Only 72 hours ago, Thomas Detry didn’t think there was a chance he would get out of Dubai—where airports were closed and flights cancelled due to the conflict in the Middle East—much less be in contention at a golf tournament 3,700 miles away.
Instead of playing a Tuesday practice round ahead of LIV Golf Hong Kong, Detry was among eight of the league’s players who were stranded in the Emirate with the clock ticking until LIV’s third event of 2026 teed off in Asia.
But LIV golf star Jon Rahm organized a private plate to take Detry and six other golfers, plus one caddie, from neighbouring Oman to Hong Kong for this week’s LIV event.
“That was pretty incredible,” Detry said on Friday in Hong Kong, where he found himself one off the lead after 36 holes. “Being here was definitely a bonus because Tuesday morning I did not see myself being here and teeing it off on Thursday. To be honest, on Tuesday morning I was even thinking next week [LIV Golf Singapore] was going to be a push, as well. That was sort of what I was thinking. But here we are, and life is all good.”
Detry shot an impressive, bogey-free 63 on Friday at Hong Kong Golf Club courtesy of seven birdies around the tight, tree-lined par 70. At 13 under par, the 33-year-old Belgian in his first season on the LIV circuit trailed co-leaders Dean Burmester of South Africa and Carlos Ortiz of Mexico.
“I didn’t know what to expect when I teed off yesterday morning,” said Detry, who won his one and only PGA Tour title last year at the WM Phoenix Open. “I got here Wednesday morning so I had a bit of a nightmare getting here with all the travel through the Middle East, but I made it and got off to a good start [in round one] and I guess I just kept playing well, kept the momentum going that I had yesterday. My first hole today I think I holed a 35-footer or something like that. So that just put me straight back into it, and then I was just cruising.”
Cruising like the jet Rahm arranged. As it were, the Spaniard himself is only two shots off the pace at 12 under after a 62 that featured an eagle, seven birdies and one bogey.
“I’ve got to pay that plane back, so I’d better play well hopefully to be able to pay that back,” Detry joked. “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.”
It’s unlikely Detry would have played as well over two rounds had he arrived in Hong Kong only hours before the pre-round warm-up routines.
“No, 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,” Detry said.
Rahm certainly seems up for that fight, even if it’s been almost 18 months since the two-time major winner’s last victory, which was his second LIV title at its Chicago event in 2024.
Rahm has finished second in LIV’s first two events of 2026.
“I need to do a little bit better ball-striking wise,” Rahm said of the upcoming weekend rounds in Hong Kong. “Yesterday was not great. Today it was better but not as comfortable as I would like to be. Coming down the stretch in pressure situations I’m going to need to play a little bit better than that or at least swing a little bit better than I have so far. Clearly, I’m doing just good enough to be in the hunt and hopefully get a little bit better every day.”
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
