Thomas Pieters is excited to be returning to competitive golf for the first time in three months at the inaugural Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi following the birth of his second child.
The Belgian has not played worldwide since the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in October and missed out on the defence of his Portugal Masters title and the DP World Tour Championship during the final weeks of the 2022 DP World Tour season.
Pieters will form part of a 10-strong Continental Europe team which will take on a Great Britain and Ireland side across three days of match play at Abu Dhabi Golf Club from Friday.
Asked how much he was looking forward to teeing it up, he said: “Very. I missed competitive golf, really, and I mean, I practised a bit at home, but I was being a dad.
“It was the competition that I missed the most but I am really looking forward to getting going this week.
Abu Dhabi is hosting the first two events of 2023 on the DP World Tour, with Pieters set to defend his Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship title at Yas Links next week.
The World Number 38 is a six-time winner on Tour and was part of the European Ryder Cup team in 2016, winning an impressive four points from five matches as a rookie at Hazeltine National Golf Club.
With that experience of team competition, Pieters will look to help Continental Europe playing captain Francesco Molinari lift the trophy at the inaugural Hero Cup.
“You want to get the rust off your game and hopefully get some points,” he added.
“Francesco is pretty quiet but whenever he says something, it's spot-on. ”
Despite there being a relaxed atmosphere among both teams this week, Pieters is adamant there will be a competitive edge to proceedings.
“It's lovely to have a team room,” he said.
“It reminds me of The Ryder Cup I played and obviously it's not the same magnitude but it's nice getting to know some of the guys a bit better, some of the caddies. It's a good atmosphere.
“You still want to beat the guys, doesn't matter who is on the team. You still want to win. I think all of us are competitors and there's only one thing we want.”
Pieters will be joined by countryman and close friend Thomas Detry as the DP World Tour begins a four-event run in the Middle East.
Detry also holds fond memories of playing at the National Course, having finished in a tie for ninth at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in 2018.
He has previously tasted victory alongside Pieters when they won the World Cup of Golf title representing Belgium in 2018, and is eager to seize his opportunity to impress.
“Every single point counts,” he said.
“I'm in the mindset of going out there and winning on every hole if I can obviously and I'm really keen to have a great week and show the captains what I'm capable of.”
Detry earned his selection following a strong start to his rookie season on the PGA TOUR, finishing second at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship last year.
European Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald will oversee the new team match play contest, which sees the two ten-man teams compete in foursomes, fourballs and singles, with all 20 players taking part in each session.
Former Ryder Cup skippers Paul McGinley and Thomas Bjørn, along with Donald, spoke to both teams on Tuesday night and that has only heightened Detry’s anticipation at getting under way.
“I really want to make that [European Ryder Cup] team and I'm going to do everything I can to show the captains that I'm a great match-play player, team player as well, and hopefully I can show that with some good form as well in the next couple months,” he said.
