Matthew Pavon - Genius or Dunce?

[Golfbit2X]

This French dude just decides to take  2 weeks off the PGA Tour, intentionally missing the WM Open and Genesis after just breaking into the PGA Tour from the DP World Tour and playing the hottest streak of his career, winning the Farmers and placing 3rd place at Pebble. 

 

The reason he gave was that he needed to do a "reset" / work with his putting coach. 

 

Based on his performance in his last two starts, his putting was phenomenal so I'm really dumbfounded that he decided to skip the last two events including the Genesis, an elevated event paying out $20M.

 

IMO, I think he was overthinking here and made a dubious decision not to play the last two events.  

 

I've been watching golf for a while and I haven't seen someone in Tour do this without a really good reason (mental health, injury or other valid reasons).

 

Time will tell if his decision will pay-off and he'll resume his hot streak or he's a dunce because he just made the worst decision of his career. 

 

Edited February 14 by Golfbit2X

[jimecherry]

[kasting333]

His saliva was running low

[TiScape]

Cue Ferguson 

[woahnelly]

He's still #1 in the Fed Ex, he can do whatever he wants, includes earning the right to be a part time player like all the other top guys for the moment. WM Phoenix sounded like a miserable time, let him enjoy that $$

[Golfbit2X]

I agree with you on WM Phoenix as it was a s*it show but not playing the Genesis with elevated purses is mind-boggling to me.

 

I guess he's not a Tiger fanboy....

[jdl]

He's French, will probably take the whole month of August off, too.

[third-times-a-charm]

Seems you dont know anyone from France. They invented the phrase laissez faire. I can see how the French/EU way of doing things can boggle to American mind.

Edited February 14 by third-times-a-charm

[Golfbit2X]

Just now, jdl said:

He's French, will probably take the whole month of August off, too.

Yeah, they take their siesta/breaks pretty serious too...

[jvincent]

He's fully exempt to all the other elevated events and has pocketed more money this year than probably his entire career to date.

 

Seems like a good time to take some time off.

 

EDIT: My bad, his Euro Tour winnings to date are slightly more than he's made on the PGA Tour this year. 

Edited February 14 by jvincent

[King_Slender]

Consider the history of rational decisions by French golfers...

[Golfbit2X]

1 minute ago, jvincent said:

He's fully exempt to all the other elevated events and has pocketed more money this year than probably his entire career to date.

 

Seems like a good time to take some time off.

As a golfer, when you're in a hot streak, you better have a really good reason to not play, like an injury, a serious family matter, etc. so taking time off is not good enough as a reason...

[jvincent]

2 minutes ago, Golfbit2X said:

As a golfer, when you're in a hot streak, you better have a really good reason to not play, like an injury, a serious family matter, etc. so taking time off is not good enough as a reason...

 

The counter to that is that it takes a LOT of mental energy to win / play at peak level. He might be gassed mentally.

[Golfbit2X]

1 minute ago, jvincent said:

 

The counter to that is that it takes a LOT of mental energy to win / play at peak level. He might be gassed mentally.

Aah, I think he alluded to that in one of his interviews...you may have hit the nail on the head so that may actually be the reason. 

[tacklingdummy]

Not sure why it matters. He felt the need to take the time off, so he took the time off. He has close to a 3 year exemption (till end of 2026), so he has plenty of time to play. 

[Golfbit2X]

10 minutes ago, King_Slender said:

Consider the history of rational decisions by French golfers...

Van de Vel!

[caniac6]

Being French, he might be on strike.

[MattM97]

First it's Matthieu not Matthew, this is just personal cause sorta same for me.

 

Second, he doesn't have to stress the rest of the year, he's set, he can pick and choose his events. He can play a bit less and play in events that better suit hit game, maybe WM and Genesis are courses that are not quite for him. 

Edited February 14 by MattM97

[stinger_gc]

29 minutes ago, MattM97 said:

First it's Matthieu now Matthew, this is just personal cause sorta same for me.

 

Second, he doesn't have to stress the rest of the year, he's set, he can pick and choose his events. He can play a bit less and play in events that better suit hit game, maybe WM and Genesis are courses that are not quite for him. 

Exactly. Lot of big events coming up and he’s got enough points to take it easy for a bit

[MattM97]

1 minute ago, stinger_gc said:

Exactly. Lot of big events coming up and he’s got enough points to take it easy for a bit

 

When you have the ability to pick and choose events vs grind weekly it's a world of difference. Even if he doesn't accomplish a ton the rest of the year he can at least focus and improve on his game more vs finding the next flight and hotel. 

[stinger_gc]

1 hour ago, MattM97 said:

 

When you have the ability to pick and choose events vs grind weekly it's a world of difference. Even if he doesn't accomplish a ton the rest of the year he can at least focus and improve on his game more vs finding the next flight and hotel. 

Lot of guys are gonna be fried post Masters. Seems like the cadence is a “Signature Event” every other week

[Soloman1]

I ask the same thing every time I visit the Instruction & Academy forum.

[Maine Golfer]

its his life, his liberty. This should almost be a non story, no need for a deep dive. 

[byoung14]

If he was a recent Korn Ferry grad or a guy with conditional status then it would be something worth mentioning. He had played four weeks in a row prior to last week and is 1st in the FedEx, he probably would’ve crashed out by the time the Players rolled around had he kept trying to play.

[iBanesto]

6 hours ago, King_Slender said:

Consider the history of rational decisions by French golfers...

 

Allez Jean! 🇫🇷

 

 

Pavon has played 4 tournaments in row and was in contention for about 3 of them. It takes it out of you especially the rain delays at Pebble Beach.

[Feelingofgreatness]

You might know golf but you don't understand Europeans.

Work-life balance is top of the priority list.

[mosesgolf]

Geniuses tend to think outside the box and dunces wouldn't be where he is at rn.

[phizzy30]

Tour pros often say that winning a tournament is mentally draining and sometimes physical so what he's done is genius IMO. 

[MattyO1984]

Couple weeks to chill after a start to life on the PGA Tour that would have exceeded even his wildest dreams...seems like a good move to me. Genesis is a huge event, the Players and Masters are bigger, far bigger. You'd much rather be fresh for those!

[Ferguson]

An abrupt change in schedule could be an early indicator of problems in his personal life.