European Tour fans have known about Thomas Pieters for a couple of years but the 25 year made his mark on the world stage at the 2016 Ryder Cup, partnering Rory McIlroy and becoming the most successful European rookie ever. In this week's Player Blog, the Belgian talks about that experience as well as hitting it long, Mexico and being awestruck meeting Adam Scott.
Mexico seems a cool place.It seems very chilled and reminds me a little bit of Buenos Aries I went for a walk around the neighbourhood we are staying in and it’s really cool. The people are super nice and the food is awesome. The golf club is great too, although it feels strange being at a WGC event on a golf course like Club de Golf Chapultepec because usually these tournaments are played on massive properties and big wide open courses. That is a not a bad thing. It’s great to see these events move around the world a bit more and to be playing on a more old school golf course is good too. I like the fact it’s a new course for everybody this week. I tend to agreed that the WGCs should probably move around a little more – how cool would it be to have one in Europe?
The altitude is crazy here. Being so far above sea level – I think it’s over 2000 metres – will test the fitness this week. As soon as you walk up any kind of hill then you feel that lack of oxygen but I’m sure we’ll get used to it before we leave! The good thing about the altitude is how far you hit the ball. It’s totally crazy how far the ball is going. I hit a drive almost 400 metres the other day. If you get the right spin on the ball and the right trajectory it just doesn’t come down. Can’t see the driver coming out of the bag too much this week! It can be pretty unpredictable too. I hit a nine iron 190 metres the other day then the next one went 160. I don’t think there will many guys trying to look cool by talking to the golf ball this week. You certainly won’t be hearing me saying ‘be right’ or ‘get there’ while the ball is in the air this week. I’ll be pretty quiet!
This is my fourth WGC event so I suppose I am still fairly new to it all. I suppose my feelings might change if I play another 50 of these but I still get a real sense of pride being at a tournament that features the top 50 / 60 players in the world. It’s so cool to be a part of it and I definitely still walk down the rage and see guys that I grew up watching and wanting to emulate and think ‘I have done alright so far’. I have worked hard to get here and I like to take a few moments occasionally to let everything sink in and enjoy the moment of being at these tournaments. But then you have to also tell yourself that you are here to win this thing and that you are good enough to do that. I always looked up to Adam Scott for example and when I first played against him at the WGC – Match Play I was so nervous and almost star-struck. Now I can call him a friend so I’m not going ‘Oh my god it’s Adam Scott’ when I see him at an event. Now it’s more like ‘hey dude, fancy a few holes?’
Always nice catching up with 🐯 #GOAT #MadeForGreatness #DDC17 pic.twitter.com/6Y9O6CKCBO
— Thomas Pieters (@Thomas_Pieters) January 31, 2017
I have started hitting the ball straight again which is nice! I wasn’t driving the ball well at all at the start of the year – I was spraying it around pretty good to be honest. The best example of that was in Dubai at the Desert Classic. I played pretty well but the driver was going all over the place and I made eight or nine doubles that week. Thankfully the driver has been getting better which helped me shoot 63 at Riviera to finish second at the Genesis Open on the PGA Tour. Hopefully I can shoot a few more 63s over the next few months and show what I have got.
Huge. @Thomas_Pieters just drove the 407 yard 7th hole.
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) 6 October 2016
https://t.co/E9sppfqTpi
Finishing second at the Genesis Open pretty much secured my PGA Tour card but I don’t see the need to leave the European Tour. In fact, I’ll never leave the European Tour – it is where my home is. I’ll definitely play more events on the PGA Tour and it’s great to able to play on both. Obviously I went to college in America and I have a lot of friends and great connections with America, but I don’t think I would move there full time. Certainly not for the moment. I’d love to live in LA one day but that almost seems impossible. I’d much rather be close to my family at home right now. Next year I will probably play a 60/40 split for European Tour / PGA Tour. I’ll play my minimum on the PGA Tour and hopefully get into the FedEx Cup but once August rolls around there’s only one thing that matters: The Ryder Cup!
Once you have played The Ryder Cup there is nothing better in golf. Simple as that. It’s like a crazy drug and I am fully addicted. It’s difficult to describe why. I suppose it’s just a combination of everything. Once you make that team and step onto the plane you are just immersed in this unbelievable experience for a week that changes your life. The vibe of the whole thing is amazing and competing in that atmosphere was unbelievable. I want more. I had spoken to Nicolas Colsaerts about it a lot so I had an idea of what to expect in terms of logistics and how cool the whole thing would be, but I don’t think anything can prepare you for playing in it. And then if I look back at what happened to me and the experiences I had with Rory on the golf course was just beyond anything I could have hoped for. I think Sergio said it best to me – he said that The Ryder Cup creates a lifelong bond between players, caddies, Captains and Vice-Captains. I couldn’t have said it any better myself.
Happy 25th birthday @Thomas_Pieters pic.twitter.com/aa3p0T4OPx
— Ryder Cup Team EUR (@RyderCupEurope) 27 January 2017
Playing with Rory was a little lucky because we hadn’t been paired together in practice. After my first match with Lee, Darren came over to me and said ‘you’re going out this afternoon with Rory. He wants to play with you.’ I was kind of like ‘wow, that’s kinda cool.’ He definitely inspired me and brought me out of my shell. He was amazing. He takes it really personally – even if he loses a hole he takes it personally and it taught me a lot about how to play with passion in such an incredible atmosphere but still produce great golf. It was a special feeling to have Darren put that much faith in me. He picked me as a wild card and then kept that faith so I was so happy to be able to play well and get him some points. I never really knew Darren before the Ryder Cup but now I have a very special relationship with him. I can ask him anything and approach him and he will always have my back. I suppose that goes back to my earlier point that The Ryder Cup just makes everyone come together.
I never feel emotionally drained after a tournament, but it took me months to recover from The Ryder Cup.When you win an event on tour, you tend to go a little flat physically the next week but after Hazeltine I just couldn’t get up for much for months. I suppose that’s what happens when you spend a full week just absolutely flying on adrenaline and you literally give everything you have to a single cause. There’s no doubt I’m addicted – I’m going to do everything I can to make sure I never miss another one, starting in France because I really want to make Thomas’s team. He was the Vice-Captain assigned to kind of look after me I suppose at Hazeltine and he was so good with me. We both got quite emotional after it was all done. I think he was very proud of the way I had handled myself and the way I had played and that was another special memory for me. He’s already telling me I have to make it in France so I better not let him down!
