I’ve been working with Thomas since he was 12, after I was commissioned by the Belgium Golf Federation. I got the kids to do my tennis ball drill for an hour and Thomas would do it for an hour-and-a-half.
You could see at an early age Thomas had the talent. He went to the University of Illinois and 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.
He left to join the European Tour and made his mark with three victories. In 2016 he earned a place on the Ryder Cup team, collecting four out of five points in his debut for Europe at Hazeltine. He’s had a few issues in recent years to deal with off the course and to see him win this year’s Portugal Masters and to contend at the DP World Tour Championship has been one of the highlights of the year for me. Expect to see him back inside the top 50 in the world soon.
