This past weekend the area was well represented in the Farmers Insurance Open, but it was tournament debutante and PGA Tour rookie Matthieu Pavon that became the first French golfer to win on the PGA Tour. Pavon’s win is the first post-World War II era win for a Frenchman, earning his victory in his 11th Tour start after shooting a 3-under-par. With a 69 on Torrey Pines’ South Course in Saturday’s final round, Pavon’s overall score was a 13-under 275 (69-65-72-69).
Pavon held off runner-up Nicolai Hojgaard, of Denmark, by a stroke with a birdie on the 18th hole and collected a $1,620,000 winner’s prize from the Farmers Insurance Open’s record $9 million purse and 500 PGA TOUR FedEx Cup points. Pavon moves to No. 2 in the TOUR’s 2024 FedEx Cup standings and is projected to climb from No. 78 to No. 34 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Chad Hambright, a 2013 graduate of Temescal Canyon, made six birdies and an eagle in the qualifying round earlier in the week, against one bogey, to earn his first career PGA Tour start. With the Farmers Insurance Open featuring a Wednesday start and Saturday finish, Hambright didn’t have the luxury of practice rounds at Torrey Pines (with the first two rounds contested across Torrey’s North and South courses, before the final two rounds are played at Torrey South).
But he got in, and that’s all that mattered. The former Titan, who shot a +2, missing the cut for the final round at Torrey Pines, played collegiately at RCC, winning Orange Empire Conference Player of the Year honors in 2015.
Kevin Dougherty, a 2009 graduate of Vista Murrieta High School, also played in the Farmers Insurance Open, playing through the final round. Dougherty, who went on to play collegiately at Oklahoma State University, was in 90th position with a score of Even, following the end of the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open.
In the final round of the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open, Dougherty made birdie on the par-3 8th hole and ended at -2 in the final round, as well as overall, tied for 50th place, which netted him roughly $21,990 for the week.
Full results from the tournament can be found by going to www.espn.com.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
