SAINT QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — Matthieu Pavon won at Torrey Pines earlier this year. He played in his first Masters. He contended on the final day of the U.S. Open.
None of it compared to the opening day at the Olympic Golf Tournament in his home country.
Pavon was overcome with emotion on the first tee at Le Golf National, so much so that he said it impacted his play. His countryman, Victor Perez, had the honor of hitting the first shot to begin the competition earlier in the day.
“That was a crazy moment which I wasn't prepared,” said Pavon, 31, who shot 71. “At that moment, too big, took emotions, too many people screaming just your name.
“So it's very special, so yeah, that was something I had to fight a little bit, those emotions, and it was a tough day overall because like the emotions out there, every single shot, every single tee shot, every putt, everybody is pushing you, wants to do great. So it's tough to manage all of this. It takes a lot of energy, and I'm pretty pleased the way that I did so far today.”
Pavon won his first DP World Tour event last fall and then earned a PGA Tour card via a top-10 exemption. In just his third event, he won the Farmers Insurance Open, then had a third-place finish at Pebble Beach.
He played in the final group with Bryson DeChambeau at the U.S. Open, where he finished fifth.
“Sometimes it was too much for me, I don't know if it's too much for me but as I say I wasn't prepared,” Pavon said. “You don't really have a hole where you can calm down and breathe and take some water. It's always you get back to that tee box and everyone screaming your name, and stuff like this, so you never get some rest. That was a very tiring day for me.”
For Perez, 31, who played college golf at the University of New Mexico and has three DP World Tour wins, the experience was just as nerve-racking. He hit the first shot of the tournament at 9 a.m. local time.
“Obviously a lot going on,” said Perez, who shot 70. “It's never the easiest place for a golfer to be. Nobody enjoys the 1st tee, I think ever.
“I told myself on the range, I told my caddie, James, let's be there the full 10 minutes before and really soak it in all in. It's definitely a once-in-a-lifetime. I'll never hit this tee shot again, opening games in Paris and being French and having all the home support. I wanted to be there. There wasn't going to be more pressure whether I was there 10 minutes or four minutes.
“So I was like, you might as well just try to be there and take it all in and enjoy the people. It was great. I managed to hit a good shot, actually.”
Perez said the experience, in some ways, was more meaningful than getting his first DP World Tour victory in 2019 at the Dunhill Links Championship.
“This sticks out a little bit more, doing it in France in a place where—this used to be a putting green when we were kids,” he said of where he was standing on the Le Golf National grounds. “We played the under-12, under-14, under-16 French Juniors here, and I remember staying in the Novotel (hotel on site) and coming out at 9 o'clock doing putting games against the older guys and trying to win and playing for a Coke or something.
“This place is very special for me, and I think Matthieu will agree the same when you guys speak to him in a bit. It's obviously so much mixed feelings and emotions, and also happy to manage a strong back nine, so not shaming myself out there.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as 'I Wasn't Prepared': French Golfers Overwhelmed By Home-Crowd Support on Day 1.
