PINEHURST, N.C. – Matthieu Pavon tore up the par 5s on Thursday at Pinehurst No. 2 in the opening round of the 124th U.S. Open.
There are just two par 5s on the scorecard this week at the famed Donald Ross layout, which is playing as a par 70, and Pavon eagled them both en route to shooting 3-under 67.
“I made my four best swings of the day on the par-5s and dropped two putts, so it gave me a nice two eagles,” he said. “It gave me a little bit of freedom today.”
The 31-year-old Frenchman opened with four pars on the card before ripping a 338-yard tee shot at the 582-yard fifth hole, ripping a 4-iron from 239 yards to 18 feet and rolling in the putt.
He tacked on a birdie at the par-4 eighth and turned in 32.
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The only par 5 on the back nine is at No. 10, playing a whopping 619 yards. No problem for Pavon. The PGA Tour rookie, who won the Farmers Insurance Open in February, sent a 3-wood from 289 yards to 27 feet. Draino. A second eagle on the day for Pavon and not a bad way to start the championship. That put Pavon at 5 under, which could be a good winning score on Sunday.
Pavon gave one stroke back at the 11th but drilled a nice 15-foot par putt at No. 12 and held an early two-stroke lead during early action of the first round. He made a bogey at 16 and finished two strokes behind Patrick Cantlay among the early wave.
Fifth hole
Stop us if you've heard this before…
An eagle on 5, this time from new co-leader @matthieupavon 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/dyNI61kmuh
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 13, 2024
10th hole
Magnifique! 🇫🇷
Solo leader @matthieupavon with his *second* eagle of the morning. pic.twitter.com/4hFyWbFfKh
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 13, 2024
