Thomas Pieters

Thomas Pieters (born 27 January 1992) is a Belgian professional golfer who currently plays on the European Tour.

Thomas Pieters
Pieters after winning the 2015 KLM Open
Personal information
Full nameThomas Pieters
Born (1992-01-27) 27 January 1992[1]
Geel, Belgium[2]
Height1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight85 kg (187 lb; 13.4 st)[1]
Nationality Belgium
ResidenceAntwerp, Belgium
Career
CollegeUniversity of Illinois
Turned professional2013
Current tour(s)European Tour
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Professional wins5
Highest ranking23 (6 August 2017)[3]
(as of 16 August 2020)
Number of wins by tour
European Tour4
Other1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT4: 2017
PGA ChampionshipT6: 2018
U.S. OpenCUT: 2017, 2019
The Open ChampionshipT28: 2018

Biography

Pieters was born in Geel, Belgium in 1992.[1] He started playing golf at the age of five, learning the game at the Witbos Golf Club in Noorderwijk, Belgium.[4]

Amateur career

In 2010, he attended the University of Illinois for which he won the individual 2011 Jack Nicklaus Invitational and the individual 2012 NCAA Division I Championship in his second year; the next year, he finished second with his team at the 2013 NCAA Division I Championship and won the individual 2013 Big Ten Conference Championship.[5]

Professional career

In summer 2013, Pieters decided to forgo his senior year at the University of Illinois and turn professional. He made his debut on the European Tour in July at the Alstom Open de France, where he finished 29th; at the end of the year, he battled through all three stages of the European Tour Qualifying School taking the 20th card at the Final Stage, and qualified to play on the European Tour.

His best result in his first year was as runner-up in the 2014 Open de España, leading after the second and third rounds, finishing 6th at the Russian Open Golf Championship and 8th at the 2014 Malaysian Open and at the 2014 Alfred Dunhill Championship. He finished the year ranked #243 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), having ended the previous year at #1122.[6]

In 2015, he started with a 4th-place finish at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship which took him to #156 on the OWGR. In August and September, he won the D+D Real Czech Masters and the KLM Open in consecutive tournaments played and moved into the top 100 in the OWGR. The two wins and five top-10 placements of the season gave him a final 29th place in the Race to Dubai.

As happened the year before, 2016 started with a good result at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, where he finished 2nd. In August, he represented Belgium at the 2016 Summer Olympics, finishing in 4th place. In the same month, he obtained a second place at the 2016 D+D Real Czech Masters and won the 2016 Made in Denmark. He was chosen by Darren Clarke as a captain's pick for the 2016 Ryder Cup.

Pieters' strong play continued in 2017. He opened the season with a tie for 2nd at the Genesis Open in February and followed that up with a top-5 finish at the WGC-Mexico Championship. Those finishes moved Pieters to 29th in the Official World Golf Ranking and qualified him for his first Masters Tournament where his finished 4th. He capped a successful summer with his second top-5 finish at a WGC event when he finished 4th at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. That finish moved him into the top-25 of the OWGR. In September 2017, the European Tour announced that it would be returning to Belgium for the first time in 18 years with Pieters hosting the Belgian Knockout – a unique strokeplay and matchplay format – in May 2018.[7]

On 24 November 2018, Pieters won the 2018 World Cup of Golf with partner Thomas Detry, representing Belgium, at Metropolitan Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia.[8]

On 18 August 2019, Pieters shot a 3-under 69 to become the first golfer to win the D+D Real Czech Masters for the second time, beating Adri Arnaus by one stroke.[9]

Amateur wins (6)

Professional wins (5)

European Tour wins (4)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 30 Aug 2015 D+D Real Czech Masters −20 (66-68-65-69=268) 3 strokes Pelle Edberg
2 13 Sep 2015 KLM Open −19 (68-66-62-65=261) 1 stroke Eduardo de la Riva, Lee Slattery
3 28 Aug 2016 Made in Denmark −17 (62-71-69-65=267) 1 stroke Bradley Dredge
4 18 Aug 2019 D+D Real Czech Masters (2) −19 (67-67-66-69=269) 1 stroke Adri Arnaus

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
1 2014 Open de España Richard Green, Miguel Ángel Jiménez Jiménez won with par on first extra hole

Other wins (1)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runners-up
1 25 Nov 2018 ISPS Handa Melbourne World Cup of Golf
(with Thomas Detry)		 −23 (63-71-63-68=265) 3 strokes  Australia − Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith,
 Mexico − Abraham Ancer and Roberto Díaz

Results in major championships
Tournament 2016 2017 2018
Masters Tournament T4 CUT
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship T30 T44 T28
PGA Championship 86 CUT T6
Tournament 2019
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship T23
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship T67
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary
TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament00011121
PGA Championship00001243
U.S. Open00000020
The Open Championship00000044
Totals000123128
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (twice)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)

Results in World Golf Championships
Tournament2015201620172018
Championship T5 T37
Match Play T28 T30 T52
Invitational 4
Champions T23 T14 T71 T18
  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

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See also

References
  1. "Thomas Pieters: biography". European Tour. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  2. golfvlaanderen.be
  3. "Week 31 2017 Ending 6 Aug 2017" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  4. "About — Thomas Pieters". www.thomaspieters.com. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  5. "Thomas Pieters". FightingIllini.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  6. "Thomas Pieters". Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  7. Inglis, Martin (25 September 2017). "Thomas Pieters to host innovative European Tour event". bunkered.
  8. "Belgium claim World Cup glory in Melbourne". European Tour. 24 November 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  9. "Pieters (69) becomes first Czech Masters repeat champion". Golf Channel. 18 August 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
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