Tag: Matthieu Pavon

First-time winners lead, Will Zalatoris finds his form and more from moving day at the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open

Someone forgot to tell the players moving day came early this week at the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open.

SAN DIEGO — Someone forgot to tell the players moving day came early this week at the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open.

Just 18 of the 79 players who made the cut were under par on Friday on the South Course at Torrey Pines, and the low rounds of the day were a pair of 4-under 68s from Ryan Brehm and Will Zalatoris.

The third round featured the return of the CBS walk-and-talk with a San Diego native, a new swing analysis tool, the return of a rising PGA Tour star and a gritty golf course fit for a testy Saturday finale. Here’s what you missed from the third round of the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

Farmers Insurance Open: Photos

Ryder Cupper Nicolai Hojgaard among leaders after first round of 2023 DP World Tour Championship

Catch up on the action here.

Rory McIlroy has already clinched the season-long Race to Dubai title, but there’s still hardware on the line this week at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

European Ryder Cupper Nicolai Hojgaard is tied for the lead at 5 under alongside Julien Guerrier and Matthieu Pavon. Guerrier and Pavon were bogey free on Thursday, while Hojgaard was 1 over through six holes before closing his round with six birdies over the final 12 holes.

“I played really well today,” Hojgaard said. “Drove it well from hole No. 1 to 18, even though it was a little bit of a circus on 18, felt really solid. Got on a run. You know there’s a few chances out there, so it’s just about keep hitting good shots and stay present, and I feel I did a good job today.”

Jens Dantorp, Antoine Rozner and Adrian Meronk are tied for fourth at 4 under while a group including Tommy Fleetwood, Tom Kim, Viktor Hovland and Robert MacIntyre sit 3 under, T-7.

DP World Tour Championship: Leaderboard

McIlroy opened with a 1-under 71 that included an interesting fan interaction when his tee shot landed in a spectator’s lap.

World No. 3 Jon Rahm, who won this event last year, shot an even-par 72.

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After 20-hour flight, Max Homa says he ‘may as well play some good golf’ as he’s tied for lead at Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa

“I woke up today and felt like a golfer again, so that was nice.”

Max Homa is taking a break from the PGA Tour but not golf.

Halfway around the world, Homa is tied for the lead at the halfway mark at the Nedbank Golf Challenge on the DP World Tour.

Homa must like what he’s seeing at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, South Africa, as he’s yet to bogey a hole. He opened with a 66 and shot a second-round 68 to get to 10 under, where he shares the lead with Matthieu Pavon of France.

Homa has six wins on the PGA Tour but is seeking his first international victory.

“I’m very pleased, a little surprised, pleasantly surprised. It’s been nice, the body’s feeling better as the week’s gone on,” Homa said. “I woke up today and felt like a golfer again, so that was nice. It’s a real dream. If you fly 20-odd hours over here, you may as well play some good golf. So it’s nice that I’m doing that.”

Daniel Bradbury is solo third at 9 under. Tied for fourth at 8 under are Nicolai Hojgaard and Thorbjorn Olesen. Justin Thomas is in a group of six golfers tied for eighth at 6 under.

Tommy Fleetwood, the tournament’s two-time defending champ, is four shots back heading into the weekend.

Francesco Molinari (3 under), Justin Rose (even) and Robert MacIntyre (4 over) are also in the 66-man field.

Ahead of the tournament, Homa and JT went on a safari with their wives.

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‘Just a perfect shot’: Matthieu Pavon makes first hole-in-one at 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club

“I just heard the crowd getting more and more loud and then I just, I just knew it was in,” he said.

LOS ANGELES — Talk about a dream start to the U.S. Open.

Playing in his third U.S. Open, Matthieu Pavon made the first hole in one of the 2023 championship during Thursday’s opening round. The 30-year-old from Medoc, France, put a one on the scorecard after he aced the 124-yard, par-3 15th hole.

“So that was just, that was just a perfect number. Because it was a full gap. I had nothing to change, just a normal one. Not a three-quarter, not a punch, whatever, it was just a perfect number,” said Pavon of his ace. “With my caddie we agreed that we need to pitch like one or two yards left. And the ball went straight where I wanted. So after like getting that hole-in-one it’s just like a bit of luck, but that shot like from the strike to the end was just a perfect shot.”

Pavon landed his tee shot a good 10 feet past the hole, then spun his back back towards the pin and into the bottom of the cup. It was a rather muted celebration with some high-fives from playing partners Ryo Ishikawa and Kevin Streelman, given the fact he just made a hole-in-one at a major championship. Why? He couldn’t see it go in.

“No, I reacted to the crowd. The thing is like the hole is just behind the slope so we can’t really see it,” he explained. “I just saw the bounce forward and kind of like seeing it was zipping left-to-right. So I knew it was close, but I just, I just heard the crowd getting more and more loud and then I just, I just knew it was in.”

Pavon made his U.S. Open debut in 2018 with a T-25 finish at Shinnecock Hills. In his last appearance in 2019 at Pebble Beach he missed the cut. Pavon is now the first Frenchman to make a hole-in-one in the U.S. Open.

“I don’t know how many players have got a hole-in-one in a U.S. Open. It’s quite cool to be part of this group of people and it’s my first as a professional,” he added. “So sharing this with the crowd today was just a moment I would never forget.”

Pavon’s ace is the 49th in U.S. Open history and the first since Cameron Young made one last year in the second round at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

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