Late round heroics fuel Pavon and Korda's victories | The Sunday Swing

The Sunday Swing 
Jan. 28th, 2024

Welcome back to another edition of the Sunday Swing presented by 2nd Swing Golf. This week on the PGA Tour was the playing of the Farmers Insurance Open from Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, CA. In order to avoid competition with the NFL Championship games on Sunday, the Farmers began on Wednesday and concluded on Saturday afternoon as opposed to a traditional Sunday finish. The LPGA continued its Florida swing at the Drive On Championship from Bradenton Country Club in Bradenton, FL.

Farmers Insurance Open - Tournament History 

Continuing the recent trend of playing multiple golf courses within the same tournament, the Farmers Insurance Open features rounds at Torrey Pines North and South on Thursday and Friday before the cut is made and the weekend is hosted exclusively at the South Course. Throughout the years not only has Torrey Pines served as the host of the Farmers, but it has also been home to two U.S. Open Championships- most recently in 2021, but more famously in 2008 when Tiger Woods defeated Rocco Mediate in an 18 hole playoff on a broken leg. The putt he made to force a playoff at the 72nd hole is arguably one of his most iconic moments. The fact that Torrey Pines is a public course allows locals and visitors to experience the incredible coastal views and relive history as they come up the 18th hole on the South Course. Measuring over 7,800 yards, Torrey Pines South is the 2nd longest course on the PGA Tour. Combine its length with thick rough and difficult greens, Torrey Pines always requires precision and toughness by the player who will hoist the trophy on Sunday. Players must accept the fact that bogeys are common at Torrey Pines and must be patient and take advantage of their birdie opportunities when they get them. The challenge players face at the Farmers is a change of pace compared to the start of the year that features three birdie fests in the Sentry, Sony, and American Express. The most recent five players to conquer Torrey Pines are as follows: 

2024 - Matthieu Pavon (-13)
2023 - Max Homa (-13)
2022 - Luke List (-15)
2021 - Patrick Reed (-14)
2020 - Marc Leishman (-15) 

The Big Swing 

This week the Big Swing belongs to another first-time PGA Tour winner, Frenchman Matthieu Pavon. In winning this week, Pavon made history as he became the first French player to win on the PGA Tour since 1907 when Arnaud Massy won the Open Championship. Pavon is 31 years old so he’s been around a while, but not on the PGA Tour. 

This season is Pavon’s first year with PGA Tour status thanks to his 15th place finish in the 2023 race to Dubai on the European Tour. Pavon splashed onto the scene at the Sony Open a couple weeks ago where he finished in a tie for 7th in his PGA Tour debut. He followed that up with another made cut at the American Express where he finished T39. 

Coming to Torrey Pines, Pavon was not considered a favorite as players like Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau, and Collin Morikawa headlined the field. Despite being a heavy underdog, Pavon kept his momentum going by opening the week with rounds of 69 and 65 and was firmly in the mix along with fellow Europeans Nicolai Hojgaard and Stephan Jaeger. Some of the notables to miss the cut, further proving the challenge Torrey Pines presents included Collin Morikawa, Sungjae Im (who rarely ever misses a cut), Jason Day, and Eric Cole. 

On the weekend, it was proven again that any score under par was a good one. Matthieu Pavon was able to grind out an even par round of 72 on Saturday, whereas Hojgaard and Jaeger each shot 1-over par making the top of the leaderboard even more jam packed. On Sunday, the final group included a trio of players seeking their first title on the PGA Tour. Pavon, Hojgaard, and Jaeger began the final round in hopes to break through. The chasers included some big names and proven winners like Tony Finau, Ludvig Aberg, and Xander Schauffele. 

For most of the final round it was a battle between Pavon and Hojgaard. After making bogey at the opening hole, Pavon was able to jump out to a lead after making birdies on holes 4, 6, 8, and 9. Hojgaard was trying to keep pace and he made birdies and 6, 8, and 9 himself. Jaeger was able to make a few birdies on the front nine and turn in 2-under but struggled to maintain momentum on the back after bogeys at 12, 14, and 17. 

