Thomas Pieters

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]

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]

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]

• 2009 International of Belgium Junior Championship
• 2011 Jack Nicklaus Invitational, Belgian Stroke Play Championship
• 2012 NCAA Division I Championship, Monroe Invitational
• 2013 Big Ten Championship

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

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

Amateur

• Jacques Léglise Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 2010 (winners)
• Eisenhower Trophy (representing Belgium): 2010, 2012
• Palmer Cup (representing Europe): 2012 (winners)

Professional

• Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 2016
• World Cup (representing Belgium): 2016, 2018 (winners)
• EurAsia Cup (representing Europe): 2018 (winners)

• 2013 European Tour Qualifying School graduates

• Official website
• Thomas Pieters at the European Tour official site
• Thomas Pieters at the Official World Golf Ranking official site