The French Matthew Pavon breaks local hegemony in the Acciona Open of Spain. Since 2016, all the winners had been Spanish. The Frenchman took advantage of the momentum of the previous days in the Madrid Country Club to debut his record with a spectacular result of -7 on the last day, leaving the final result at 23 under par, two away from the tournament record established by Jon Rahm in 2022. It is the first big victory for the player, who is the son of a footballer who played for Betis a few years ago. 23 years.
Pavon, golfer Toulouse 30 years old, he has a lot of ties with Spain. Her grandfather was from Madrid and emigrated to France due to the outbreak of the Civil war. In the neighboring country he settled and started a family. When collecting the title of winner he remembered his ancestor: «A part of my heart is here, in Spain. My grandfather was originally from Madrid, He went into exile in France because of Franco. I thought a lot about him during today’s round, and I had a hard time holding back the tears, which now I can spill. “I dedicate this victory to my grandfather, who will be up there and I think he will be proud of me.”
Matthieu moved to Sevilla When I had eight yearsfollowing in the footsteps of his father Michel, who was a season in the ranks of Betis, in the 2000-2001 season. His father was a professional soccer player with a long career. He played nearly 400 games in the French league and played, among others, in the Toulousehe Montpellier and the Girondins. After defending the colors of Betis He retired from high competition due to injuries.
Mateo, as he is known in the golf world, speaks Spanish fluently and has been a professional for 10 years. In 2017 he managed to enter the European Circuit and the victory in Madrid, after 186 tournaments played, brings him closer to the fight for the first 10 places at the end of the season, which would give him promotion to the PGA Tour. He currently lives in Andorra and trains at the Cerdanyain Lleida. The new winner on the European Tour commented that the experience and advice of his father were fundamental for the development of his golf career.
Pavon shone in Madrid and fought for prominence with Rahm. The Basque signed the most exciting moments of the week. On Sunday without complexes and, in attack mode, he started the day with four birdies and got to -6 on the ninth hole. He roared like never before Villa Country Club from Madrid with Rahm just three shots behind a leader who had not yet started the last day and who was already feeling the tickling and pressure of having the breath of the world number 3 on his back. Nine strokes behind and more than thirty players ahead was the impossible feat for Jon’s comeback, who could not continue maintaining the frenetic pace of the first two hours of play and had to settle for 64 strokes and finish the week with -14, tied for ninth place with other players, including Alfredo García Heredia. Basque and Asturian were the best Spaniards in the classification.