Last-minute victory lifts Paul Barjon back to the PGA TOUR

Paul Barjon is not your typical professional golfer.

Born and raised in New Caledonia, a French island off the South Pacific, he left his hometown of Dumbéa for France in high school, eventually hopping the pond to play college golf at Texas Christian University. He has played professional golf in Canada, on the Korn Ferry Tour and the PGA TOUR.

Though his life and path to the TOUR are riddled with intricacies, there is one simple truth in his game. Barjon himself says it best: “I feel like I tend to show up every now and again when it matters.”

He showed up in a big way at the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance in October. Barjon entered the week at No. 45 on the Points List, after a streaky season – eight missed cuts and three top-10 finishes, including a win at the Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS in early July – knowing that only 30 players would receive TOUR cards at the end of the week. Four days and 274 shots later – including weekend scores of 64-68 – he was the tournament champion and safely inside the bubble at No. 8.

“It’s a great feeling to get back on the PGA TOUR and to do it last-minute,” said Barjon, 31, after his win. “This is the best one by far. This is the best one just because obviously there's the Tour Championship, so that makes it a little more special than the others. The others were nice, but this one I knew. … I knew what I had to do, and I did it.”

Golf did not run in the Barjon family, nor was it a major part of his childhood. “I actually didn’t like golf the first year, but my parents signed me up for the golf school and they were like, ‘We paid for it, so you’ve got to do it now and finish the year,’” recalled Barjon. “So, I finished it, made some friends and had a blast for the next 10 years playing in New Caledonia with those guys.”

When he moved to France as a 16-year-old, Barjon was unaware of the complexities of college golf recruitment and the pipeline to the PGA TOUR, despite being an accomplished amateur – he finished third at the World Amateur Championship and made the Round of 16 at The Amateur in 2012. But a verbal recommendation from a close friend, Julien Brun, who attended Texas Christian University, and an offer from the coach sealed the deal.

He went on to have a stellar college career, tying for second at the Big 12 Championship and finishing in the top 25 at the NCAA Championships. His 475 birdies as Horned Frog were the second-most ever at TCU.

After college he hopped over to PGA TOUR Canada and ricocheted between there and the Korn Ferry Tour. Though he earned full Korn Ferry Tour status in 2017, he proceeded to miss 16 out of 20 cuts. Back in Canada, he had an outstanding 2019 season, winning twice and notching 10 top-25s in 12 starts to earn Player of the Year. Fully exempt on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020, the Frenchman earned his first PGA TOUR card in 2021 via a top-25 finish on the 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, the season extended due to COVID-19. Once on TOUR though, he struggled, missing 15 of 26 cuts with just one top-10 finish and losing his card.

Barjon opened his 2023 Korn Ferry Tour season with back-to-back missed cuts and streaky play. But a resounding win at the Memorial Health Championship ensured him a spot in the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in southern Indiana – and he rose to the occasion.

Now he will join fellow TCU alum and good friend Tom Hoge on TOUR.

“He played great in the last two days in Indiana in the wind. He's a really great player. He's back where he deserves to be out here on TOUR,” Hoge said this month. “He hits it really well, drives it long and straight. ... If anything, it suits the PGA TOUR more than the Korn Ferry (Tour), so I expect him to do well."

When it matters, he’ll be there.