Mike Small’s recruiting pitch got a lot easier this year after University of Illinois alums Brian Campbell and Thomas Detry won on the PGA Tour in February – within three weeks of one another.
Detry dominated the field with a seven-stroke win at the WM Phoenix Open (Feb. 6-9), while Campbell needed extra holes to claim victory at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld (Feb. 20–23). It was the first PGA Tour win for both players and earned them fully exempt status through the 2027 season.
“It’s validation for our program,” said Small, who’s in his 25th season as head coach of his alma mater. “Yeah, the time they spent (at Illinois) helped them, but they did this on their own. They persevered, they proved their grit and their determination.”
Beyond job security, Campbell and Detry secured invitations to this year’s Masters (April 10–13) for the first time and access to the PGA Tour’s Signature Events. The exclusive tournaments offer bigger purses and more FedExCup points than standard stops.
Before turning pro, Campbell and Detry, both of whom are 32 years old, were teammates at Illinois, along with PGA Tour winner Nick Hardy, of Northbrook. All three played on the 2014–15 team that won the Big Ten title and advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Championships.
Detry, a native of Belgium, spent the majority of his pro career on the DP World Tour. He first joined the PGA Tour in 2023 before finding success last year, recording one runner-up finish, four top 10s and seven top 25s in 21 events to place 42nd in the FedExCup standings. His win in Scottsdale came in his 229th start on both the DP World and PGA Tours.
“I felt like I’ve been doing a lot of really good things in the past to put myself in that position, and I felt like I was kind of ready to win,” Detry said.
This is Campbell’s second stint on the PGA Tour. He got his card in 2017, but he lost it after missing 13 cuts in 20 starts. Even though Campbell found a home on the Korn Ferry Tour (KFT), he considered retiring from pro golf. He stayed the course and was rewarded last year when he finished seventh – highlighted by three seconds, seven top 10s and 12 top 25s in 25 tournaments – in the KFT standings and received a second chance on golf’s biggest stage.
Campbell’s win in Nuevo Vallarta was his first as a pro, a stretch that spanned 187 starts.
“When he came in as a freshman, he was not an impact player,” Small said. “But he got challenged and responded. (Campbell and Detry) have shown their resiliency and toughness.”
Small said Campbell and Detry can draw inspiration from fellow Illini alum Steve Stricker, who enjoyed his best season at age 42 when he won three times and later lasted more than 250 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings.
“I always tell our players that a pro golf career can be 20 or 30 years long. Keep working hard and be accountable to yourself.” —Matt Harness