PINEHURST, N.C. — Mike Lorenzo-Vera loves his friend. Texts about cars. Beers and gin and tonics at bars. That kinda close.
And because he loves his friend, he talks about his friend he loves in a way reserved only for friends he loves.
You probably have an idea of the tone. You have these friends.
Matthieu Pavon plays without fear, Lorenzo-Vera said of his fellow pro. So to speak.
Please pardon the French of the Frenchman here.
“If you look at him playing golf,” Lorenzo-Vera said back in April, “I can’t see anything very impressive about him. He has the proper swing speed, OK? But he’s a big fader, so the ball doesn’t really carry considering his speed. He’s like a one-dimensional player so nothing super impressive golf-wise, but he’s very correct. He’s very good at golf, and he makes the good decisions.
“And he has a huge pair of ba**s.”
Lovely.
It’s with that that we go to U.S. Open Saturday, where Pavon was balling. On Thursday at Pinehurst, he shot a three-under 67. Friday, a 70. Saturday, he birdied the par-4 1st after dropping an iron to 6 feet. He birdied the par-5 5th after getting home in two. He birdied the par-4 7th on a 21-footer. Pavon was leading. Only once before in three previous Open stars had he even made a cut. Only once before had a Frenchman won a major championship — Arnaud Massy, at the 1907 Open Championship.
But on the 13th, after a tee shot left, Pavon was stuck behind cabbage.
What to do? Not much. He muscled it out about 40 yards from behind the small bush. “Yeah, that was a rough one,” Pavon said. “When you miss into the sides [at Pinehurst], you play you’re going to escape from this type of line. That one was really bad. I was buried. I almost asked my caddie if I probably had to play like backwards because I wasn’t sure if the ball would come out. Then I just trusted, hit it hard.”
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But about 120 yards remained. What to do? There was also a bunker between him and the flag that was just a few paces off the front of the green. To the right of that sand was more sand. Behind that was a third bunker. “That’s probably also on that hole the toughest pin location I have ever played,” he said. “I think that pin location was completely sick.”
So was the shot.
Stuck it. Three feet away. Par.
Fearless, so to speak.
“There is literally like five yards to put the ball,” Pavon said, “and if you don’t, it goes either in the trap or either back like 20 yards off the green. So I was just really happy that I had a nice number, 120 yards. It’s kind of a shot that I really like.
“I just tried to get the closest I could, and somehow it went pretty close.”
From there, he played one-over, and now things become testy. At 2:21 in the afternoon here, he’ll be in your final pairing, with leader Bryson DeChambeau, whom he trails by three. Pavon said it’ll be just golf. He said it’ll be just him and the course. Still, it’ll be a step. As late as last November, he had no PGA Tour status — then he birdied holes 15, 16, 17 and 18 at the DP World Tour Championship, and he was on his way to the U.S.
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As late as last year, he also fought his game. He once had chipping yips, too. When you watch him Sunday chip cross-handed, that’s why. “You have to understand that this guy comes from hell, golf-wise,” Lorenzo-Vera said back in April. “So to build the game where he’s now, with so much demons that he had a long time ago, it’s insane. To me, it’s insane.”
“I just love golf,” Pavon said late Saturday. “That’s the thing. I’m just so happy to compete here in America. It has been a remarkable journey for me. I just love so much competing here, and this is what I like people to know about me. I’m a pretty regular guy.”
But there’s a question.
You’re maybe curious.
You may also want to know what the plan will be if a situation Sunday demands, you know, Lorenzo-Vera’s phrase for him.
“Michael Lorenzo-Vera told me in describing your game — his quote — you play with a big pair,” a reporter started. “Is that how you would describe your game?”
“No, the thing is I don’t know if it’s that I have a big pair,” Pavon said. “It’s just that I have — I’m not scared about taking the shots. I’ve never been scared about taking the shots. That’s the thing; that’s why I think we are a great team with my caddie because Woody [Mark Sherwood] is really holding me. I think if I was playing probably alone this week, I would have missed the cut by a lot of shots. But we have a game plan; some holes we just play short of the green and give it a chance with like an uphill-type of shot.
“If I have to take one shot tomorrow to try to win the tournament, you can be sure that I’ll try to take it.”
