St. Andrews, Scotland …
Ryder Cup rookie sensation Thomas Pieters is taking his impressive Hazeltine showing Stateside early next year in the first step in securing full PGA Tour membership.
Pieters will contest four events, two regular PGA Tour events and two WGC-sanctioned tournaments, ahead of making his Masters debut in April.
The 24-old Callaway attached Pieters will tee-up in the February 16th starting Genisis Open (formerly the Northern Trust Open but now being hosted by Tiger Woods) at the Riviera Club in suburban L. A., and on the same course where in 2012 as an amateur he won the NCAA title.
Belgian Thomas Pieters reveals he is taking his Hazeltine form to the PGA Tour next season.
Pieters will also compete in the following week’s Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens in Florida and a week later compete in the March 2nd starting WGC – Mexico Championship in Mexico City.
Later that month Pieters will return to Austin, Texas for the WGC – Dell Match-Play Championship and an event where he shared 28th place earlier this year.
“I’ve played a lot of amateur golf in the U.S. so I’m looking forward to going back there at the start of the New Year, and particularly Riviera where I won before,” he said.
As a member of the European Ryder Cup Team Pieters, and also being inside the top-50 on the World Rankings, has been afforded invitations to compete in L. A and Florida.
His management team indicated that all four events, plus the Masters, along with a number of other invitations throughout 2017 will count towards Pieters securing full 2017/18 Tour membership.
Pieters has returned to the European Tour for this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland after creating European Ryder Cup history at Hazeltine.
Despite being on a losing team, Pieters helped secure four points from five matches and the highest-ever by a European Team rookie.
But the quietly-spoken Antwerp-born golfer, and now ranked No. 39 in the world, sought to play down his impressive debut.
“It’s tough to talk about my individual performance when you lose on a team,” he said.
“You go there as a team, so you win or you lose as a team, and talk about being a rookie and having won four points.
“I did play great and I’m really happy to have earned four points.
“But three of those points were with Rory (McIlroy), so I don’t see it as my four points.”
However, Pieters is hopeful the experience of contesting a first Ryder Cup will put him in good stead to establish himself as a ‘world’ player.
“I feel I can learn a lot from playing in the Ryder Cup and more than I think I would learn playing in the Majors,” he said.
“It’s going to be easier I think. I’ve only played in two Majors, so I am looking forward to playing the other two, as well.”
Pieters joins fellow Hazeltine European Team members Danny Willett, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood and Matthew Fitzpatrick competing in this week’s $US 5m tournament.
