Matthieu Pavon

Matthieu Pavon played his first Open since 2017 at Royal Troon last summer after a maiden DP World Tour victory in the Spanish Open - and what a year he's had since.

The Spanish Open win came at his 185th event on the circuit - and that, combined with three top ten finishes, helped him to a career best 15th in the Race to Dubai, securing his card on the PGA Tour.

He then followed this up by winning in only his third event on the Tour. A final hole birdie gave him a one-stroke victory over Nicolai Hojgaard at the Farmers Insurance Open in California.

Pavon then finished third at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am, and fifth place at June’s US Open seeing him enter the game’s top 20.

His Open debut seven years ago came courtesy of a third place finish at the previous week’s Scottish Open. He also qualified for the 2018 US Open and came joint 25th.

He is the son of former French professional footballer Michel Pavon,