As the pressure mounts on the European Challenge Tour players with just two events to go on the Road to Oman, Matthieu Pavon arrived at the Ras Al Khaimah 2016 Golf Challenge with a weight off his shoulders.
A runner-up finish at the Foshan Open has taken the Frenchman to fifth in the Road to Oman Rankings, and looks to have secured him a European Tour card for next season.
It is no less than the 23 year old deserves after a year which has featured six top ten finishes, including three runner-up results, but he admitted he was nervous after his early season form wavered and he found himself moving backwards in the Rankings.
“I’m very happy,” he said. “I think last week has secured the European Tour card for me for next year, but again I didn’t win – this is my third time finishing second this year. So it’s really nice, and I’m really happy with that, but now I have two more tournaments and I really want to win.
“I was really stressed lately because I know that every year I struggle a little bit when it’s summertime and my game is not in the best shape, as it was this time.
“I was just focusing on trying to make some cuts, earn some points, just keep everything ticking over, but I was really stressed going to China, with so many points on offer, so it was a huge relief to finish that well.
“I don’t know why I’ve struggled in the summer. When you have a season, there are times when you’re playing very well and times when you’re a little bit down with your golf swing, and for me it’s been the same for the last two or three years.
“I start the year really strong, as I did this year, then have two or three months with nothing really happening, but then finish the year really great so I just had to stay calm and let my golf come again.
“I haven’t had the chance to celebrate yet. I was tired and then we had to fly through the night to get here so I will wait until I get home but then I will celebrate for sure.”
This week is the first major sporting event ever staged in Ras Al Khaimah, the northernmost of the United Arab Emirates, and, with Al Hamra Golf Club unfamiliar to the whole field, Pavon is eager to take advantage of his enviable relaxed position, and try to seal that long-overdue win.
“It’s perfect this week because I think it’s going to be a very equal tournament,” he said. “The weather is not going to change a lot, so that’s fair, and the course is new so nobody has experience, so for a big tournament like this it’s perfect.
“Maybe the lack of pressure on me will help. I’m going to try to do my best, stay focused on what I did well last week, and will hope that this time I can get that win.”
