France’s Matthieu Pavon has claimed victory at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego with a final round 69 to reach 13-under.
Pavon hit the winning putting a birdie with an eight-foot putt on the final hole to secure the one-shot win, celebrating the moment with his arms raised and a hug to his caddie Mark Sherwood.
The 31-year-old PGA Tour rookie was playing in his 11th PGA Tour event, his third as a TOUR member, and said after the day’s play that he hopes the win inspires people.
“I still can’t believe it,” Pavon said.
“It is big for our country. I hope it will inspire a lot of people, because coming from an amateur player which is 800 in the world to a PGA Tour winner is pretty big.”
He is the first player representing France to win on TOUR since World War II; Martin Trainer won the 2019 Puerto Rico Open while representing the United States and has since changed his nationality to France.
Pavon earned his card for the 2024 season via the inaugural DP World Tour Top 10, which awarded TOUR cards to the top 10 players on the final 2023 Race to Dubai Points List, he finished 8th. He joined the DP World Tour in 2017 and took 185 starts to earn his first title at the 2023 Acciona Open de Espana.
Pavon hit three under par on the final day, edging out Denmarks Nicolai Højgaard who finished one stroke behind in second place.
He ntered the week as the highest-ranked player from France in the Official World Golf Ranking; when the field for the Olympic Golf Men’s Competition is finalized following the U.S. Open, the highest-ranked French player in the OWGR will earn a spot in the Paris 2024 field, per the Olympic Golf Ranking.
German Stephan Jaeger and Americans Nate Lashley and Jake Knapp finished tied in third place.
