Thomas Detry fears US Open 'bloodbath' if punishing Pennsylvania weather adds another dimension

Daily Record

20 hours ago

The Belgian star admits wind could make it even more testing at Oakmont as golf's elite already battle the unforgiving course
Title-chasing Thomas Detry reckons it could be a bloodbath at Oakmont if the wind gets up to join the rain in Pennsylvania.
The smooth Belgian is still in with a shot of US Open glory despite a wobble on the Friday back-nine which saw him drop from a share of the lead to five behind leader Sam Burns.
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Detry, who has been the playing partner of Scotland's Bob MacIntyre at the Zurich Classic in the past two stagings, is enjoying the challenge of the set-up and said after round one: 'It just puts so much pressure on every single part of your game constantly, whether it's off the tee, whether it's putting green, whether it's around the greens or it's the iron shots into the green.
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'Luckily, the wind wasn't too much up, but it could be a bloodbath out here if it suddenly starts to blow.'
Detry maintained is stance on Oakmont at the of round two and said: 'I just need to be so disciplined on every single shot, and I've felt like I have been, but maybe just that one bit where I was just trying to be a little bit more aggressive on the putt and then leave yourself another three or four-footer.
'They're tough to read out here. It's getting dark and there's footsteps everywhere. Discipline, number one key out here.
'The best part of my game has been driving. I really have been hitting loads of fairways which is, I think, a key out here.
'If you're out of the fairway, you're pretty much useless, so I think that's the key.
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'If I can avoid making a double bogey on those next two days, I will have achieved what I wanted to achieve.
'So that's sort of the goal. And keep playing well. I'm driving it well, feel like I'm hitting my fade again nicely, so I'm sort of visualising fairways quite well and it's really helpful.'
Victor Perez is enjoying himself with a hole-in-one to help tame the beast. The ace was a special moment for the Frenchman, but he admits it's tough to keep on top of the Oakmont concerns and he said:
'Back in the Bahamas where I live. I guess I'm on a hole-in-one run at the moment. It might dry up for the next so years now, who know, so, yeah, really happy.
'It's definitely not easy by any means. I think the rough is going to get patted down hopefully.
'I think some of the wide misses are probably going to be able to maybe get away with it, so might be hitting more drivers, but at the same time you can still get penalised. The bunkers around the fairways are just as penalising, sometimes you're just trying to advance.'