The DP World Tour moves to Belgium this week for the Soudal Open, but local favourite Thomas Pieters will not be in attendance.
Pieters made the move to LIV Golf before the opening event of the 14-tournament League season. That means that, while his home country will host the event, he will be in Oklahoma for the LIV Golf Tulsa tournament at Cedar Ridge Country Club.
Even though he's thousands of miles away, though, the tournament is still in the 31-year-old’s thoughts as he prepares for his latest outing as part of the Range Goats GC team. Pieters wrote on Twitter: "Good luck to everyone at the #SoudalOpen this week. I enjoyed playing the event previously & love the opportunities it gives to young Belgian golfers. Head to @SoudalOpen to follow the event throughout the week."
Good luck to everyone at the #SoudalOpen this week 🇧🇪I enjoyed playing the event previously & love the opportunities it gives to young Belgian golfers. Head to @SoudalOpen to follow the event throughout the week 👍 pic.twitter.com/3KAWbbL52MMay 10, 2023
Despite Pieters' absence, there is some local talent in the field, including World No.90 Thomas Detry, who is the second-highest-ranked player in attendance behind World No.88 Callum Shinkwin.
Beyond him, the likes of World No.590 Christopher Mivis and World No.1006 Alan De Bondt are other Belgians in the line-up. Still, the six-time DP World Tour player, who finished tied for ninth in 2022, would surely have been the greatest hope for a local winner this year.
However, it seems highly unlikely he will compete in it again, at least for the foreseeable future. The DP World Tour recently won its legal battle against some players on the circuit. That means there is likely no easy way back for Pieters should he wish to take part in future tournaments on the Tour.
It's not the first time this year that Pieters has aired his thoughts about a tournament he is not attending. In February, he took what appeared to be an indirect dig at the DP World Tour's strategic alliance with the PGA Tour after he failed to qualify for the Genesis invitational despite being World No.34 at the time. He wrote: "Sad to miss my favourite tournament of the year. Because well as #34 in the world, I just couldn't get in."
A matter of days later, Pieters became the highest-profile close-season LIV Golf signing.
Following this week's tournament on the circuit, where Pieters will hope to improve his position of 41st in the individual standings, he will play in the second Major of the year, the PGA Championship, as one of 18 LIV Golf players.
