French golf has had some important players in the past. The greatest, without a doubt, has been Arnaud Massy. He was born in Biarritz in 1877 and won 17 tournaments, including the Open Championship in 1907, the only Major in French men’s golf. Other standout names include Marcel Dallemagne, Jean Gassiat or Jean Garaialde. They won a lot, although none of them, at least in their prime, coincided with the world ranking, which was inaugurated in 1986.
The victory of Matthieu Pavon in the Farmers Insurance Open of the PGA Tour has allowed him, in addition to being the first Frenchman to win on the PGA Tour, to make a giant leap in the world ranking and place himself in 34th place. This access to the exclusive top 50 in the world has led Ten Golf to review the history of French golf to find out how many have achieved it before him. The answer is very surprising. Only four. Pavon has been the fifth.
In fact, France had to wait its turn to place its first man in the top 50 in the world. That was more or less like setting foot on the moon. Thomas Levet was the conqueror. He did it in August 2004, after finishing second in the BMW International Open. It happened 18 years after the creation of the world ranking. Tremendous. Levet spent 30 weeks among the top 50.
Levet opened the door, but don’t think that caused a call effect, far from it. The French had to wait more than nine years to see the next one on the list. It was Victor Dubuisson. He accessed on November 10, 2013, after winning the Turkish Airlines Open, then Rolex Series. Dubuisson, who announced his retirement from competitive golf a few days ago, is the French player who has spent the most weeks among the top 50 in the world. In total, there have been 119 weeks.
After Dubuisson, a year and a little later, Alex Levy entered the top 50 for the first time. He was the third. It happened on February 1, 2015, after an Omega Dubai Desert Classic in which he finished 29th. Before the Emirates tournament, he was already close. Levy’s passage was fleeting. He was only eight weeks in the club.
The fourth Frenchman in the top 50 was Victor Perez. More than four years passed since Levy, almost five. It was on December 1, 2019. He didn’t even achieve it after a tournament. He got close, curiously, after finishing second in the Turkish Airlines Open, and he achieved it due to the adjustments in the classification while he was on vacation. So far, Perez has spent 73 weeks among the top 50.
And now, four years and almost two months later, Matthieu Pavon has become the fifth Frenchman in the world top 50. They are few, very few. A new demonstration of how difficult it is to get into the elite among the elites of golf. To make the comparison that is closer to us, Spain has had eleven different players among the top 50 in the world. More than double.
Having broken the PGA Tour barrier, Pavon now has other French golf records in sight. The first of these are those 119 weeks that Dubuisson spent among the top 50. It won’t be easy. You have to be very consistent to be in this exclusive club for more than two years. The next challenge is to be the Frenchman who has reached the highest in the world ranking. Right now, that distinction is also held by Dubuisson. The eccentric golfer reached 15th in the world. Serious stuff. Next in this classification is Victor Perez, who has reached 29th, just in third position is already Pavon (34) and then come Levet (41) and Levy (46).
A curiosity to finish. Andrew Magee is a player who always competed under the American flag, although he was born in Paris. Magee’s highest world ranking was 34th, the same as Pavon has reached after winning the Farmers Insurance Open.
