Count LIV Golf’s Thomas Detry among the many pro athletes around the world who didn’t know what their immediate future looked like in the wake of the U.S. and Israel attacking Iran last weekend.
Detry, a Belgium native who played for four years at Illinois, makes his home in Dubai. The airspace in the United Arab Emirates was shut down for some time after the U.S. airstrikes.
He needed to catch a flight to Hong Kong before LIV’s third event of the season began Thursday at Hong Kong Golf Club. Once airspace reopened, Golf.com reported Tuesday that Spanish LIV star Jon Rahm arranged for a private jet to fly seven LIV players, including Detry, and a caddie from the nation of Oman to Hong Kong.
“I mean, two days ago I was at the border in the UAE, and I was like, ‘There’s absolutely no chance of teeing it up out here in Hong Kong,’ and here I am jumping on a plane, which was unbelievable,” Detry said. “Obviously that made it so much easier for us because I don’t think I would have been able to get here otherwise.
“Quite a 48 hours I’ve had. I have spent a lot of time sitting in a chair, and not a very comfortable chair. That’s why I was pretty worried about my body, but everything seems to be responding pretty well.”
So well, in fact, that Detry opened the event with a 6-under-par 64, tied for seventh and four shots off the lead set by Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz.
“I feel really good,” Detry said. “Actually, my worry was not to feel great and to be tired and be completely out of it. I guess I arrived (Wednesday) morning early, and I’ve had a chance to recover, over 24 hours to recover and do a bit of gym work and see my physio and everything.
“I’ve been here before a couple of times with the DP World Tour, so I knew the place and I knew where I was going. I feel like I’ve played some really good golf and made some nice putts. Missed a couple of short ones, but I can’t complain because I made a couple of long ones, as well. It was fun out there.”
–Field Level Media
