Eighteen weeks ago, Matthieu Pavon missed the cut at the French Open, probably one of the dates marked in red on his calendar, and fell to number 225 in the world ranking, because he had also missed it at Wentworth the previous week. The season was going that way, although without stress, thanks to a very solid first few months of 2023, with some top tens.
Two weeks after leaving the French Golf National with his tail between his legs, the French player finished sixth in the Alfred Dunhill Links and then won the Spanish Open, his first major victory as a professional. Today, and not even three and a half months have passed since his exhibition at the Club de Campo de Madrid, he has also won for the first time on the other side of the pond, after claiming victory at the Farmers Insurance Open, becoming the first Frenchman in history to win a PGA Tour tournament; he has also earned a place next week at the Signature Event at Pebble Beach, has entered the top 50 in the world and has secured his presence at the Masters, to start with, and practically at all the Majors of the year.
What happened in that week he spent at home between the French Open and the Alfred Dunhill Links? Let’s not look for the squaring of the circle or the recipe for the magic potion. Perhaps he found something very specific, it wouldn’t be the first time it happens, but it is also very possible that the main lines of a long process of effort and work finally converged on the playing field.
Pavon, indeed, has had the pleasure of looking again at the South course of Torrey Pines (scorecard of 69 strokes in the last round and a final accumulated of -13), as he did on the second day, when he smashed it with a brilliant 65. But this time it was a bigger deal. This time a victory was at stake that radically changes one’s life and, nevertheless, he showed again the coolness and the ability to perform remarkably in moments of pressure that he had already shown in Madrid. We must continue to count on him, he has earned it, there is no other choice.
He has also suffered his share. You don’t write a golden page of your country’s golf without sweating that little bit of blood. He arrived at the 16th tee as leader with a two-stroke lead, once Stephan Jaeger (-11), leader at the start of the day, had been bleeding along the way by missing very short putts, while Nicolai Hojgaard (-12), the third European component of the star match, was not finding the definitive gear change, suffering more than advisable from the tee. There, at the 16th, the Frenchman was going to hole a seven-meter putt to save par and it seemed that he had settled the matter. However, he missed a very short par putt on the 17th and then missed the tee shot on the 18th, as well as the second shot… The fact is that he needed to get the ball to the green and at least secure par to go to a playoff, but he had to do it with his third shot on this par 5, about 140 meters from the flag and the water in between and with the ball ‘lost’ in deep rough… He did it: hitting with all his soul and even leaving himself an excellent birdie option that he would also convert to win the tournament.
Pavon, the son of that footballer who played for Real Betis at the dawn of the 21st century (Michel Pavon), the descendant of Spaniards (one of his grandfathers was born in Madrid, what a coincidence, where it all began), has marked the path for the entire middle class of the DP World Tour, which he was part of until recently, just weeks ago.
He has shown that it can be done. That once you get the PGA Tour card through the European circuit, you can arrive and kiss the saint. It won’t be easy for anyone to repeat the feat (victory at the third attempt), but he has at least shown that it is possible. More than one and more than two will open their eyes: yes, sir, yes, you can face them there, in their land, in their habitat; that yes, there are many and very good (this week 55 top hundred in the world have played the Farmers), but they don’t eat anyone raw.
