Victor Perez said having the honour of hitting the opening tee shot at the Olympic men’s golf competition on home soil will be a memory he will cherish forever.
The 31-year-old was met by an enthusiastic reception from an expectant home support when he arrived at the first tee shortly before 9.am local time at Le Golf National.
Perez, a three-time winner on the DP World Tour, is making his debut at the Olympic Games this week and showed his resolve amid heightened expectations to recover from a slow start to card a one-under 70.
While delighted by his excellent finish, which featured back-to-back birdies on the closing two holes, the post-round focus centred almost solely on the pride he felt in starting proceedings in the 72-hole individual strokeplay tournament.
“I mean, nobody enjoys the first tee, I think, ever,” Perez told reporters.
“But I told myself on the range, I told my caddy James, I was like, let's be there the full 10 minutes before and really soak it all in.
Home favourite @v_perez2 gets the @OlympicGolf under way 🇫🇷#Paris2024 | #OlympicGolf pic.twitter.com/krFMGPJ3e9
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) August 1, 2024
“It's definitely a once in lifetime [experience]. I'll never hit this tee shot ever again.
“Opening the games in Paris, being French and having all the home support.
“There wasn't going to be more pressure whether I was there for 10 minutes or four minutes, so I was just like, you may as well be there and then try to just take it all in, enjoy the people and it was great.”
Perez is representing France alongside fellow dual DP World Tour and PGA TOUR member Matthieu Pavon in the 60-strong field that features eight of the top ten on the Official World Golf Ranking.
After mixing four bogeys with one bogey on the front nine to hit the turn in 39, Perez bounced back impressively with birdies at the 11th and 15th before closing out his day in style to loud cheers.
“I think the people, the French really enjoyed having golf here… I think it was great for them to enjoy having Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, just off The Open win," he added.
“They were there on the range before the round, even cheering me on, boosting me up.
“It worked for the first tee shot. Didn't really work for the front nine, but besides that, it was great.”
Le Golf National holds a special place in the heart of Perez having competed at the venue as an aspiring junior golfer, and those memories came to the surface on Thursday.
“We played the under 12, under 14 under 16 French juniors here, and I remember all staying in the Novotel on site and coming out at nine o'clock doing, putting games against the older guys and trying to win and playing for a Coco-Cola or something,” he said.
“So, this place is very special for me.”
Asked to compare how the feeling of playing in an Olympics in France compared to the high of winning his maiden DP World Tour title at St Andrews, Perez added: “It's really hard to compare. It is not really apples to apples.
“Back when I won in St Andrews in 2019, it was my first year on Tour, a life-changing win for everything that comes with it, whether it's exemptions and everything.
“This is kind of a little bit more isolated, I would say. This just sticks out a little bit more.”
