Matthieu Pavon gets his breakthrough PGA Tour win at the Farmers Insurance Open
Last Wednesday, Matthieu made his third start of the year in Torrey Pines with the Farmers Insurance Open.
Matthieu after carding 69, 65, 72, was at 10-under-par for the tournament. Going into the final round, Matthieu trailed German Stephan Jaeger by one stroke.
During the first nine holes, Matthieu scored four birdies, one bogey to reach -13 and tie with Stephan for the joint-lead. Who at that time, carded three birdies, one bogey to increase his score to -13.
The turning point of the day came on the 12th hole. When Stephan’s fourth shot missed the cup for an eventual bogey.
Stephan got another bogey on the 14th which made him out of contention. Now, it was all on Matthieu, who had a two shot lead over the field.
During the dying stages of the tournament, there was some drama! After Matthieu scored a bogey on his seventeenth hole, reduced his lead to just one over Nicolai Højgaard.
At the 72nd hole, Matthieu’s tee shot found the bunker, from there Matthieu’s second shot found the thick rough.
After getting his ball into the rough, Matthieu was in risk of losing the tournament. But Matthieu had the grit of a warrior! As Matthieu played a solid shot which cleared the water area in between to fell on the greens. Once it reached the greens, his ball rolled and stopped within 10 feet of the cup.
Nicolai, who played first, scored the birdie on his 18th hole to join Matthieu for the clubhouse lead at -12. Whereas Matthieu, who moments earlier played a superb recovery shot, scored the winning birdie to claim his maiden PGA Tour win.
Matthieu’s winning score was 13-under-275.
Ever-since, Matthieu went to the United States at 17-years-old. It was his dream to win a tournament on the American soil. Finally on Saturday, Matthieu achieved his dream by winning the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego, California.
“I still can't believe it,” said Matthieu after his win.
For Matthieu, it was a long journey to go from a struggling amateur golfer to become a PGA Tour winner.
Matthieu, who was born in Toulouse, France, had struggled during his amateur career and was ranked outside of the top-500 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings. But when he turned pro at age 20, Matthieu found some quick success on European tier-3, tier-2 tours. However when it came to the main tour (DP World Tour), Matthieu had a hard time in getting victories. Matthieu was unsuccessful during his first seven years on the Tour. At last in 2023, Matthieu finally claimed a DP World Tour win at the Spanish Open. Following a career changing year (2023) which included seven top-tens and a win, Matthieu earned his PGA Tour card for the 2024 season. In the first month of the new year, Matthieu won the Farmers Insurance Open.
"I hope it will inspire a lot of people because coming from an amateur player which is 800 in the world to a PGA TOUR winner, it's pretty big,” said Matthieu after he became only the second French golfer after Arnaud Massy to win on the PGA Tour.
[ALL PHOTOS CREDIT: PGA TOUR]
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January 28, 2024 - By Dhruv Trivedi