The eagles have landed for Matthieu Pavon — not one but two in the first round of the 2024 U.S. Open

Big birds for Pavon.

PINEHURST, N.C. – Matthieu Pavon tore up the par 5s on Thursday at Pinehurst No. 2 in the opening round of the 124th U.S. Open.

There are just two par 5s on the scorecard this week at the famed Donald Ross layout, which is playing as a par 70, and Pavon eagled them both en route to shooting 3-under 67.

“I made my four best swings of the day on the par-5s and dropped two putts, so it gave me a nice two eagles,” he said. “It gave me a little bit of freedom today.”

The 31-year-old Frenchman opened with four pars on the card before ripping a 338-yard tee shot at the 582-yard fifth hole, ripping a 4-iron from 239 yards to 18 feet and rolling in the putt.

He tacked on a birdie at the par-4 eighth and turned in 32.

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The only par 5 on the back nine is at No. 10, playing a whopping 619 yards. No problem for Pavon. The PGA Tour rookie, who won the Farmers Insurance Open in February, sent a 3-wood from 289 yards to 27 feet. Draino. A second eagle on the day for Pavon and not a bad way to start the championship. That put Pavon at 5 under, which could be a good winning score on Sunday.

Pavon gave one stroke back at the 11th but drilled a nice 15-foot par putt at No. 12 and held an early two-stroke lead during early action of the first round. He made a bogey at 16 and finished two strokes behind Patrick Cantlay among the early wave.

Fifth hole

10th hole