Andrea Pavan claimed his second European Challenge Tour victory of the season by a four-shot margin despite a two over par final round last week, so it is no wonder the Italian is confident of claiming his third victory at this week’s Kharkov Superior Cup.
The 24 year old held a six-shot lead going into the final round of the Open Blue Green Côtes d'Armor Bretagne before recording a wire-to-wire victory, the fourth of his Challenge Tour career, to move to second in the 2013 Rankings.
In his maiden season on the Challenge Tour in 2011, Pavan finished second in the Rankings, behind only England’s most recent European Tour winner Tommy Fleetwood.
While Pavan has not quite experienced the same success as Fleetwood yet, Pavan is confident that he is now ready for the step up and is hoping he might pave that path this week at Superior Golf and Spa Resort.
“It was actually a really tough course in France last week,” said Pavan. “I just played really well, just solid for three days and played only two bad holes over 72 holes.
“The final round, it wasn’t the best of starts but I started to hole some putts and play well. I think I have the game at the moment to go and get a third win.
“I am more consistent this season and have more experience. My game was good two years ago but it wasn’t as consistent and solid. I feel more at ease playing now and more in control if I'm leading. The more you’re up there the easier it gets.
“I think my game is there now, and I have the game to keep my European Tour card next year. If I don’t beat myself up too much then I’ll be fine.”
Pavan has virtually secured his European Tour card for the 2014 season with five events still to be played but he does not believe that that comfort zone will deter him from targeting a crucial third win in Ukraine this week.
“For sure, I'm in a bit of a comfort zone,” he admitted. “Even before that win last week I was pretty comfortable in the Rankings but my coach said before that that he had never seen me play so well.
“He said to just stay calm and I’ll play great and win another one. It’s nice to know my game is getting more consistent. This golf course this week looks really nice too so I'm looking forward to these two weeks, with Kazakhstan next week.
“Of course, I would love to get to three wins but I am happy with what I have right now and I know I'm competitive at the moment so I don’t need to get too upset if things don’t go my way. I’ll just try my best and we’ll see.
“Honestly though, I am really looking forward to The European Tour because once you get to a certain stage you want to move on but it’s important from now on to prepare as best I can for next year.”
Pavan is one of 12 winners from the 2013 Challenge Tour schedule in the field for the inaugural Kharkov Superior Cup this week, and his French counter-part François Calmels is also chasing that elusive third victory of the season.
Andriy Shevchenko, the former AC Milan and Chelsea striker, is one of the main attractions this week as he makes his Challenge Tour debut on home soil after making the switch from football to golf.
The former European Player of the Year, who plays off a handicap of two, is joined by another Eastern European sporting legend in Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the former World Number One tennis player who is a member at Superior Golf and Spa Resort.
