To fully appreciate the magnitude of Matthieu Pavon’s one-stroke victory in the Farmers Insurance Open on Saturday at Torrey Pines in San Diego, California, it’s helpful to know his story.
Pavon has been chasing this moment for a long time.
A 31-year-old Frenchman whose father was a professional soccer player and whose mother teaches golf, Pavon worked in the shadows of the DP World Tour for seven years until his breakthrough victory last October at the Acciona Open de España.
One month later, Pavon birdied the last four holes in the DP World Tour Championship, earning one of 10 available PGA Tour cards in the process.
Now this, a victory in his third start of the year, sealed with a dramatic birdie on the 72nd hole set up by a daring third shot from deep rough over water.
“I just came here in America, just trying to enjoy every moment,” Pavon said. “It’s a dream since I am 16, since I came to America for the first time to practice in West Palm. I loved everything about America, the mentality, the sport, everything you guys do. It feels like I’m an American somehow.
“To be fair, I had almost no pressure coming, playing in America. It’s like it’s just an opportunity. If I fail, I could just go back in Europe and I start again. So, it was just like trying to do your best every day, enjoy every moment because they are special ones, I can tell you there are very special ones, and it looked like it worked.”
Pavon endured a grinding finish, holding off Denmark’s Nicolai Højgaard by a stroke and Germany’s Stephan Jaeger and Americans Nate Lashley and Jake Knapp by two. Pavon finished at 13-under 275 and earned $1.62 million from the $9 million prize fund.
“That was the right time to prove I have the guts to finish that tournament.”
Matthieu Pavon
He became the first Frenchman to win on the PGA Tour, thrust himself into the running for a spot in the Olympics and set himself up for the FedEx Cup playoffs later this year as well as spots in the upcoming signature events at Pebble Beach and Riviera.
Leading by one at the par-5 18th on the South Course after a three-putt bogey on 17, Pavon pulled his tee shot into a fairway bunker and then compounded his problems when his second shot settled into a deep tangle of rough. His caddie suggested Pavon lay up with his third to avoid the water in front of the green, but Pavon rightly believed he needed a birdie to win.
“It’s my call. And I was so pumped at that time, I know I had the energy to lift that ball up on the green,” Pavon said.
“I kind of aimed to the middle of the green, knowing the face would close a little bit because it’s quite deep and thick. That ball came out like a butterfly, and it really fed the slope on the green and left myself a (7)-footer or something. That was the right time to prove I have the guts to finish that tournament, and I did it so I’m so happy about that last hole.”
Ron Green Jr.