The biggest challenger from back in the pack was Nate Lashley, who surged all the way to 11-under par thanks to a 5-under par 67. For a time it looked like he may have a chance as he was just a couple back of the 13-under number that led the pack, but Pavon played steady golf on the back making pars on holes 10-16. After a bogey at the 17th, Pavon dropped back to 12-under and the lead was just one heading to the final hole of the tournament. Pavon knew he would likely need a birdie at the par-5 18th to ensure victory with Hojgaard just one shot behind him. After his drive found a fairway bunker and his layup found the rough, it seemed the door had opened for Hojgaard to tie it up after knocking his second on the green to about 50 feet. 

Now knowing he needed birdie to win, Pavon took a big slash out of the thick rough, carried the water, and watched his ball trickle to about eight feet. As Hojgaard lagged his eagle putt to within a couple of feet, Pavon lined up his birdie putt knowing it was for the win. The rest is history – Pavon sank the putt for his first career PGA Tour win. Taking out some of the game’s best at one of the toughest courses on Tour, Matthieu Pavon made a statement that he is here to stay – at least for the next two years.

Winner’s Bag - Matthieu Pavon

Matthieu Pavon broke through at Torrey Pines on Saturday to become the first Frenchman to win on tour in 117 years. Pavon is a PING staffer and plays PING throughout his entire bag. Starting at the top, Pavon plays a G430 Max driver (9 degrees) and carries just one fairway wood – the PING G430 LST (15 degrees). Instead of a 5-wood, 7-wood, or utility iron, Pavon employs a hybrid (PING G430 at 19 degrees). Even with a hybrid in the bag, Pavon still has an iron set makeup of 3-PW, in the PING i230’s. His short game is powered by two wedges – both the new s159 model at 52 and 58 degrees. And the flatstick he used to sink the winning putt was the PING Cadence TR Tomcat model, an older but clearly still effective putter.

In the World of Women’s Golf

This week the LPGA Tour was in Bradenton, FL for the Drive On Championship. The field was superb with players like last week’s winner Lydia Ko, Nelly Korda, Megan Khang, Lexi Thompson, Allisen Corpuz, and more. In a field like this, you would expect the best players to rise to the top of the leaderboard as the tournament comes to a close on Sunday evening, and that’s exactly what we got this week. And it was indeed a thrilling finish.

Nelly Korda, who hasn’t won on the LPGA Tour since November of 2022, started the week out strong in hopes of snapping the winless drought. She opened the week with rounds of 65, 67, and 68 and looked unbeatable as she took a four-shot lead heading into the final round. However, the final round wasn’t nearly as kind to Korda as the first three had been. She was one-over par on the day after 13 holes and was clinging to a dwindling lead when things went south fast at the 14th. She made bogey at 14, then followed that up with a double bogey at 15, and yet another bogey at 16. 

Then, Lydia Ko – Korda’s closest challenger entering the final round – made eagle on the par-5 17th thanks to an exceptional second shot to within a foot of the hole. Suddenly, Korda had lost complete control of the tournament and trailed by three with just a few holes to play. Korda needed a flawless finish to have a chance. 

After a blistering 3-wood into the 17th, Korda canned a mid-range eagle putt to get within one of the lead. At the 18th hole needing birdie to force a playoff, Korda dropped a 9-iron right on top of a ridge in the middle of the green, and the ball trickled down the hill to the back-pin location to within a foot. She would kick that in to force an improbable playoff. 

Korda and Ko both made par at the first playoff hole, but after Ko made a sloppy bogey at the second thanks to a three-putt, Korda had about five feet to close out the tournament and complete the comeback. The putt fell, and Korda had officially won her ninth LPGA Tour victory and first since 2022 after a roller-coaster final round.