Thunderous start for Matthieu Pavon on the PGA Tour. The 31-year-old Frenchman, who was making his debut as an official member of the American Tour for this 2024 season, achieved a superb Top 10 at the Sony Open in Hawaii by taking 7th place at -14. The rookie had the best performance for a French player on the PGA Tour since Paul Barjon at the American Express in January 2022.
In the shot before the last round this Sunday after three days under par (66, 66, 67), the recent winner of the Spanish Open at the end of last year even found himself one shot behind the leaders after making birdie on the 8th, eagle on the 9th and birdie on the 10th. "I had a warm-up moment and it was very nice, unfortunately I left a putt at the edge of the hole on the 11th and I bogeyed behind," said the Frenchman after his round.
"I'm still learning"
By missing one last birdie on the 18th, Pavon had to settle for a very encouraging 7th place on his official debut on the PGA Tour. "It's been a really good week overall. I've been pretty solid. I'm still learning. This is my first tournament on the PGA Tour. It's a very, very good result," summed up the French golfer, who has taken precious points in the race for the Olympic Games, and climbed to 77th in the world.
A perfectly mastered first for Matthieu Pavon who signs a TOP 10 (-14) đđ€©đȘ
⥠PGA
âłâłâłâł TOUR pic.twitter.com/rV2JPQBmWZ
â CANAL+ Golf (@Canalplusgolf) January 15, 2024
Another Frenchman entered, Martin Trainer, despite the cut made, finished in 74th place in the final at -1. Up front, the victory was finally decided at -17 in a playoff between Keegan Bradley, Byeong-Hun An and Grayson Murray. The latter won in the first round of this sudden death thanks to a birdie.
On the European Tour, the other Blues were a bit disappointing. While England's Tommy Fleetwood won (-19) at the Dubai Invitational, Julien Guerrier and Romain Langasque posted the best performance with a Top 15 finish (-8).