Belgium's Thomas Detry in contention, chasing goal of podium finish at Paris Olympics after Friday 63

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France – Finishing fourth, i.e. notching a top-10 finish, is rarely viewed as a failure in golf. Yet, in the men's Olympic golf competition, that’s exactly what it is.

A podium finish for Thomas Detry is the only focus for the Belgian this week. And after a bogey-free, 8-under-par 63 on Friday, he put himself firmly in contention to realize his goal.

“You don't come to the Olympics to finish top 10,” said Detry. “Sometimes in majors that's what you play for. Out here today, I felt like I put myself back in contention, and I'm here to reach my target.

“Sometimes in a major, obviously there are points and money or whatever,” he continued. “There's nothing of that here. We play for a medal and for bringing our Belgian flag as high as possible. Hopefully, I can keep it going.”

Le Golf National is a picture of colors this week, with 32 countries represented among the 60 competitors. And there were a good number of Belgian flags in sight as Detry finished his second round in the sunshine on the outskirts of Paris.

“Not only on the 18th green (today), but yesterday,” he said. “It started on one. We were talking – me and Stephan Jaeger – about how cool this feels. We don't even have that feeling at the majors, standing on the first tee Friday morning having so many people cheering your name, carrying the flag. It's very special.”

Paris 2024 marks golf’s third appearance in the Games since its return in 2016, and based on the reaction of a host of players over the opening two days, it’s truly finding its place. Detry added his voice to the growing list of players blown away by the interest the competition is generating.

“I think everybody has the same feeling in the Olympics in golf,” he said. “It's not particularly something you put in your schedule as a target. We have kind of Signature Events or majors or national opens, that's kind of our target.

“I think the closer we got to the Olympics, the more we realized how big this is. Seeing how many people are here. It's like the Ryder Cup, I want to say. There are people everywhere. It's incredible. Even for a Friday morning, it doesn't get that busy at the French Open or any events. It's nice.”

Detry has posted four top 10s this PGA TOUR season including a T2 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open and a T4 at the PGA Championship. The 31-year-old is is still chasing his first victory on TOUR or the DP World Tour, but success this week would be particularly meaningful.

“We are a small country,” he said of Belgium. “We only have three medals (as of Friday in Paris). We only have (around) 14 million inhabitants. We don't have that many golfers. So yeah, adding another medal would be incredible. For it to be golf, it would be even better. That's the goal.”