No French golfer had reached this level. Sunday, Matthieu Pavon, 31, climbed to tied 12th place for his first participation in the prestigious Augusta Masters, won by the American Scottie Scheffler. A small rank better than Thomas Levet 19 years ago.
Even if the Bordeaux player did not manage to stay under par at the end of the weekend (70, 73, 74 and 72), he did not shy away from his historic performance for a Tricolore, which allowed him to gain three places and reach his best world ranking (22nd).
“I'm competitive, of course I would have liked to finish in the red, but top 15 for a first is still not bad,” he said in his comments reported by the Team. Overall, it's a very, very good week. » Starting Sunday at +1 for his last round, the Frenchman managed three birdies on the way out (at holes no. 2, 3 and 8). But a missed drive at the 11th did not allow him to achieve the small goal he had set for himself.
No problem, Pavon learned a lot in Georgia. And his result already ensures his place for the 2025 edition… “You realize the difficulty of the greens, it’s very tricky,” he explains. It's hard to see certain breaks, there are really places where chips are more interesting to play than putts, like at 18. This requirement that you have to have in the short game here is really impressive. I had never played a course like this. »
Aquitain almost looks forward to next year. “What a fabulous place,” he smiles. I hope to play it for another ten years. We're going to sharpen our chipping, we'll come back even better next year, I hope. »
For six months and his victory on the European Tour at the Spanish Open, then his success at the Farmers Insurance Open (the first for a Frenchman on the PGA Tour) Matthieu Pavon has entered another dimension. At this rate, it should not take long to erase Victor Dubuisson, 15th in the world and best Habs at the peak of his career.