Ahead of Thomas Detry on the par-3 17th at the Renaissance Club was about 40 yards to the pin. He had hooked his tee shot left and now needed to navigate that distance to protect his lead during Saturday’s third round of the Scottish Open.
Behind Detry, and to the left and right of him on the way to the hole?
“Hit a brutal shot. Went strong left,” he said after his round. “Hit the grandstand, and I actually thought it was just dead.
“But luckily there was a beer garden there, and it was a lot of nice people to cheer me on.”
Indeed. Below and to the right of the grandstand that Detry hit were fans, their wooden benches and four tents. The space was cleared, and because the grass had been walked on, the lie was clean.
“Actually not that bad actually,” an announcer on the Golf Channel broadcast said. “Just get it in the air and get it pitching over the ridge. The up and down of his life.”
Detry, after a few practice swings, swung, the ball landed about 30 feet short of the pin, and it rolled just past the hole before finishing about 5 feet past. He handed his wedge back to his caddie and was given his putter. On his way to the green, Detry heard the cheers of those near the “Bar by the 17th Green” tent. Maybe not quite the glamour of walking up 18 at, say, Royal St. George’s at next week’s Open Championship. But still.
“That could have been all sorts of awful. Instead it’s one of his shots of the day,” another announcer said on the Golf Channel broadcast.
From there, Detry dropped the par putt, he’d par the 18th, and he’ll enter Sunday tied for the lead with Matthew Fitzpatrick.
“What a three. What a three,” another announcer said on the broadcast. “Might be one of those moments where you think well, it’s my week.”
