New father Thomas Detry is waiting for the "daddy effect" to kick in as he seeks a maiden DP World Tour title and a ticket to the U.S. Open Championship on home soil at the 2022 Soudal Open.
Detry’s newborn daughter Sophia came into the world on April 16 and he played his first event since her arrival at last week's Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett at The Belfry.
That was the first event of the U.S. Open Qualifying Series, a route which the 29-year-old has taken to qualify for America's national open for the past two seasons.
While he will not be in the field at next week's US PGA Championship, he has already secured his place at this summer's Open Championship and is hopeful parenthood can inspire him to make it a hat-trick of Majors in 2022 over the next few weeks.
“I am still waiting for the daddy effect, it hasn’t happened yet," he said. "I played alright last week, I didn’t have a great weekend, but hopefully it comes this week.
“I think I just missed out on next week, unfortunately. I am already qualified for The Open and I have the U.S. Open Qualifiers over the next three DP World Tour events, so I am really looking forward to it. The goal was always to perform in Majors, and I think I am still on track for it."
We don’t really play in front of our home crowds and friends very often, so to be here and play in front of everybody is exceptional
Detry will be a huge draw for the fans at Rinkven International Golf Club as the DP World Tour returns to Belgium for the first time in three years.
He has a good strokeplay record at Rinkven, being a combined nine under for his four rounds at the Belgian Knockout in 2018 and 2019, and is looking forward to playing on home soil.
"It is lovely to be back in Belgium," he said. "We don’t really play in front of our home crowds and friends very often, so to be here and play in front of everybody is exceptional.
“It is very similar to a Wentworth or Sunningdale vibe out here and it hasn’t rained in the last five weeks so it is going to be really firm. The greens are looking brilliant, so I think it is going to be a good test.
"Probably not a lot of driver off the tee but a lot of irons and precise irons into the greens."
