The European Tour announced this Thursday, May 28, the official resumption of competition from July 22, exclusively in Great Britain, for six weeks. What does this new calendar inspire in you?We are waiting to see how it will go. We do not yet know how many players will be able to be present in each tournament… Will these be normal fields, of about 150 players? Will Great Britain restrict this same field to a hundred people? Will we be in quarantine or not? This is what ... And then I find it a little stupid that they have scheduled six tournaments over six weeks in a row. This benefits English golfers a lot, but we have family in France. And what about the South Africans ... I find it hard to see all the players performing six weeks of consecutive tournaments, with the possibility of ensuring two weeks of quarantine upstream in Great Britain. Eight weeks is a lot! The fields will have to be a bit special, not everyone is going to play everything ... So, I'm not sure how it will all go ...
Do you plan to play these six tournaments? No, I won't do six. For sure ! Even if I have not yet seen with my team how we were going to organize ... But I think I will play the British Masters ( July 22-25 in Newcastle ) and the next one then I will take two weeks of rest and then resume over two weeks of tournament. Or it will be three tournaments, a week of rest and then two other tournaments ... We will see. And if I play very well during the first two, I won't be seen again for a few weeks afterwards…
"These million euro tournaments, we don't usually play them. But being able to replay is already very good. Anyway, it's a blank year"
Matthieu Pavon
One million euros in funding for each UK Swing event, what do you think? It's better than not playing! We are used to having much better tournaments. We don't usually play these million dollar tournaments. But being able to replay is already very good. Either way, it's a blank year. The goal of the game is to resume competition. The money issue is not a big deal.
Precisely, by evoking the white season, how can we motivate ourselves when we know that we do not risk losing our card for the following year? For me, the motivation will be the same. Whether the season is white or not ... I will start to win. If you win, your category will be improved, it seems to me ... That it does not count for the top 30 of the Race for the British, for example, it's a shame, of course, but we are first of all competitors ...
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Establish a calendar with around 20 to 25 tournaments until the end of the year, do you believe that? It seems very difficult, if not impossible ... I don't think the European Tour will stall four tournaments in September, four more in October and so on until the final of the Race in mid-December ... It would seem very surprising to me that the Tour schedules an event every week… If they do that, it's completely silly. It would be useless. Especially since the season is not going to count. What is the purpose of setting up one tournament per week? Already, there, the UK Swing as they say, six weeks ... I don't understand ... Four weeks, that would have been very good already. Again, it's great to have tournaments, but we're not at home, there are health restrictions, apart from the English who can be with their families. They will be luckier than us ... But I'm not complaining at all. I am very happy to play these tournaments. On magnificent courses like Celtic Manor or Belfry ... What is only a little restrictive, these are these six weeks in a row without break ... Who will want to play the six tournaments in a row? Above all, I repeat myself, that there will be no obligation to run after the points… But hey, as long as we are not two or three weeks before the start of the recovery, everything can still happen. We are not immune to a new containment in Great Britain… We don't know!
"I have not resumed my normal life before, let's say ... The gyms are always closed, so it's complicated to maintain and work properly."
Matthieu Pavon
The USGA has decreed that there will be no local and international qualifications for the US Open to be held in September (17-20) at Winged Foot (New York). You who have qualified twice for this Major, what is your point of view? It doesn't affect me more than that. These qualifications are a bonus every season. Not a goal. If I can play them, so much the better, otherwise, too bad. For now, I still have a lot of work to do!
What is your program in the coming days? I'm going to move a bit from my home ( in Gironde ). My coach ( the South African Jamie Gough ), I will not see him again before the tournaments at the end of July, so obviously he is authorized to travel.
How was your deconfinement, your resumption of training? I did not normally resume my life from before, let's say ... The gyms are always closed, so it's complicated to maintain and work as it should. Beside that, the Médoc golf course has undergone major floods ... The driving range is closed. We take advantage of the course but it is not a normal recovery ... The tournaments are in two months. What I wanted above all was to get out of my house and enjoy a golf course. Training seriously is a little more secondary. There, we have more details ... We will be able to start preparing. It was useless somewhere to kill yourself in training knowing that we had more than two months ahead of us.
How would you describe this period when France was confined for 50 days and when you ultimately could not exercise your profession? Personally, it did me good. Since I turned professional, I follow the seasons without really taking time for myself. It's a shame, however, that it changed the calendars and the current season so much.