getting to know Dustin better and obviously having him as your captain?

THOMAS DETRY: Great. I actually played with Dustin a couple of times at a couple of majors. I think U.S. Open we played together and some other tournaments. I knew him a little bit but not that well. My caddie is good friends with A.J., his brother, so that's nice.

But no, it's been great. We spent a week together in Florida a couple weeks ago and we got to play together, got to know each other a little bit, hang out. I think he's going to be a great boss.

Q. Thomas, obviously you're leading today. A lot of things you mentioned went your way and went good, and you did well. What do you think in your opinion was the main thing that helped you achieve this result, and was there any specific play or part or a drive you remember from today?

THOMAS DETRY: Yeah, I mean, I think I was just happy out there. I was really happy. I didn't really know what to expect. There was a lot of unknown when I signed up for LIV, and I definitely don't regret it. I think it's really cool.

But yeah, I didn't really know what to expect, so I was a little bit nervous off the start.

As the holes went on and I got off to a good start, I was a couple under pretty early, as well, I was able to get into a flow, and I could see I was just enjoying it, my caddie was enjoying it, had fun partners, pace of play is quick. It was just great.

One shot that I remember, probably hole No. 5, par-3, I hit a pretty amazing high soft landing 6-iron, a little fade. I would say that's the shot of the day.

Q. What will it take in order for Thomas to continue performing like this and still be at the top until the end?

THOMAS DETRY: It's a good question. I wish I knew the exact answer because it means I'd probably win at the end of the week.

Listen, what would it take? I think I'm just going to keep enjoying the week. I've got a team surrounding me now. I used to be on my own. Now I have a team surrounding me and supporting me during those four days, so I think we're going to keep doing what we've been doing. Get some good recovery, getting some good food, getting some good rest and be ready to play when it's time to go.

Scores are low, you can see. I didn't really look at the scoreboard, but it sounds like a couple of low scores. It's going to be a bit of a sprint the next couple days, so keep being aggressive and don't look back.