U.S. Open: Matthieu Pavon ‘flying like an eagle’ after brutal stretch

Since tying for twelfth on the Masters, Matthieu Pavon has stored on slipping, slipping, and slipping.

He tied for forty ninth on the RBC Heritage and virtually completed useless final at Quail Hole. The Frenchman then went on to overlook the minimize at each the PGA Championship and the Memorial.

His recreation has been misplaced—a stark departure from the start of the season, when he received the Farmers Insurance coverage Open in dramatic style. However someway, Pavon fired a 3-under 67 on Thursday to start the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.

He credit his success to his mindset and the course, which reminded him of some tracks that the DP World Tour performs in Europe.

“New week, new alternative. You realize you’re going to have onerous occasions and higher days, and after I got here right here, I felt like across the greens, it was actually one thing that we’ve seen in Europe.” Pavon stated.

Picture by Alex Slitz/Getty Pictures

“You possibly can putt so much. You don’t have to hold the ball. There is no thick tough. This is sort of a ‘linksy’ kind of golf course. It regarded just a little bit acquainted, which might be why I loved being on the market as we speak a lot.”

Little question that Pavon loved himself on the par-5 fifth and par-5 tenth holes. He eagled each of them, flying him up the leaderboard and squarely into rivalry for the primary time in months.

“It’s humorous as a result of they beautiful a lot come whenever you don’t actually anticipate them,” Pavon stated of his pair of eagles.

“We all know how robust the course could be, and even in the event you go in two for the par-5s, you actually should put the ball in the proper spot, and that’s all I attempted, and I succeeded. I dropped some very good putts as we speak, too, so it was actually a superb day.”

On the fifth gap, Pavon launched his 4-iron from 241 yards out to 17 toes away. He made the putt, which received him to 2-under. A birdie on the par-4 eighth adopted, and by the point Pavon made the flip, he sat at 3-under.

Then, on the tenth gap, Pavon rifled a 3-wood from 288 out onto the entrance of the inexperienced. His ball got here to relaxation 27 toes from the cup, and he drained that putt, too. All of a sudden, he sat at 5-under and within the lead.

However that was short-lived. Pavon bogeyed the eleventh and sixteenth holes, as he slid again to 3-under. He sits two strokes behind Patrick Cantlay halfway via Thursday’s first spherical.

However, Pavon leads the sector in placing so far, gaining 4.31 strokes on the greens. If he can preserve that up, who is aware of? Maybe he can turn out to be the primary Frenchman to win a serious. He has confirmed himself beneath stress earlier than, however now it’s a matter of getting the job accomplished on a difficult golf course with one of the best gamers on this planet. Not less than he feels assured that he can achieve this.

“My recreation this yr is sort of good general. I had just a few weeks down, but it surely occurs in a yr,” Pavon stated.

“When it’s robust like this week, no less than you recognize that generally you need to take away some stress and expectations, play sensible to the proper spots, and make one or two up-and-downs when it’s essential to. That is what actually modified in comparison with a few of the final weeks.”

Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By. Be sure you take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You possibly can comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as properly.