When professional golfers are in the hole...

In 2024, everything seemed to be going well for Matthieu Pavon. At the end of January, by winning at Torrey Pines (California), he became the first French golfer in 117 years to win a tournament on the PGA Tour , the North American professional circuit. Then, in April, he followed up with a ^12th place, unprecedented for a Frenchman, at the Augusta Masters (Georgia), the first Major of the season – equivalent to the Grand Slam tournaments in tennis –, before doing even better in June, finishing ^5th at the US Open . This series of good results allowed the Toulouse native to rise to ^20th place in the world.

But, in 2025, "the golf gods have decided to test [him]," he wrote on the social network X in March: not a single competition completed in the Top 40. Faced with "high expectations that are putting [his] patience to the test," the 32-year-old player has not yet found the solution. He has the opportunity to remedy this, starting Thursday, May 15, at the PGA Championship, the second Major of the year, organized in Charlotte (North Carolina).

Matthieu Pavon is, of course, not the first professional golfer to experience such a dip. " It comes down to details, and can be explained by many causes," explains Ugo Coussaud, world ^number 220. "A slight drop in intensity in tournaments, less work in training, less precise technique, a more fragile physique..." Motivation can also vary from one week to the next. "If your life is a bit off track, it's going to show on the course. With all the traveling and being away from your loved ones, it's easy to have dips in level," adds the player.

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