Matthieu Pavon lines up a putt during the first round of the 2024 U.S. Open. | Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images
Matthieu Pavon, who won the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year, is in the mix early at the 124th U.S. Open.
Since tying for 12th at the Masters, Matthieu Pavon has kept on slipping, slipping, and slipping.
He tied for 49th at the RBC Heritage and almost finished dead last at Quail Hollow. The Frenchman then went on to miss the cut at both the PGA Championship and the Memorial.
His game has been lost—a stark departure from the beginning of the season, when he won the Farmers Insurance Open in dramatic fashion. But somehow, Pavon fired a 3-under 67 on Thursday to begin the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.
He credits his success to his mindset and the course, which reminded him of some tracks that the DP World Tour plays in Europe.
“New week, new opportunity. You know you’re going to have hard times and better days, and when I came here, I felt like around the greens, it was really something that we’ve seen in Europe.” Pavon said.
Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images
Matthieu Pavon hits a putt during the first round of the 2024 U.S. Open.
“You can putt a lot. You don’t have to carry the ball. There is not any thick rough. This is like a ‘linksy’ type of golf course. It looked a little bit familiar, which is probably why I enjoyed being out there today so much.”
No doubt that Pavon enjoyed himself on the par-5 5th and par-5 10th holes. He eagled both of them, flying him up the leaderboard and squarely into contention for the first time in months.
“It’s funny because they pretty much come when you don’t really expect them,” Pavon said of his pair of eagles.
“We know how tough the course can be, and even if you go in two for the par-5s, you really have to put the ball in the right spot, and that is all I tried, and I succeeded. I dropped some very nice putts today, too, so it was really a good day.”
On the 5th hole, Pavon launched his 4-iron from 241 yards out to 17 feet away. He made the putt, which got him to 2-under. A birdie at the par-4 8th followed, and by the time Pavon made the turn, he sat at 3-under.
Then, on the 10th hole, Pavon rifled a 3-wood from 288 out onto the front of the green. His ball came to rest 27 feet from the cup, and he drained that putt, too. Suddenly, he sat at 5-under and in the lead.
But that was short-lived. Pavon bogeyed the 11th and 16th holes, as he slid back to 3-under. He sits two strokes behind Patrick Cantlay midway through Thursday’s first round.
Nevertheless, Pavon leads the field in putting to this point, gaining 4.31 strokes on the greens. If he can keep that up, who knows? Perhaps he can become the first Frenchman to win a major. He has proven himself under pressure before, but now it’s a matter of getting the job done on a challenging golf course with the best players in the world. At least he feels confident that he can do so.
“My game this year is quite good overall. I had a few weeks down, but it happens in a year,” Pavon said.
“When it’s tough like this week, at least you know that sometimes you have to take away some pressure and expectations, play smart to the right spots, and make one or two up-and-downs when you need to. This is what really changed compared to some of the last weeks.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
