Luke Donald likely to take note of Thomas Detry's 'very honest' Ryder Cup comment

European Ryder Cup hopeful Thomas Detry says his fear of failure was so intense he 'didn't want to make birdies' so he could avoid being in contention. 

Over the last few years Detry adopted the unwanted moniker of 'best player yet to taste victory' on both sides of the pond. 

The 32-year-old turned professional in 2016 and he made 228 career starts across the DP World and US PGA Tour before he finally made it into the winner's circle at the WM Phoenix Open. 

As a result of Detry's dominant, seven-shot victory at TPC Scottsdale, he has vaulted up the European Ryder Cup rankings and is very much in the frame to make his debut in the biennial dust-up this September at Bethpage Black. 

"It sounds very weird what I'm going to say right now," Detry told the Sky Sports Golf Podcast. 

"But I've had times when I was making birdies on a Friday when I was just thinking I don't want to make birdies, I don't want to put myself in this situation and fail again. 

"That's what I had going through my mind sometimes which is a horrible thing to think."

He added: "You're out there playing well and you're thinking, 'here we go, I'm going to be in contention again on Saturday or Sunday and I don't like being in contention because I'm going to fail again.'

"Thoughts like that are horrendous and should never happen but we're all human. It's human nature in a way to be like that a bit. 

"I had to overcome that and I still feel like I have to battle that. It comes a lot easier to some players but to me it was a bit more hard work and all the hard work paid off."

Detry also paid tribute to his swing instructor Jerome Theunis.

The golfer said he was able to confide in Theunis about how he really feels when he is in contention on a Sunday. 

There are occasions where he feels 'heavy armed' and 'not quite in full possession of my mind and my game'. 

One man who will feel pleased that Detry has overcome a mental hurdle is that of European Ryder Cup skipper Luke Donald. 

Donald will be quietly confident with how his team is shaping up given Rory McIlroy, Sepp Straka, Ludvig Aberg and Detry have all won on the PGA Tour this year. 

Detry said: "That Ryder Cup would be a dream to play, but it's not a goal in itself. 

"I've got all my other goals and if I achieve all my other goals I'll be in that team no problem.

"Ultimately, it's whoever plays the best closer to the date, but watching the Ryder Cup in Italy and hopefully being part of one of the first teams in a while who wins on US soil would be amazing."

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