Thomas Pieters (born 27 January 1992) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

professional golfer who currently plays on the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...

Early life

Pieters was born in

Geel Geel () is a city located in the Belgian province of Antwerp, which acquired city status in the 1980s. It comprises Central-Geel which is constituted of 4 old parishes a/o towns: Sint-Amand, Sint-Dimpna, Holven and Elsum. Further on around the ce ...

, Belgium in 1992. He started playing golf at the age of five, learning the game at the Witbos Golf Club in Noorderwijk, Belgium.

Amateur career

In 2010, he attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

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 The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

Championship.

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

. 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 The Alfred Dunhill Championship is a men's professional golf tournament which is played in South Africa. It is part of the Southern African Sunshine Tour and is one of several events in South Africa that are co-sanctioned by the more prestigious ...

. He finished the year ranked #243 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), having ended the previous year at #1122. 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 The Dutch Open is an annual golf tournament played in the Netherlands, and has been part of the European Tour's schedule since the Tour was inaugurated in 1972. History and sponsorship Founded in 1912, the tournament began as the Dutch Open, be ...

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 The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...

. Pieters started 2016 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 Darren Christopher Clarke, (born 14 August 1968) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions and has previously played on the European Tour and PGA Tour. He has won 21 tournaments worldwide on a ...

as a captain's pick for the

2016 Ryder Cup The 41st Ryder Cup Matches were held in the United States from September 30 to October 2, 2016, at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, a suburb southwest of Minneapolis. Europe entered the competition as the cup holders, havin ...

. Pieters' opened the 2017 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 The WGC Championship was a professional golf tournament that was held between 1999 and 2021. It was one of the three or four annual World Golf Championships until the number of WGC events was reduced to two following the 2021 season. Under sp ...

. 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 The WGC Invitational was a professional golf tournament that was held in the United States. Established in 1999 as a successor to the World Series of Golf, it was one of three or four annual World Golf Championships (WGC) until 2021, when the n ...

. 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. In November 2018, Pieters won the 2018 World Cup of Golf with partner Thomas Detry, representing Belgium, at

Metropolitan Golf Club The Metropolitan Golf Club is one of the renowned sandbelt courses of Melbourne and is widely recognised as one of the finest championship courses in Australia. It is located in Oakleigh South, in the city's south-eastern suburbs, approximately ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia. In 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. Pieters claimed his fifth European Tour victory in November 2021 at the

Portugal Masters The Portugal Masters was a European Tour men's professional golf tournament which was played for the first time in October 2007. It had a prize fund is US$2 million, making it one of the richest golf tournaments in Portugal. It was jointly staged b ...

. Two months later, Pieters won the

Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship is a European Tour golf tournament held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. When founded in 2006, it was one of three European Tour events to be staged in the Arabian Peninsula, but at one point was one of six. Hist ...

for his sixth European Tour win and first Rolex Series victory.

Amateur wins

*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

Professional wins (7)

European Tour wins (6)

European Tour playoff record (0–2)

Other wins (1)

Results in major championships

''Results not in chronological order in 2020.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to

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Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (three times, current) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut

Results in World Golf Championships

¹Cancelled due to

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pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022.

Team appearances

Amateur *

European Boys' Team Championship The European Boys' Team Championship (Jean-Louis Dupont Trophy) is a European amateur team golf championship for men up to 18 organized by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1980 and it has been played annually since. ...

(representing Belgium): 2009, 2010 (winners) *

Jacques Léglise Trophy The Jacques Léglise Trophy is an annual amateur boys' team golf competition between Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe. It was first played in 1977, as a one-day match before the Boys Amateur Championship, but since 1996 it has b ...

(representing Continental Europe): 2010 (winners) *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eise ...

(representing Belgium): 2010,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

European Amateur Team Championship The European Amateur Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for men organised by the European Golf Association which was introduced in 1959. The championship was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been ...

(representing Belgium): 2011 * Palmer Cup (representing Europe):

(winners) Professional * Ryder Cup (representing Europe):

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

(representing Belgium):

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

(winners) * EurAsia Cup (representing Europe):

(winners) * Hero Cup (representing Continental Europe): 2023 (winners)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pieters, Thomas Belgian male golfers European Tour golfers Ryder Cup competitors for Europe Olympic golfers of Belgium Golfers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Golfers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Illinois Fighting Illini men's golfers People from Geel Sportspeople from Antwerp 1992 births Living people