CNN —Since the early 2000s, a coin has lay buried next to a tree at Augusta National Golf Club, nestled there as a good luck charm by the mother of a promising young French golfer.
Not since Arnaud Massy became the first non-Briton to win the Open Championship in 1907 has a Frenchman lifted silverware at a recognized Tour event.
The world’s 890th ranked amateur when he turned professional in 2013, Pavon spent two years on the Alps Tour before graduating to the Challenge Tour, finally securing his card on the DP World Tour (European Tour) in 2017.
“I don’t come from a normal background because I wasn’t a great player once,” Pavon told CNN Sport’s Don Riddell.
Augusta National and Spyglass Hill – host of this week’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am – were once courses Pavon could only navigate in the video game world of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06.
Persons:
Matthieu Pavon, Pavon, Arnaud Massy, Frenchman, Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard, ” Pavon, CNN Sport’s Don Riddell, “, Gregory Bull, Michel, Beatrice, Naomi Baker, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, “ Spyglass, you’re, You’re, you’ve, Céline Boutier, Massy, Catherine Lacoste, Patricia Meunier, Lebouc, Boutier, Lewis Joly, ”
Organizations:
CNN, Augusta National Golf, Farmers Insurance, Spanish, PGA, Harvard University, France’s Ligue, Getty, Pavon’s PGA, Players, . Augusta National, Tiger, Céline, Evian Championship, Chevron, Evian, Ryder, Europe
Locations:
Augusta, French, Toulouse, California, Europe, America, Pavon, France’s, Bordeaux, Rome, Bethpage , New York