Meet rookie Matthieu Pavon, contending at Sony Open into Sunday

HONOLULU – Matthieu Pavon has a tattoo on his right hand inscribed, “The saliva that flows now will become the tears of joy tomorrow.” It’s a reminder to work hard, and it’s also a metaphor for his career.

Pavon, 31, turned pro in 2013 and progressed through the Alps Tour and Challenge Tour before earning dual membership on the PGA TOUR via last year’s DP World Tour. It hasn’t been an easy road for the Frenchman who was never hailed as a star at any level. But Pavon, the son of a longtime professional soccer player, has persevered.

Now he has a chance at his first TOUR title. Pavon enters the final round at the Sony Open in Hawaii in a tie for fourth place at 11-under, three back of co-leaders Keegan Bradley and Grayson Murray at Waialae Country Club. Sam Stevens holds solo third at 13 under; Pavon is part of a five-way T4 that includes Ben Silverman, Taiga Semikawa, Chris Kirk and Byeong Hun An.

It's a crowded board, but Pavon’s grit suggests that he has just as good a chance as anyone.

“I always wanted to be here; I wasn’t sure if I was capable to get here,” said Pavon of becoming a TOUR member. “I finally did. … It’s my first week, but I feel pretty comfortable here.”

Pavon started fast on Moving Day with four birdies in a front-nine 31, moving atop the leaderboard, but he cooled on the back nine with eight pars and a three-putt bogey from 20 feet on No. 15. Nonetheless he was in good spirits post-round, contending in his ninth career TOUR start and his first as a full member; he earned his TOUR card via a newly introduced category as a top-10 finisher on the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai Standings, not otherwise exempt on TOUR. He cracked the top 10 in dramatic fashion with four consecutive closing birdies at the DP World Tour Championship in November.

Pavon resides in Andorra – a landlocked country in the Pyrenees mountain range between Spain and France – but he’ll make an American base in south Florida, where he recently took up membership at the Dye Preserve Golf Club. This season will bring new challenges, but if his play through 54 holes at Waialae – featuring scores of 66-66-67 – is any indication, he’s ready for them.

Both co-leaders have won on the PGA TOUR – Bradley is a six-time TOUR winner, while Murray won the 2017 Barbasol Championship and notched two Korn Ferry Tour titles last year. The co-leaders possess the veteran experience that Pavon hopes to attain in his first TOUR season, an education that included playing Saturday’s third round at Waialae alongside Bradley, whose 6-under 64 included back-to-back closing birdies, and TOUR veteran Harris English.

“I try to see how they react from some shots, the intensity they put into every shot and the focus,” Pavon said. “The body language and stuff like that, I kind of see. We all have a different game, but the closest I can get to those guys is mentally, so it’s always a learning process watching these guys.”

Bradley, who won two TOUR titles last season, has quickly bounced back at the Sony Open after finishing T45 in last week’s 59-player field at The Sentry (although he still shot 14-under there, as he keenly pointed out). Bradley, an avid New England Patriots fan, once said that he uses Patriots Super Bowl wins as markers in his life. With longtime coach Bill Belichick parting ways with the organization this week, perhaps there’s an extra edge for Bradley – who thrives with a chip on his shoulder – to hoist the Sony Open trophy in Belichick’s honor.

Murray played last season on conditional TOUR status, bouncing between the TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour. He finished No. 7 on the pathway circuit’s season-long standings to regain an exempt TOUR card.

Murray is eight months sober and feels at peace in life, which he admits hasn’t always been the case in his career. One constant is his belief in his abilities; they’ve shone through in rounds of 69-63-64 at Waialae.

“I know how to win,” Murray said. “I’m not going to back down. I’m going to give it my best, and if I don’t win tomorrow, it’s not from a lack of giving it my all or being scared out there.

“I’m not afraid of the moment.”

Neither is Pavon. He has put in the work, and if the tears of joy come flowing Sunday, they’ll be earned.