Pavon at ease on the 'links' in North Carolina

Matthieu Pavon credited his lowest round at a Major Championship in the first round of the 124th U.S. Open to feeling at home around Pinehurst No. 2 due to similarities with European venues on the DP World Tour.

The Frenchman, who combines playing on the PGA TOUR with the DP World Tour this season, sits in a tie for fourth on the leaderboard after a three-under-par 67 in North Carolina on Thursday.

The unquestionable highlights for Pavon were a pair of eagles, with his second coming at the tenth as he momentarily vaulted himself into an early two-shot lead.

And while he made bogeys at the 11th and 16th, it was a welcome psychological boost for the 31-year-old after back-to-back missed cuts in recent weeks.

"The golf course plays tough," he said. "You really have to manage your way around.

"You know you're going to make mistakes, but it's all about avoiding big numbers, and obviously I made my four best swings of the day on the par fives and dropped two putts, so it gave me a nice two eagles. It gave me a little bit of freedom today.

“[Confidence] wasn't the highest so far this season. But new week, new opportunity. I felt like I'm still working on the right direction with my team, so it's just about all focus is on the process. 

“You know you're going to have hard times and better days, and when I came here, I felt like around the greens it was really something that we've seen in Europe.

“Let's say you can putt a lot. You don't have to carry the ball. There is not like thick rough.

“This is like a linksy, let's say, type of golf course. It looked a little bit familiar, and this is probably why I enjoyed so much being out there today.”

Pavon won his first DP World Tour event at the 185th time of asking last season in Spain and since earning Dual Membership with the PGA TOUR has gone on to win on that side of the Atlantic in California.

After a fast start to his rookie season stateside, results have been harder to come since an impressive Masters debut at Augusta National in April.

But, following time to work with his Swedish putting coach Jon Karlsen, Pavon was pleased to see the rewards of those efforts show on the course in competition play at the penultimate men's Major of the year.

"My game this year is quite good overall," he reflected.

"I have had a few down weeks, but it happens in a year. You have stuff that you kind of have to adjust for the PGA TOUR.

"I wasn't, like, let's say fully prepared for this. Short game needs to be really tighter here.

"This is where I can see the biggest difference. I practiced 15 days ago with my putting coach, who came to see me in Florida, and we had to adjust on some way to practice on the greens here. They are faster, slopier, grainier. Nothing that I really experienced before in Europe.

"We really tweaked the program we had together, and we just adjusted it, and it feels like today it really helped me, the work I achieved the last 15 days."

Since his momentous maiden PGA TOUR victory at Torrey Pines in January, Pavon has continued to play at some of the most storied courses in world golf.

Those experiences have taught him to manage his mindset at tournaments, none more so than this week at a venue which has widely been described as among the hardest in the game by fellow players.

“Obviously when it's really, really tough like this week, at least you know that sometimes you have to take away some pressure and some expectations and play smart to the great spots and make one or two up-and-downs when you need them,” he said.

“This is what really changed compared to some of the last weeks.”