Thomas Detry was uncertain how he’d perform considering his journey to Hong Kong for this week’s LIV Golf event.
Detry was one of eight LIV members who had their travel out of the Middle East delayed because of ongoing conflict in the region following joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran last Saturday. The 33-year-old Belgian, who splits downtime between Dubai and London, ended up joining six others in catching a flight to Hong Kong on a private jet commissioned by Jon Rahm.
The plane departed from an airstrip in neighboring Muscat, Oman, around midnight Wednesday local time after players navigated the nearly 300-mile trip via multiple transports and arrived in Hong Kong late Wednesday morning.
“Two days ago, I was at the border in the U.A.E., 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 Thursday. “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.”
Following an opening-round 64, Detry fired a 7-under 63 Friday and sits just one off the lead shared by Dean Burmester and Carlos Ortiz, who are both 14 under. Lee Westwood is the only other player among the seven on that flight who is currently inside the top 10.
Detry said Friday that felt really good, all things considered. Before arriving Wednesday, he hadn’t touched a club since Saturday.
“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,” Detry said. “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.”
Rahm, meanwhile, is solo fourth at 12 under.
“He’s right there on my tail, yeah,” Detry said, before quipping, “I’ve got to pay that plane back, so I’d better play well hopefully to be able to pay that back. No, that was incredibly generous from Jon, with all the uncertainty. In hindsight, I was booked on an Emirates flight to Hong Kong on Wednesday morning, and it actually took off, so I would have been here on Wednesday night late, but obviously that was very unknown on Tuesday. That was incredible of Jon to put on that plane, and it seems like he’s always there on top of the leaderboard, so you know if you’re playing well you’re always going to have to fight with Jon anyway.”