A chill ran through the DP World Tour from end to end on Wednesday morning. Pro-am day at the South African Open. The WhatsApp groups of players and caddies were buzzing. Messages of disbelief, astonishment, confusion, uncertainty, and fear. A lot of fear.
Andrea Pavan, one of the most beloved and respected golfers on the circuit, had a serious accident. Specifically, he had fallen down the elevator shaft of the apartment he had rented this week in Stellenbosch. It was a third floor. Pavan plunged about 8-10 metres into the void. A nightmare come true.
In conversation with Ten Golf, Francisco Mateo, Andrea’s caddie with whom he was sharing the apartment this week, explains, still visibly affected (understandably so), what happened. “We were arriving at the course to play the Pro Am. The apartment was very close. We had a tee time at 12.40 and it was around nine. At that moment, Andrea realises he has forgotten the locker room keys. I offer to go back and get them, but he insists we go together because it’s very early. I stay in the car and he goes up to the apartment… The next thing is a phone call from Andrea telling me he has fallen and that his shoulder and back hurt. It’s very strange. Normally we always speak in Spanish, but now he’s telling me everything in English,” he recounts.
The first thing the caddie from Guadiaro thinks is that Pavan has slipped in the house and taken a hard fall. However, when he leaves the car and enters the apartment building to take the elevator, he discovers that what has happened is much more serious. Upon reaching the entrance, he hears Andrea’s screams and realises they are not coming from above the apartment, but from right there, on the other side of the elevator door. Mateo can’t believe it. He can’t imagine what has happened. “I talk to him and try to calm him down, but he’s in bad shape. He tells me he has fallen down the elevator shaft. Quickly, with the cries for help, more people arrive. A neighbour and waiters from a nearby bar appear. We call the fire brigade, police, and ambulance.”
The first to arrive were the fire brigade and the police. They took about 25 minutes. During all that time, Mateo keeps talking to Pavan to keep him calm. He informs him that emergency services are already on their way. The fire brigade performs the rescue. They force open the ground floor elevator door and take out the immobilised Italian golfer on a stretcher. It’s a complex operation, but they resolve it quickly and successfully. A few minutes later, the ambulance arrives, and after stabilising him, they transfer him to the hospital in Stellenbosch.
The worst is the damage to the right shoulder. The humerus is dislocated and it doesn’t look good. The doctors insist that emergency surgery is necessary. It’s time to make a decision. Operate there or not? They get information through the DP World Tour, the owner of the apartment building where they had the rental, and through Johann Rupert, a South African magnate who is like family to the DP World Tour, as he organises the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the Dunhill Links Championship every year. The arrangements are made by Pablo Larrazábal, a good friend of Rupert.
Everyone consulted, especially Johann, assures that the hospital in Stellenbosch is one of the best in South Africa and that they are used to treating top-level athletes because there are several top-tier sports teams in that area. The rugby team, for example, is one of the best in the country. They are in good hands and decide to go ahead with the surgery.
Finally, the operation begins at around six in the evening, local time. First the shoulder, then the back. Tests performed upon arrival at the hospital indicate that some lumbar vertebrae may have been displaced by the impact. Just with the shoulder, the operation lasts more than four hours. With the back, it’s almost three. The procedure doesn’t end until shortly before one in the morning, when a nurse comes out of the operating room and informs them that they have finished and everything went well.
Throughout the afternoon, the hospital is a hive of players and caddies who come to see how Pavan is doing and if they can lend a hand. Mateo is the connecting thread. The first to arrive are the Italian players Matteo Manassero and Francesco Laporta, as well as Job Sugranyes, Manassero’s caddie. The DP World Tour is fully supportive. Rupert is fully supportive. Everyone is supportive in any way they can. Obviously, golf takes a back seat and Pavan is just grateful to be alive and that once in the hospital he can move his legs. It was a very serious accident and the consequences could have been much worse, but at least he knows he will recover. The fear is reduced.
Pavan will have to stay in the hospital for three or four days and then he might be discharged. However, it could take about six or seven weeks before he can get on a plane and travel, especially due to the pressure. Rupert has offered the player and his family a house where they can stay for as long as needed during the recovery. Today, Andrea’s sister is expected to arrive from Dubai, while his wife should land on Saturday from Texas, the Pavan family’s usual residence.
As we said, golf takes a back seat, but it remains Andrea’s profession. Right now, it’s almost impossible to establish with certainty if he will be able to play golf professionally again. The doctor who operated on his shoulder, the most affected area, has expressed confidence that if all goes well, he will be able to play again. However, the timeline for his return is incalculable. It could be 18 or 24 months… or a bit less. Everything will depend on the recovery’s progress. In any case, Andrea is physically strong and the doctor has been optimistic.
Perhaps the big question being asked is how someone can fall down an elevator shaft. Obviously, something failed in the mechanism. It was a special lift that went directly to the apartment’s living room. It seems that Pavan left the elevator door ajar while going for the locker room keys. Upon returning and automatically stepping into the elevator, the car was no longer there, and he fell. Logically, there is negligence in the apparatus’s functioning. If the door was open, the elevator shouldn’t have been able to leave. And if the door was closed, Andrea shouldn’t have been able to open it until the elevator was at his floor. All this will now have to be determined by the investigation.
Indeed, these have been very hard hours of anguish for the DP World Tour family, especially for those closest to Andrea, as well as his caddie, Francisco Mateo, who has been by his side at all times. Fortunately, Pavan has come out whole and alive. That is the most important thing. Golf, we’ll see.
